Could I move to Scotland?!

jmcquown wrote:

I finally found out the reason Dad didn't want me to have a dog.
He had a dog that was killed when he was a child and was killed by
a neighbor with poisoned bait.

Your poor father! Losing a pet is hard at any age, but it's so
heartbreaking when you're a child. And especially when someone appears
to have done it deliberately - that is just incomprehensible. (Was the
neighbor intending to kill your dad's dog, or was that bait set out
for some other animal, that the dog happened to get into?)

Anyway, after an experience like that, it's understandable that your
dad would harden himself against loving another animal. That's not what
I did as a child - I was always ready to love another cat. But I have
known people who would never take that risk again after such a painful
loss.

(Did you ever see the movie "My Dog Skip"? It's a story about a young
boy who's a bit of a misfit among his peers and is lonely. So his
mom gets him a puppy for his birthday, but dad puts his foot down and
says NO PETS, he's not old enough to care for it, etc. His reaction
is so extreme and unreasonable that his mom sticks up for the boy,
and he's allowed to keep the puppy. Soon afterward, we find out that
the father had lost a beloved pet as a child and never wanted to feel
that grief again. It's a very sweet story - and I haven't really
spoiled the movie by telling this much, since this all happens at
the beginning. The movie is based on a book by Willie Morris, who
also wrote a wonderful book about his cat called "My Cat Spit McGee".
Wish they'd make a movie of that, too.)

I'm glad that in your dad's case, his attempt to stop loving animals
was only partially successful!

Joyce

wrote:

It's not a fruit? But it has all the characteristics of fruit - rounded
container of seeds, and filled with sugar. (I know some fruits, such as
avocado, aren't very sweet, but most are.)
What about other melons? Cantaloupe, honeydew?

They're in the same plant-family as squash. Sounds wrong, doesn't it?

It does, but actually, when I was posting the above last night, I was
thinking about squash, which is also a round container of seeds, yet is
a vegetable. So, I guess I can accept that a melon is a veggie. But
what is the world coming to? Melons are vegetables, but tomatoes aren't??

Joyce

You want to hear absolutely awful... my father put ketchup on
watermelon.

Oh my god - putting a fruit on a vegetable!

Joyce

wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

I finally found out the reason Dad didn't want me to have a dog.
He had a dog that was killed when he was a child and was killed by
a neighbor with poisoned bait.

Your poor father! Losing a pet is hard at any age, but it's so
heartbreaking when you're a child. And especially when someone appears
to have done it deliberately - that is just incomprehensible. (Was the
neighbor intending to kill your dad's dog, or was that bait set out
for some other animal, that the dog happened to get into?)

According to Dad the dog was killed deliberately. They lived out in the
country so it was normal to let dogs run loose. The neighbor claimed the
dog was going after the chickens, which is pretty funny considering Dad's
parents had their own chickens. Maybe the neighbors chickens were much more
attractive? I don't know.

Anyway, after an experience like that, it's understandable that your
dad would harden himself against loving another animal. That's not
what I did as a child - I was always ready to love another cat. But I
have known people who would never take that risk again after such a
painful loss.

I never intended to get another pet after Sampson (my dog) died. He lived
almost 18 years; that's like raising a child, you know? But a year later,
up showed this cat, demanding to be let into my apartment. I had no
intentions of keeping her. I did all the right things; put up "found"
posters around the neighborhood. Called all the area vets and shelters
checking for lost pets. About 5 days later I decided I couldn't just keep
calling her "cat" and she told me her name is Persia

(Did you ever see the movie "My Dog Skip"? It's a story about a young
boy who's a bit of a misfit among his peers and is lonely. So his
mom gets him a puppy for his birthday, but dad puts his foot down and
says NO PETS, he's not old enough to care for it, etc. His reaction
is so extreme and unreasonable that his mom sticks up for the boy,
and he's allowed to keep the puppy. Soon afterward, we find out that
the father had lost a beloved pet as a child and never wanted to feel
that grief again. It's a very sweet story - and I haven't really
spoiled the movie by telling this much, since this all happens at
the beginning. The movie is based on a book by Willie Morris, who
also wrote a wonderful book about his cat called "My Cat Spit McGee".
Wish they'd make a movie of that, too.)

I haven't seen that movie but I'll look for it, thanks!

I'm glad that in your dad's case, his attempt to stop loving animals
was only partially successful!

Joyce

I know I make Dad sound rather harsh at times, but really he's a softy at
heart. I think it's his military training that makes him come across that
way.

I think I've told the story about how there was a baby bunny living in the
hole in the bricks on the front patio when my parents still lived in
Memphis. Mom and I didn't want Dad to know about it, thinking he'd try to
get rid of it. Turns out he absolutely melted when he saw it. His reaction
was, "Awww! It's a baby bunny! Hey, do we have any lettuce?" LOL

Turns out his older sister had a rabbit as a house pet; the rabbit was
litter box trained!

Jill

wrote:
wrote:

It's not a fruit? But it has all the characteristics of fruit -
rounded container of seeds, and filled with sugar. (I know some
fruits, such as avocado, aren't very sweet, but most are.)
What about other melons? Cantaloupe, honeydew?

They're in the same plant-family as squash. Sounds wrong, doesn't
it?

It does, but actually, when I was posting the above last night, I was
thinking about squash, which is also a round container of seeds, yet
is
a vegetable. So, I guess I can accept that a melon is a veggie. But
what is the world coming to? Melons are vegetables, but tomatoes
aren't??

Joyce

Tomatoes are a fruit. So are melons. And I have absolutely no idea why Dad
likes ketchup on watermelon. Of course, I also don't understand mustard and
onion sandwiches; he likes those, too

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

I know I make Dad sound rather harsh at times, but really he's a softy at
heart. I think it's his military training that makes him come across that
way.

I think I've told the story about how there was a baby bunny living in the
hole in the bricks on the front patio when my parents still lived in
Memphis. Mom and I didn't want Dad to know about it, thinking he'd try to
get rid of it. Turns out he absolutely melted when he saw it. His reaction
was, "Awww! It's a baby bunny! Hey, do we have any lettuce?" LOL

LOL - my dad is similar. He doesn't have a military background, he just
gets very blustery at times. When I was a kid, he was always making us
get rid of the stray cats we seemed to collect, so I remembered him as
The Evil Cat-Hating Dad.

Turns out that wasn't true, he just didn't like having as many as we
would have had if we (by "we" I mean my mom and all three of us kids)
had gotten our way. He now has two cats and is absolutely crazy about
them. In fact, one of his cats, Baxter, goes for long walks with him
every day, so he calls Baxter his "dog in a cat suit" - which is where
that nickname for Smudge came from.

Joyce

jmcquown wrote:

Tomatoes are a fruit. So are melons.

Well, that's what I would have said, but according to some of the other
posts on this topic, melons, apparently, are vegetables.

Joyce

On 05 May 2006 21:32:01 GMT, yodeled:

jmcquown wrote:

Tomatoes are a fruit. So are melons.

Well, that's what I would have said, but according to some of the other
posts on this topic, melons, apparently, are vegetables.

Joyce


Melons are fruit. Squashes are fruit. Pumpkins are fruit. Tomatos
are fruit. Cucumbers are fruit. It doesn't matter how or if you
cook it. It doesn't matter how it tastes. If it has seeds in it,
it's a fruit.


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Make Levees, Not War

melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, zuccini (courgette), eggplant
(aubergine), okra are all fruit - botannically speaking, as far as I
am concerned. They contain the reproductive units of plants (i.e.
seeds). Of course, since we use them in savoury dishes, rather than
sweet dishes (for the most part), we called them vegetables - in
culinary terms. A clash of paradigms!

Tish

On 05 May 2006 20:23:11 GMT, wrote:

wrote:

It's not a fruit? But it has all the characteristics of fruit - rounded
container of seeds, and filled with sugar. (I know some fruits, such as
avocado, aren't very sweet, but most are.)
What about other melons? Cantaloupe, honeydew?

They're in the same plant-family as squash. Sounds wrong, doesn't it?

It does, but actually, when I was posting the above last night, I was
thinking about squash, which is also a round container of seeds, yet is
a vegetable. So, I guess I can accept that a melon is a veggie. But
what is the world coming to? Melons are vegetables, but tomatoes aren't??

Joyce

Kreisleriana wrote:

Melons are fruit. Squashes are fruit. Pumpkins are fruit. Tomatos
are fruit. Cucumbers are fruit. It doesn't matter how or if you
cook it. It doesn't matter how it tastes. If it has seeds in it,
it's a fruit.

Thank you! That's what I have always believed: seeds = fruit. The meat
of the fruit is the protective and nourishing environment for the seeds.

The world now makes sense again.

Joyce