L U N A T A L K with Eva Moon

Words you don’t want to hear

August 24, 2007 on 7:23 am | In General Musing |

The other day I was out in the yard pretending to like gardening. I actually do like it in small, controlled doses on nice days, but there’s something about it that smacks of Tetris: Unremitting streams of weeds pop up faster than you can clear them away and there’s no way to win. It just goes on and on until you die. At least there’s no annoying soundtrack. But anyway, it was a nice day and there’s this small, controlled spot that’s just right for a bit of sculpture. It’s a shady spot between a small Japanese maple and a tall rhododendron with a thick ground cover of oxalis. I could see a stone lantern tucked in there. Just then, my husband walked by and I said, “I’ve been thinking…”

His immediate, gut-level response was to roll his eyes and moan that those are the three worst words your spouse can utter.

I thought about it for awhile (later, after all the blood had been mopped up - though I wonder if it’s good fertilizer?) and came to the conclusion that “I’ve been thinking” are not the three worst words. They are the three most expensive words. The three worst words are “Can we talk?”

It reminded me of a small family competition we used to have to come up with questions you do NOT want to know the answer to. It was fun for awhile until Alan flat out won it and the rest of us gave up trying to top him. His contribution:

“Guess what you just ate.”

I did get the lantern.

See more like that one:

• The Day the World Changed
• Wag of the Tongue
• Northwest Moments
• New Year's Dissolutions
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