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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » "Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer". Officially calendarly it is JUNE 21. So do you go by official or un?

"Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer". Officially calendarly it is JUNE 21. So do you go by official or un?

Are you already have unofficial SUMMER FUN while it is still "spring"? How?

Posted - May 29, 2021

Responses


  • 16732
    I go by temperature. It's kinda weird when I hear of summer being in June, you must just be used to being upside-down.

    Here in God's country we're coming into winter.
    Dreary and miserable, gloomy and glum
    Cold as the hair on a polar bear's bum.
      June 4, 2021 3:50 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Geographically speaking you are DOWN UNDER and I am UP OVER. Neither one of us is upside down. Both of us is/are/am downside up? Wait a minute! Did I just agree with thee?

    I think what would be harder for me to adapt to is driving on the left side of a road. I know Brits do that but do Aussies do that too? I can imagine accidents galore happening until you get used to it. Do you know why drivers sit on the right and not the left as we do in the US? I mean there must be a dam* good reason for it. What that is I don't know! Thank you for your reply R! :)
      June 4, 2021 7:26 AM MDT
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  • 16732
    We do, and my own curiosity led me to find out why - it goes back to horses.

    In Merrie Olde Englande, knights would joust with each other. Most folks are right-handed, knights were no exception, so the lance was held in the right hand. The horses would be ridden on the left hand side of the lists so said lance would be aimed at the opposing knight. The shield was strapped to the knight's left arm, it was used to deflect the other's lance to avoid being knocked off his horse.
    Even though jousting became obsolete many centuries ago the custom of riding (and then driving) on the left remained, and subsequently became the norm in the British Empire, of which Australia was part. We drive on the left, the wheel is on the right hand side of the vehicle.
    In Continental Europe and America, jousting was never a significant sport. Road rules were couched for the benefit of teamsters.  Most horse teams were fours, the teamster would sit on the left rear horse so as to make it easier to ply the whip over the team, once more held in the right hand. Teamsters kept to the right hand side, to make it easier to see approaching traffic. This post was edited by Slartibartfast at June 5, 2021 1:39 AM MDT
      June 5, 2021 1:29 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Good golly miss molly that's super interesting R! I never in a million years could have guessed that! That what is done TODAY can be traced all the way back to JOUSTING? When did the last joust occur wonder? I'm gonna GOOGLE it!  I did learn that the reason men walk on the street side and their ladies on the other side because if cars come careening around a curve or just go fast there might be a splash of dirty water that would come up over the curb. That way the man will be the one who gets dirty not his lady. Thank you for the info. You also say jousting "was never a significant sport" in America. But that means it existed? Can you see trump jousting with someone? Do they make armor that large? Methinks therein lies another question. Happy Saturday to you and yours m'dear! :)
      June 5, 2021 1:39 AM MDT
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  • 16732
    I was being facetious, m'dear. It wasn't a big thing on the Continent (it did exist, but not bigly) and was out of style before permanent European settlement in North America (given that Leif the Lucky's colony, and the possibly mythical Irish monastery before that, failed).
      June 5, 2021 1:52 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    200 jousting tournaments exist TODAY worldwide, 30 of which are in North America. DIDJA KNOW THAT? Ever see a joust? Could a 400 lb man wearing 400 lbs of armor joust? Did a horse die from carrying too much weight? Mindboggling. Facetious about what? Apparently there is more there than you thought. There certainly was more there than I thought. So would you and Maureen "take in" a joust if one were "played" near you? I guess you don't "play" at jousting do you? I also guess no one dies. It's like skeet shooting. Your target is a clay pigeon. Anyway thanks for the journey. I found out stuff I didn't know what is why I'm here. Jousing currently going on in 200 venues worldwide! I would have lost a bet about that! L(
      June 5, 2021 1:57 AM MDT
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  • 16732
    Clydesdale horses can carry that much weight and were specifically bred to do so. They had to carry not only a knight in full, plate armour, but also their own armour.
    Cannons led to the demise of big, slow cavalry and the Light Horsemen of later times.
    Mediaeval clubs worldwide have revived the sport, but it's in the nature of exhibitions. In Merrie Englade they were deadly serious, knights fought to the death.
      June 5, 2021 2:06 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you for your reply R. i'm going to ask a question about that. Why do humans so enjoy sports that involve death? Feeding Christians to the lions? Jousrting? Watching hangings in the town square? Not to mention lynchings and taking the law into your own hands and not waiting for the LAW to kick in. Why do many homo saps get off on watching people die? They still do and many are the ones who do the killing to watch the dying. Do you think homo saps are basically evil? Is evil within or is put there on purpose? I'm gonna ask. Thank you for your reply R. In movies I've seen people in a room behind a glass watching a homo sap be executed. Witnesses?
      June 5, 2021 2:18 AM MDT
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