Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I Drove to Manvel Last Weekend to Get Leprosy

Actually, I didn't specifically drive there to get leprosy. I specifically drove there to get this dead armadillo:And I would explain WHY I was driving to Manvel to get a dead armadillo, but I'm not exactly sure I understand it myself. Shortly afterward older gal found out that dead armadillos are known to carry leprosy so we banished him (or her) to the back of the yard near the compost heap.

The kids got off to camp just fine, presumably without bringing any swine flu OR leprosy with them. Well, they at least didn't bring swine flu contamination to camp, because they took the temperature of every last person driving in before anyone was allowed in the camp gates. And so that meant all five of us. And about five hundred million other people.

On the whole, though, I was greatly relieved that they were so proactive in preventing flu. But not so relieved that when I pore over camp pictures each and every morning I don't automatically assume that my gal's in the infirmary with swine flu if I don't happen to at least see a picture of the side of her head.

Older Gal found a greeting card in her collection that she wants to send one of the kids while they're at camp with a picture very similar to this on it:Worried that she might be promoting smoking or drugs, she pointed out the caterpillar's hookah. She was relieved when I told her that the caterpillar was from Alice and Wonderland, that it's considered an acceptable drug reference for young, American minds. However lest you think she grew up un-Disneyfied, I want to point out that I was seriously surprised. I've never, ever seen Older Gal miss a cultural reference, pop or otherwise.

Last but not least, Older Gal did re-comment to all who posted on her guest post! So now she is no longer twins with The Blogess, no matter how much fun being a Blogess twin would be. She will henceforth have to contain herself to attempting to sneak illegal chocolate wafers to my gal and boy at camp, sending them greeting cards depicting socially acceptable drug references, and supplying me with dead armadillos.

10 comments:

  1. you didn't really put a dead armadillo in your compost heap, did you? to be fair, that's only a problem if you ever plan to use the compost to grow food. if you're using it for decorative plants, nobody cares if the thing has e-coli (or leprosy!) all up in its xylem and phloem.

    hope the kids have fun at camp!

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  2. No, by "the side of the compost heap", I actually meant, "over on the other side of the bricks near the compost heap". Because the-guy really does grow food with that compost stuff. Anyway, I changed it so that family and friends don't have to fear for my very life. 'Cause I sure don't want any leoprosy or e-coli near the xylem or phloem. :-)

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  3. Armadillo's carry leprosy? Never knew but then I haven't seen any dead or alive.

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  4. There was a leper's colony near where we lived in Thailand. I have never heard of one anywhere else, so clearly that is THE place to go, for lepers.

    So if you get leprosy you have to move to the Tropics and eat great Thai food every day.

    Might be worth it...

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  5. OK that's pretty gross and glad you did not get leprosy. But I am very curious as to why you wanted this dead creature. Was it for some satanic ritual? You can honest with us Jill.

    I'm back to blogging again, BTW.

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  6. Biology project? Creative use of the shell for Art? I am pretty sure there is no reason on earth that I would drive anywhere to pick up a dead animal. As for socially acceptable drug references...that story is RIDDLED with them. You know she EATS the mushroom afterwards and begins growing taller and shorter? As you do. And there's bottles of medicines lying around and cookies...

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  7. Armadillos carry leprosy? Somehow I doubt that. But what do I know about dead armadillos, really.

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  8. SJ & A Free Man - I never heard of that either. I only just found out from Older Gal who found out from the woman who owns the farm where we got him. They're a dime a dozen around here though, so maybe I should check snopes. :-)

    Christine - Maybe I should just send the armadillo straight to Thailand. :-)

    Richardo & Arizaphale - Yes, to supplement my income as a religious school teacher, I thought I would open a little boutique and call it "Satanic Rituals R Us". :-) KIDDING! When we went to get it, we thought it was only the shell. I was going to figure out some way to show it to the kids during our study of Rodeo. :-) Good to hear you're back Richardo; I'll be stopping by! And Arizaphale, yes I remember conversations in high school as we suddenly realized the innocent story of childhood was not all that innocent.

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  9. This is why I stay away from Manvel. Too much leprosy.

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  10. Jenny the Blogess (I'm all starstruck now :-) - Here's the lucky thing: I found out this particular dead armadillo came from Alvin! But it was really close to the border between Manvel and Alvin, so we actually ended up throwing him or her away.

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