I’ve really been busy the last couple of weeks, what with this and that looming large on my horizon (more on that Monday). So I thought I’d just take a minute to point you to last Friday’s post, Solve the Mystery, in which I posted a photo of a strange sign I found in a hotel not too long ago, and then asked if anyone could interpret it.

I still can’t believe how many folks stopped by and left a guess! As of this writing, there have been 26 guesses so far – some of ‘em quite hilarious – and one correct answer. Yep, that’s right, a big ol’ tip o’ the hat goes to Kevin E. Blake for figuring it out. (I’d pop in a link to Kevin’s website – but he didn’t leave one! Missed an opportunity there, Bubba! Just sayin’)

In case you’re wondering, I won’t keep you in suspense; it means “Ticket Counter”, and he even found the complete listing of international signs. Way to go, Kevin! Now, if you happen to see that particular sign in the future, you’ll know what it means.

But… there’s still a mystery here. If I’d stepped back and photographed the whole area, you’d see what I saw – there’s no ticket counter anywhere within sight of this sign! So I’m not sure it’s all that helpful. But maybe that’s just me, bein’ picky.

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Every now and then I run across something that totally stumps me. Like this sign.

I’ve wracked my brain (sound of brain being wracked), but so far have not come up with a meaning for this one.

Anybody got any ideas?

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Actually, I started out just posting this photo on Flickr.

But when my friend Joanna Young made a comment about it on Twitter the other day, I thought to myself; Self, that’s not a bad idea!

Her comment, if I can recall, was somethin’ along the lines of, “What, are you telling pictures with your photos now?”

Well, Joanna; I didn’t plan to, but what the hey!

p.s. If you’d like to know more, follow the link to the Flickr photo and read the description. Suffice it to say, I found this little drama unfolding in my backyard!

But my question for you today is this: What little dramas are unfolding right under your nose? You might be surprised! Take a moment and look around, won’t you? And if you feel like it, share it with the rest of us! I’ll leave the light on.

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Howdy y’all! Hey, it’s been a great barrel of laughs so far with this month’s What I Learned From Laughter groupwrite project! And for those who participated, a big ol’ tip o’ the hat to ya for making my week one long chuckle.

[& UPDATED!] [UPDATED] We had a whopping 43 entries this month (although it’s never about the numbers, y’know) and I thank you from the bottom of my Texas heart for joining us.

Here’s the entries, in the order that I found ‘em, plus a few of my own favorites from right here at the Middle Zone. Check ‘em out, won’t you? Heck, why not start a conversation?

• What I Learned From Laughter, by Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye
• Bad T’ings Mek Joke: Jamaican Humor, by Geoffrey Philp at Geoffrey Philp’s Blogspot
• What are your personal oxymorons? by Clare Lynch at goodcopybadcopy
• What makes you laugh? by Jackie Cameron at Jackie Cameron
• What I Learned From Laughter, by Monique Attinger at BraWise
• Didn’t See That Coming, by Lori Newman at When We Listen
• Laughing at the Small Stuff, by Karen Putz at A Deaf Mom Shares Her World
• A Collection of Funny Word Sell Posts, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc. (13 links)
• What I Learned From Laughter, by Luke Gedeon at Luke Gedeonn (8 links)
  
• A Funny Post Review, by Tabetha Gedeon, at Denim and Silk (5 links)

And of course, here’s some from Yours Truly:

• A (Very) Short Love Story: Ode to Number 9, by Robert Hruzek at Joyful Jubilant Learning
• No Sense at All, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• Dog Gone, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• What Life Would Be Like on the Moon, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• It’s Not Quite What it Seems, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• My Nose, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• I Think the Chicken “Got It!”, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• How to Make a Million Dollars, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• How to Destroy the Earth. Really. by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings

Hey, I want to thank all those who participated this month, and hope you enjoy some of the zany stuff that goes on here at the Zone. Don’t forget to drop by next month for another exciting episode of What I Learned From…

Oh, and of course, a tip o’ the hat to ya!

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OK; I think it’s time I, um, came clean about something, y’all. Yup; time to unburden my soul, so to speak, and get down the bare facts.

I freely admit it: My name is Robert, and I have…(sound of terrified scream) striped feet!

Blue Suede Shoes Sandals

Some years ago when I was working in Aruba (yes it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it!), I was browsing one of the zillions of gift shops in Orangestad (which is the capital of Aruba, for you Geography buffs) and came across these amazing blue sandals.

From the moment I laid eyes on these babies, I was hooked! AND, the best part is, they only cost me 9 bucks! What a steal! As far as I’m concerned, nothin’ says “Hey, I’m I’m one totally cool and completely laid back Bubba!” like a pair of bright blue sandals like these, y’know?

I’ll tell ya; I wore those things everywhere (except, of course, church; I had a more, um, formal pair of sandals for that). Shopping, beach-combing, sight-seeing (although on a tiny island like Aruba you quickly run out of things to see) – I pretty much lived in ‘em when I wasn’t, y’know, working in the refinery. (I tried to find a pair of steel-toed sandals for work, but alas, no luck. *sigh*)

When the weather was hot (with a year-round constant temperature of about 95ºF, that’s pretty much all the time in Aruba) wearing sandals is almost, well, required. There’s simply no better way to keep the ol’ dogs cool in that climate, y’know? (Aruba is only a few degrees north of the equator, in case you didn’t know. If it wasn’t for the constant breeze, it’d be unbearably stifling!)

Besides, you’d probably stand out if you weren’t wearing ‘em. I mean, little children would point and laugh; dogs would chase you, and you’d probably be ostracized from polite society. (Just kidding; but you would be in a very small minority.)

Unexpected Consequences

But as luck would have it, I did discover one drawback to wearing sandals all day. And not only that, but this, well, catastrophe applies to sandal-wearing folk all over the world! Yep; one serious problem that no one seems to talk about.

It makes me wonder, why haven’t more people spoken up about this issue? Are there support groups out there we don’t hear about? I mean, this is something literally thousands – maybe even millions –  of folks are probably suffering from right this very minute.

Of course I’m talkin’ about (sound of terrified scream) striped feet

See, the thing is, even though no longer in Aruba, I still wear those sandals during the summer months (which is usually from late February through most of November here in Houston). After all, when you’ve got a good thing goin’, y’know.

But what’s really strange is, in all this time, up until just the other day, I never noticed that little, well, side-effect to wearing ‘em. And I must’ve been goin’ around with really noticeable stripes while in Aruba, considering the bright sunshine and all.

The Floor is Open!

Now, bein’ the Middle Zone and all, the aim here is to discover lessons learned from life, right? So, with that in mind, I sat down and tried to figure out (sound of grinding gears) just exactly what kinda lesson my sandals might be tryin’ to teach me, y’know.

AND… I got nothin’. Yep, you heard it right, y’all; I didn’t get a doggone thing! It kinda makes me wonder: is there a lesson to be learned from all this?

So… with that in mind, I thought I’d open the floor up for a sorta group discussion and let y’all tell me what I’m supposed to learn! Whaddaya say, folks? How about helpin’ me out here and contributing your suggestions down there in the comment box for me, won’t ya? Get as creative as you like – the more intriguing, the better.

I’m all ears, y’all; spread the word and let’s see how many ideas you can come up with!

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It’s just an ordinary unbrella.

In fact, as umbrellas go, it’s actually not really that good. Oh, sure; it keeps the rain off ya. But still; it’s kinda small, and not all that well-made. It hangs on one of the doorknobs on the inside of the doors to my home office.

Every time I close the doors (like when I’m on the phone – or, er, hiding from household chores), I see it hanging there. It’s not that it represents that big an investment (it cost me less than 4 dollars) or that it works particularly well (it’s so small it barely covers the heads of two people – and we’re talkin’ two really close people!)

If you go around the corner, in the coat closet are bigger, better umbrellas galore. There’s one or two that fold up really small, yet somehow manage to spread out to a quite impressive size. I’ve also got two “golf” umbrellas (so-called because they’re big enough to swing a golf club under without you or the club getting wet.)

Yet this one is my favorite. Why is that, you ask? Well, as you may have guessed, it’s because it reminds me of a special time, and a special place: this is the umbrella I bought underneath the Eiffel Tower on the day we visited back in April of 2000. (In case you’re interested, I recommend you read about that fateful day in my story, Ah, Paris in the Spring. Trust me, it’ s well worth it.)

Anyhoo; that’s the real value of this little inexpensive gizmo; that it brings back a rush of wonderful memories of Mrs. MZM and I when we were in Paris. And I’ll tell ya; there’s no way to put a price on that!

When you think about it, it’s amazing the power a simple little object can hold, isn’t it? In fact, there’s an amazing number of objects around our house that are simple little things – things like a stone, a piece of driftwood, or a garage sale purchase – that truly fill our hearts and minds with memories every time we see ‘em. I bet it’s the same at your house.

So What’s YOUR Object?

So for today, let’s share a few good memories together. Take a moment and pick out your favorite item around the house, won’t you? Maybe it’s something that reminds you of a wonderful friend, a devoted spouse, or even a beautiful view you’re reminded of.

Now, down in the comment box, why don’t you tell us what it is, where you got it, and what it brings to mind, won’t you? I’ll leave the light on for ya.

A while back, Mrs. MZM and I were toolin’ along through a fairly nice neighborhood when we noticed a pile of stuff stacked out by the curb of one particular house. There were, let’s see, several big palm leaves, assorted sticks and branches (obviously some trimming going on), and three or four large cardboard boxes.

But what caught our eyes were several of those bi-fold louvered doors like the one you see in this photo, stacked on top of the whole pile. As a matter of fact, it just so happened we’d been searching for some (they make good decorating items – and who says you can’t find ‘em, y’know, free!), so we pulled over to check ‘em out (sound of car, screeching to a halt).

How many times have you found something wonderful amid a pile of old stuff? Have you ever looked? If not, you might be surprised at what you’re missing! For instance…

It’s a Kind of Seque…

Did you know there’s an amazing amount of really good stuff located deep in the archives of the Middle Zone? (And how’s that for a segue?) Like what, you ask? Well, stuff you may have missed completely, or maybe even *ahem* forgotten about. And I’m tellin’ ya, there’s some pretty nifty gems there! In fact, each one of ‘em is sorta like a door, right? (cue the Twilight Zone music) A door to another time, and another place… well, you get the drift.

Anyway, I’m gonna make it easy for you to check some of ‘em out. So every now and then (particularly when things get a little busy ‘round here), I’ll post a few links so you can check ‘em out. If you’ve already read ‘em, no worries. But if they’re posts you missed, then it may behoove you to go have a gander. Just sayin.

Let’s start with something I no longer do anymore: OOB. What in tarnation is an OOB, you ask? (And my, aren’t we full of questions today?) Well, it stands for “Out Of the Box”, and for about the first two years of the Zone’s life, it was a monthly collection of unusual, strange, and odd stuff discovered during the course of each month. The way I put it for OOB#1 was, “a few odds and ends that don’t necessarily have anything to do with anything”.

I stopped collecting these a while back, but still, I get a kick out of rereading ‘em every now and then. They’re filled with some truly memorable items, if I do say so myself! (And I believe I just did, right?)

Here’s a couple from ‘waaay back you might find worth a look:

OOB#3

OOB#4

OOB#5

Y’all have fun! (Also note, some references may be to things no longer ON the Middle Zone.)

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