Here's one that arrived by email yesterday. There're lots of these, and very few of them are worth passing on. This is the exception:

Dead Horses

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

In modern education and government, however, a whole range of far more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:-

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Threatening the horse with termination.

4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5. Arranging to visit other countries to see how others ride dead horses.

6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

7. Re-classifying the dead horse as "living, impaired".

8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.

10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.

11. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.

12. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead, and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.

13. Re-writing the expected performance requirements for all horses.

14. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Capital, your post reminded me of a story (but then, pretty much everything reminds me of a story... )

In the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, is a national park encompassing a huge dune area, which includes two islands just off the shore, the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The name is from Indian legend, a poignant story:

Long ago, along the Wisconsin shoreline, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The bears swam for many hours, but eventually the cubs tired and lagged behind. Mother bear reached the shore and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. Too tired to continue, the cubs drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit Manitou created two islands to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared and then created a solitary dune to represent the faithful mother bear.

You can see a picture of the dunes area here:

http://www.nps.gov/slbe/home.htm

In Japan, two lovers were forbidden by their respective families to marry so they fled together with both families in pursuit. Finally they came to the sea and, determined not to be parted, they went into the sea and drowned. The Gods took pity and turned each into a large stone and they are there to this day, parted by a bit of sea but still side by side.
The Japanese memorialize this love by connecting them with a rope from which flowers and bits of colored cloth are hung by others who believe in true love.
At least that's how it was told to me when I saw a picture of the sea washed stones tied to each other forever.
wow

Not as poignant but apropo: "Running Bear, loved Little White Dove, with a love that wouldn't die"

The Dakota Indians had a great chief, Like A Rock (he had a great pickup line anyway!). He had twin sons, Running Bear and Falling Rock, who competed to be his successor by going on lone walkabouts. Only Running Bear came back. And to this time throughout the west, there are signs that ask you to "Watch out for Falling Rock."

Ted-- he was a Mohegian-- I saw sign and heard about poor Falling Rock in my childhood-- here in NY.

NY granite (or to be more precise, the north east schist and gniess) are not are prone to fractures as some of the shale found it the west, and we don't have earthquakes of any size--we do have lots of water that freezes and fractures rocks.

your post reminded me of a story

Indigenous mythology is so much more colourful than prosaic scientific geology, isn't it? The URL below explains the "origin" of a prominent landmark in my home town.

http://www.temata.hb.co.nz/legend.html

My great grandfather was one of the first white people to make more or less normal shoes for the Indians up in that part of New York. Not an easy task because the Indian foot has different proportions than does the average caucasian foot. He had to hand carve new wooden forms for the shoes, one of which I proudly display above my fireplace -- Yep, it's the Last of the Mohicans.

Ooooh, TEd. My eyes are burning from that one. [head-shaking, slightly nauseated emoticon] In the future, please exercise a shade more pity on our poor soles.

Wow, FiberB., good idea. But I think, instead of a Ted horse, I'll just flog the Tedster. Oh, Ted-dee, dearest,
where are you-oo?[evil grin emoticon]

please exercise a shade more pity on our poor soles.

I'm sure he'll mullet (D)over soles(hi, Maxie), she said,
fishing for compliments.
Oh, I made a pun at last.

TEd, if I ever lay my hands on you, you'll fin(ish) up on a gurney ...

TEd, if I ever lay my hands on you, you'll fin(ish) up on a gurney ...

If it's a tight fit, your sole recourse might be, fin(ally),
a s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r.

A Procrustean bed?

>TEd, if I ever lay my hands on you, you'll fin(ish) up on a gurney ...

Putting the cart before the horse again, I see. Just don't litter.