I was just told --winter isn't over until the snow falls on the dogwoods.
I thought it was a pretty statement, but sad as I watch the snow fall on my dogwoods.
Then winter outlives itself as the sign of its demise.
Or the dogwoods lure the snow onward for one last glimpse of their blossoming beauty...
The Only WO'N!
Then winter outlives itself as the sign of its demise.
Or the dogwoods lure the snow onward for one last glimpse of their blossoming beauty...
Oh, swoon, you guys!
We had a beautiful weekend, I burned badly. And the locals said "winter's not over 'til the snow falls on the dogwoods." (Which turned out to be true.) I'm taking this as a kind of local "It ain't over til the fat lady sings". And I'm sure it's not said in South Carolina. If I was to write a book about this area I'd be sure to have someone say it though. I'm wondering if there is any well phrased local wisdom in other parts, that might not make it out of the area?
Which area, ladymoon? South Carolina?
I'll think upon the wisdom of my elders in Alabama and Georgia and see if I can come up with something.
The area where you are, and everyone else. The area you grew up in. The area your grandmother is from and the things she used to say that made everyone in your new hometown go huh?
Or the dogwood's snow: the white-capped branches
As to regional wisdoms, ladymoon, the fat lady sang here, where nothing long stays local. But I'll think on it.
from NY,
IP
ladym, here's one that probably is a little too local, as I never heard it but from the mouth of one terribly odd little man in Devils Lake, ND: "If that ain't the World's Fair!"
(typically said in moments of moderate frustration)
From what area, ladymoon, is the phrase winter's not over 'til the snow falls on the dogwoods.? Around here, in the Finger Lakes region of NY, it's said that spring isn't here till the peepers sound three nights in a row.
help me out here - what's a dogwood? I'm presuming it's a plant of some sort....
This one barely makes it out of my family. It is a call and response to absurdity.
"Is there a parade today?"
"Is that my car?"
This little family joke was born when my father landed in the hospital with kidney stones. We were waiting in the hallway to go in and visit when an elderly gentleman wandered by, looked out the window and uttered those two (now) immortal phrases. It became obvious to all the clan that the gentleman was a victum of Alzheimer's but it was just the comic relief we needed. When things get crazy, one of us looks at the other and says "Is there a parade today?". The other is then required to answer "Is that my car?". Then we remember that life is absurd and have a good laugh. Anyone in earshot that isn't privy to the joke just walks away scratching their head.
Oh, I almost forgot! A dogwood is a flowering tree. Lovely to look upon.
[envy emoticon]The area your grandmother is from and the things she used to say that made everyone in your new hometown go huh?
My nana used to say she was born under the shadow of the rock of cashel. but since she live in dublin, and i in NY, we, it was rare we heard her say anything!
dogwood are lovely flowering trees.
there are several christian myths about them.
one, that the dog wood tree was once a tall straight strong tree, and was used to make masts, and other heavy timbers, and it was a proud tree.
but one day, its wood was fashioned into a cross. and used to crucify the lord.
the tree beg god to strike it down, and rid the earth of dog woods, that the part the tree played in the crucifixion was more than it could bare.
but god was unwilling to destroy his own work, and told the tree, I will refashion you, and never again will your wood be used to harm people.-- and i will mark you, so all can see your part in the crucifixion.
so, now, the dog wood is small tree, with small branches, and it bear every year at easter tide, thousand of flower, each has four petals, an they are tipped red, stigmata, and the center is peirced red too, like the lords.. and all who look at the tree see beauty
less prosaic, dog wood is (was) used to make dogs..a mechanical part of of a mill, (an home sewer knows dogs.. in the throat of you sewing machine, are two feed dogs..)
printers and copiers use feed dogs too, but i don't know what property of the wood makes it good for mechical dogs.
what property of the wood makes it good for mechical dogsthe bark, silly
I do recall some catch phrases that sprang up and became popular for awhile in our local junior high and high school crowds while growing up in central New Jersey (I bet everyone has a few of those):
No thanks, I just had a grape and I'm full! For about a year and a half everybody took every opportunity to answer any offer of drink or food, and then any request, with this cockamamie phrase, and then fall on the floor laughing. How it started and where it went, I'll never know...8th and 9th grades for this one I think.
You have eyes, too!...drawing out the "eyes" in a sort of Southern accent...aiiiise. This was one of those sayings that made you sound "cool", all the "cool" or "cool wannabe" kids used it. Early high school years. Again, from where and to where...no clue.
CapK...that "grape" crack sounds like just the sort of thing you might enjoy tossing out at work the next time someone offers you a cup of coffee or snack. Deadpan delivery...to the max! The expressions
are priceless.
The Only WO'N!
Me dear ol Grannie, from Maidstone in Kent (SE England) would reduce us all to smiling puzzlement by reference to "Salomé on a rock bun!" - not sure even now I have the sense of this quite figured, but the general context was a piss-taking swipe at someone who was primping or preening about their looks!
What does the dogwood mean? I'm Pole, and I don't understand it.You explain me it, please.
Dogwood is a kind of tree. They flower in the spring, and then it snows one last time here, according to the saying. My tree's flowers are pale green and fade to white. I have seen lots of pink dogwoods elsewhere.
The dogwood tree has beautiful flowers. To see a picture and get a brief explanation:
http://www.dogwood-tree.com/OR
http://www.dogwoodshelties.net/DogwoodTree.htm
In Poland : in "name day" (12 March) of Saint Gregore winter is going to the sea.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :
Dogwood \Dog"wood`\ (-w[oo^]d`), n. [So named from skewers
(dags) being made of it. Dr. Prior. See Dag, and Dagger.]
(Bot.)
The Cornus, a genus of large shrubs or small trees, the
wood of which is exceedingly hard, and serviceable for many
purposes.
Note: There are several species, one of which, Cornus
mascula, called also cornelian cherry, bears a red
acid berry. C. florida is the flowering dogwood, a
small American tree with very showy blossoms.
Dogwood tree.
(a) The dogwood or Cornus.
(b) A papilionaceous tree ({Piscidia erythrina) growing in
Jamaica. It has narcotic properties; -- called also
Jamaica dogwood.
When dogwood is in full bloom here, so are wisteria (well, really a vine, but some people shape the vines like trees...), black cherry (extraordinarily, thickly covered with two-inch white composite blossoms looking like Persian cat tails), and the redbud blossoms are on the demise.
Botanical regards,
WordWoods