Monday, December 24, 2007

Deep Thoughts on a Long Day

Yesterday I drove up to Logan with my husband, my kids and my mom to have a family Christmas dinner with my sisters and their families. There's nothing like a long drive with a car full of children to make one have weird thoughts, and add a long Sacrament meeting onto that, it's perfect blog fodder.

Thought During Sacrament Meeting:

The Prompt: A Christmas story in which a contented cow was mentioned.

My thoughts: What's up with all this "contented cow" business? Do you know how many times I've heard the word "contented" hooked to the word "cow?" How do we know those cows really are contented? How do we know they aren't just biding their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike? They've lulled us into a sense of false security, making us think they're contented, when in reality, we're all going to wake up one morning and find ourselves in the middle of a cow uprising. Mark my words.

Thought While Driving, Listening to the Radio:

The Prompt: The song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

My thoughts: What is with the line, "There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago?" Who tells ghost stories on Christmas? Isn't that more of a Halloween thing? And if they're talking about "The Christmas Carol," that's not a scary ghost story. It's an introspective ghost story. But I guess that didn't fit in the line of the song. Hey, if you know anyone who actually tells ghost stories on Christmas, would you please tell them, on my behalf, that they are seriously whacked and need professional help?


Thought While Driving, Listening to the Radio:

The Prompt: The song, "The Christmas Song."

My thoughts: You know, I really like the line, "Everybody knows a turkey." Isn't it so true? We all do know a turkey. And, unfortunately, almost all of us are related to a turkey. Just a fact of life.


Thought on Public Restrooms:

The Prompt: The sign in the bathroom reminding employees to wash their hands before returning to work.

My thoughts: Are the employees that they've hired so dumb they can't figure out for themselves that they're supposed to wash their hands? If they're that dumb, can they even read the sign? All those signs do, at least, in my opinion, is make the customers wonder if the employees regularly forget to wash their hands, thereby making them more suspicious of purchasing food made by these employees. It raises a question that otherwise wouldn't be much of an issue. Why create suspicion and doubt? Does this create an atmosphere of trust? I think not.


Thought on Historical Accuracy, While Driving, Listening to the Radio:

The Prompt: The song "Joseph" sung by Gene Moreford.

My thoughts: This is a great song by an LDS artist that's really touching -- a woman comes to Joseph and asks him if he's the father of the man who was crucified. He replies, "I was not His father. He was mine." He then teaches the woman about Christ and His mission on earth. A great premise -- just one problem -- Joseph was dead by the time Christ was crucified. Remember how Christ turned to John while He was on the cross and told John to look after his mother as though he was her own son? She needed John's care and protection because Joseph had passed away. Therefore, he wasn't around to talk to after the crucifixion.

So, that's what my brain was doing yesterday. Pretty disturbing, huh? Well, I'd like to see you get locked up in a car for six hours with four children and see what kind of sanity you can produce at the end of the day.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

In a car that long with a bunch of little ones--I'm surprised you could even think, Tristi, let alone come up with all this amazing stuff :-)

Annette Lyon said...

You make me laugh, Tristi!

I had a friend who came up with new words for "The Christmas Song," and part of it was, "Everybody knows a turkey, and his name is Joe." Fits so well with the music, I almost sing it that way.

Merriest of Christmasses, lady!

Don said...

"Everybody knows a turkey, and some mistletoe helps to make the season bright."

Apparently, not only do we know turkeys, but we're kissing them as well.

Yup. That about sums up the holidays.

Tristi Pinkston said...

I hadn't thought about the mistletoe angle, Don, but you are so right.

mindyluwho said...

Nice to see that I'm not the only one with odd random thoughts, I'm just not sure some of mine are publishable!

Well, thanks for ruining the song about Joseph! I LOVE that song, but hadn't thought about the fact that he was dead. My mind will have to think of a different angle to appreciate the song!

Merry Christmas!

Jennifer @ Fruit of My Hands said...

Our sacrament meeting program was all about Christmas memories, not one single mention of the birth of Christ or the atonement. But, no contented cows either. *shrug*

Re ghost stories: My brother gave me an encyclopedia of magical creatures and reading it right before bed was a huge mistake. Add that to all the pagan/solstice/old world traditions I came across when I was researching Sankta Lucia, and I can kind of get where that song is coming from!

I love the Joseph song, its so beautiful. It never occurred to me to check the timeline.

Karlene said...

Funny. Very funny.

Anonymous said...

OK my dear, if you're that worried about a cow revolt, you've been reading too much of The Far Side.

But while I love the 'Joseph' song as well, I've thought the same thing over and over every time I hear it.

Good thoughts for a long drive! Funny!

Anonymous said...

Hope I'm not too late to chime in here...

Burger King sign outside Fillmore (or Beaver, or one of those towns on the way home from Grandma's):

New! Extra-large, clean restrooms!

on cows, check out the song (and video!) "Cows with Guns":

www.cowswithguns.com

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