theremin « Words in Action: The Blog

Odds bodkins!*

Today we take a break from the usual heavy-handed linguistic and political curmudgeonry to take a look at some peculiar items I’ve discovered over the past few weeks

First: a toilet. Nothing unusual about a toilet, per se, but finding one abandoned along a side street in SoSco (south Scottsdale to you newbies) has us in a puzzlement.

Next up: a doorway with mysterious inscription. Maybe realtors know what this is about but we’re not ruling out an impending Passover visit from a Death Angel.

Number 3 is not really “odd” in the usual sense since it clearly has a well-defined purpose in these pandemic times: to open a lavatory door hands-free. It’s just that we’ve never seen such a thing, especially in a building that only has about 10 people a day trooping through. Nevertheless, way to go Glendale Community College!

This next scene is both sad and confusing. It appears a person, probably a driver, at a nice apartment complex, simply decided to open their car door and deposit a used Slurpee cup, lid and straw in the open parking space instead of the nice dumpster about 20 feet away. Not to excuse homeless folks leaving their debris along the canal, but one wonders what’s going on in otherwise rational people’s minds as they litter frivolously. (I’m reminded of my days in Saudi where men simply dropped their pre-paid telecom cards on the sidewalk absent-mindedly after entering the code into the cell phone)

Ok, this next one is admittedly a bit of a setup, at least partially. I was laying out some potstickers for dinner and accidentally plunked two of them down together… and then happened to chop a bit of mushroom, which fell into the “mouth.” (Full disclosure: I did nudge the mushroom slice a bit for photographic charm. I think I heard the potsticker mumble something like “All right, I’m ready for my closeup.”)

I wish I had spent more time getting a perfect view of this yard art adorning a Sunnyslope front yard but you can get the idea: a shovel, rake, tool yoke of some kind and whatever that beak is made of…and it’s “Cock-a-doodle doo!” neighbors. (And FYI, in my neighborhood there are at least two rooster lairs a few blocks apart. Unlike what you might think, they seem to call out at all hours of the day, usually for about 20 minutes)

As I was getting ready to post this, I heard from a birder that this critter is not really so unusual to find in the Valley. Sadly, I can’t remember where I tucked away the info, so if you can provide the identity, I would be much obliged.