Tai Shan, the Panda Pause That Refreshes
Catching up on some previous columns:
One of the poems I printed last month in honor of giant panda Tai Shan's birthday left Kara McGuirk of Annapolis with a bad taste in her mouth. It was the one that ended: "Bah humbug Tai Shan! Please go away."
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Wrote Kara: "In an increasingly complicated world, where we are always short on time and money, the joyless among us pop their heads out of the crowd and yell at the top of their lungs 'I am miserable! I am unhappy! I am glum, bleak, blue, sad and cheerless!' "
Kara said she felt sorry for these people. "Sorry you can't appreciate the little things, sorry you feel the need to make the rest of us equally as miserable, and sorry you can't experience joy. For everyone else, the next time someone blares their car horn at you, just smile and think of Tai Shan."
In other words, take time to stop and smell the pandas.
A Close Shave
My mention of the Burma Shave signs brought a bounty of reminiscences, including a note from Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who as a boy would travel with his parents from their home in Montpelier to visit his grandparents.
"I was five-years-old and learning to read, so my parents would encourage me to look for new Burma Shave signs as we drove along," Leahy wrote. "I remember well the very last ones I saw in Vermont. They said: 'Spring has sprung/ the grass has riz/ where last year's/ careless driver is.'
"Why this has stuck in my memory all these years, I do not know, but your column brought it back."
Burma Shave signs may be a thing of the past, but if you've driven down Fort Hunt Road south of Alexandria, you might have thought that they were resurrected. The Hollin Hills Swimming Pool appropriated the style to attract members.
Some of the signs have included: "Want to wear/ a smaller size?/ Enjoy our pool/ to exercise" and "Your toddler doesn't/ need to fry/ Our wading pool/ has trees nearby."
The method worked. "The membership filled!" Judith Rosen wrote.
Park Place
My column on SUV drivers who park in spots marked "Small Cars Only" mostly brought more SUV-bashing. But several readers who drive sport-utility vehicles and minivans said they're forced to park in compact spaces because the regular spaces are filled with small cars.