Make Me Think Monday Archives - View from the Front Porch

31 08, 2026

Change and Cemeteries

By judythemorgan|2026-08-29T16:21:40-05:00August 31st, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

If you’ve ever been to Ireland, you’ve seen many churchyards like this one. I snapped this picture on a trip in 2015, then used it for a Wednesday blog quote in 2019. Unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly which church this is.

The full quote (not used in the meme) from British politician Harold Wilson reads, “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.”

It’s a timeless message about embracing change in our lives.

August ends today, which means change for most of us. School started for many. Vacations ended. Gone are carefree days without schedules. Some of us will baulk at that. On the other hand, cooler weather is coming, which will be welcomed after this brutally hot summer.

Resisting changes hinders our ability to adapt and grow. We put ourselves on a path of stagnation and decay. We become like the cemetery pictured above.

Change is the natural flow of life. By adapting, we become the architects of our own personal growth.

For me, Harold Wilson’s quote makes the unpleasant changes to come—which are inevitable anyway—more palatable. Who wants to be stagnant and dead like a cemetery?

16 08, 2026

Words and Wordsmithing

By judythemorgan|2026-08-15T21:17:09-05:00August 16th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday, Writer's Corner, writing, Writing Craft|0 Comments

Parts of speech were taught when I went to school, along with how to diagram sentences to understand their use.

Here’s a quick refresher:

Nouns: people, places, things, or ideas.
Pronouns: a word used in place of a noun.
Verbs: words that express action or being.
Adjectives: words that describe nouns or pronouns.
Adverbs: words that describe a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Prepositions: words placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.
Conjunctions: words that join words, phrases, or clauses.
Interjections: words used to express emotion.

Until recently, I thought that covered all the word groups. I’ve discovered there are many more words to describe the way we use words. Here are a few:

Retronym: a modifier added to describe what was once its default meaning. Such as:

cloth diaper since most diapers now are disposable,
snail mail because, you know, email,
whole milk because of almond milk and other flavors.
regular coffee, plain M&Ms, also because of the added flavors now.

Get the idea? But be cautious: a retronym is not always an adjective/noun combination. It’s a word with a qualifier to refer to the original meaning of the word.

Thus, chocolate chip is not a retronym. Neither is cellular phone. Chocolate and cellular are descriptive.

Tmesis: a new word formed by placing one word in the middle of another.

Not a new concept: George Bernard Shaw used it in “Pygmalion”: Fan-bloody-tastic or abso-blooming-lutely.

Capitonym: a word that changes meaning, and sometimes pronunciation, when capitalized, i.e., mobile meaning moving or Mobile meaning the city in Alabama. Other examples include August, the month, or august, the adjective meaning respected and important.

Bahuvrihi: just saying this correctly should earn you extra credit points. If you want help, try here.

The word is Sanskrit and actually a bahuvrihi itself, which means “much rice” but refers to a rich man. Other examples would be barefoot, graybeard, redhead, or blue-collar/white-collar or old money.

Embolalia: words or sounds added into speech. It’s the words we use in stammered speech as we arrange our thoughts. Examples: well, but, I guess, um, you know.

Metonym or Metonymy: using the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part, i.e., the bottle for strong drink, count heads (or noses) for count people, hoops for basketball, Capitol Hill for the US. Congress.

Mondegreen: is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are generally understood not to be intentional.

Around our family, the song “Elvira” is forever called It’ll Fire Up. Other examples: dawnzer lee light for the mishearing of the “dawn’s early light” lyric of the “Star- Spangled Banner,” or The ants are my friends for “The answer, my friend” in “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan.

Portmanteau: two or more words are joined to coin a new word, which refers to a single concept, i.e., education + entertainment = edutainment, fan + magazine = fanzine, motor + hotel = motel, spoon + fork= spork

Slurvian: basically, this is a word that is slurred together.

Examples: d’ja, a slurred form of “did you”; wanna for want to; and the ubiquitous y’all for you all. That last example is considered standard English where I live. 😊

These new parts of speech are fascinating to me as a wordsmith and a word game player. I’m surprised at how often I hear them used in everyday conversation. Listen and you might be surprised too.

27 07, 2026

Summer Dog Days

By judythemorgan|2026-07-26T16:15:26-05:00July 27th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

The dog days of summer are here. It’s hot. It’s humid, and there’s no relief in sight. Where I live, we’re floating in swimming pools and searching for parking spaces beneath shade trees when we must go out.

Mostly we’re hibernating inside with air-conditioning to escape the heat and stay cool. My dog doesn’t move from in front of his fan.

The term “Dog Days” has been used forever to describe the hottest, most sweltering weeks of summer, but summer heat doesn’t really have anything to do with dogs. It comes from astronomy, specifically the Dog Star Sirius, which rises and sets with the Sun in the summertime.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the brightness of the Dog Star Sirius added heat to the sun and produced a long stretch of sultry weather during the forty days beginning July 3 and ending August 11.

The accuracy of those ancient “dog day” dates doesn’t hold today, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jim Andrews. Summer dog day dates actually vary based on the rotation of the Earth and whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere.

Anyone who’s lived in Texas knows that dog days can (and do) begin well before July 3 and extend long after August 11. Afternoon temperatures can soar into the nineties with heat indexes in triple digits. Heat wave warnings are sounded well into September.

Fortunately, dog days don’t last forever, even though it feels like it. And summer can have its charm. It’s a laid-back time. Time to enjoy:

~Swimming

~Going barefoot

~Ice cream cones and frozen slushies.

~Watermelon and fresh veggies.

~ Lazy days

~Sitting under the porch fan and reading

~Sipping Dog-Day Iced Tea

Here’s a great recipe for Dog Days Iced Tea from the Old Farmer’s Almanac

Ingredients

7 bags black tea (English, Earl Grey, etc.)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup mint leaves and sprigs, divided
2 cups of chilled orange juice
1 orange, sliced crosswise
1 lemon, sliced crosswise
ice cubes

Instructions

Brew a strong tea in about 10 cups of water. While still hot, add sugar and about a dozen mint leaves. Let cool.
Remove tea bags and mint; then add orange juice, fruit slices, and ice.
Serve over more ice, garnish with fresh mint sprigs, and add a fruit slice or two to each glass.

Mostly remember: Fall is coming! This heat will pass…

Unless you live in Texas. Here we’ll be hot until November, maybe December, but we don’t have snow and ice to deal with. 😉

20 07, 2026

Celebrating Summer with Ice Cream

By judythemorgan|2026-07-17T12:53:32-05:00July 20th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

In 1984, July was designated National Ice Cream Month in the United States.

We can thank President Reagan for the celebration. He adored ice cream, as do 90% of Americans, who consume over 20 gallons per person annually.

I’m with President Reagan. Around our house, ice cream is the dessert of choice.

Before you start with all the extra calories talk, stop and consider all the ways ice cream is the perfect way to celebrate summer or any special occasion. The rich, creamy taste has a chill that cools us down in the summer heat.

Ice cream is a memory maker, too.

I remember as a child sitting on my grandparents’ hand-cranked homemade freezer at family gatherings. Someone had to keep the canister in the ice that was sprinkled with ice cream salt so it’d thicken. I still get a chill and a big smile thinking about it.

Ice cream is great for social gatherings, which means a sure yes from guests. Even the most formal event deserves ice cream. I’ve been to formal sit-down events where ice cream was dessert.

Have a tough decision to make—like selling/buying a house, getting a car, or changing careers? An ice cream cone or dish of your favorite flavor is sure to make the decision easier.

Ice cream is my comfort food. When my mood is down or sad, a scoop of vanilla with chocolate syrup is sure to cheer me up. How about you?

There’s ice cream for everyone: regular, sugar-free, lactose-free, frozen yogurt, homemade, piled high in a cone or scooped into a bowl with toppings galore.

Flavors range from Neapolitan to chocolate chip cookie dough to Banana Pudding to Pistachio Almond. Plain old vanilla is still the top flavor according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

Our love for ice cream goes way, way back. Ancient Chinese were the first to discover that cold + sweet created a delicious treat that resembles what we enjoy today. Most famous leaders, from Roman Emperor Nero to Alexander the Great, enjoyed cold treats.

By the 1500s, ice cream had spread throughout Europe, though only wealthy aristocrats could afford the expensive treat.

No one knows for sure when ice cream made its way to the US, but at least two early presidents were fans. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first known American ice cream recipe, and George Washington reportedly spent $200 in a single summer on ice cream.

Celebrating ice cream also supports our dairy farmers. But when it comes down to it… Do we really need a reason?

This year, National Ice Cream Day was Sunday, July 19. If you missed it, no worries. July’s not over.

Grab a dish or a cone and dig in today.

13 07, 2026

Patriotism and The World Cup

By judythemorgan|2026-07-13T08:18:46-05:00July 13th, 2026|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

The American Crisis is a collection of articles and essays written by Thomas Paine during the American Revolutionary War. Those essays provided ongoing support for an independent and self-governing America through the many severe crises of that war.

I’m a military brat and an Army officer’s wife. I grew up on posts where Reveille, Retreat, and Taps played.

I vividly remember hearing Retreat sounded at the end of the day when we lived on post. If I were outside, I would get out of my car and place my hand over my heart with pride. Hearing Taps played at military funerals brings the same feelings. So does singing the national anthem.

The lack of patriotism today feels like a Thomas Paine crisis to me and makes me sad.

The World Cup coverage highlighted so many of the positive things now taken for granted. Reels and reels on social media were posted by over 1.5 million people who came to our country en masse and experienced the U.S. for the first time. They experienced our countryside, food, citizens, and freedoms up close and were amazed.

The visitors’ comments on social media were a poignant reminder of what we have that others don’t and what we take for granted.

“You have so much to see, do, and eat.”

“There are free refills here…and air conditioning!”

They were shocked to discover the United States is so different from how it’s depicted on social media.

“OMG, you’re actually nice, generous people, …”

Our international World Cup visitors held up a looking glass, showing us everything we take for granted.

Maybe it’s time to sit back and think about what our visitors saw and felt—to internalize the freedoms we earned in the Revolutionary War and be proud of our country.

Personally, watching the reaction of our visitors, I’ve regained a new appreciation for my life and all my creature comforts. Shouldn’t we all do the same?

Please, this isn’t about politics or the games themselves, so any of those comments will be removed.

6 07, 2026

Deviled eggs and Semiquincentennial Celebrations

By judythemorgan|2026-07-05T10:16:12-05:00July 6th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

I’m guessing many semiquincentennial July 4th cookouts included deviled eggs. Ours did.

The recipe is my mother’s. Though she never wrote it out, I watched her enough to know to mix the egg yolks, mustard, mayonnaise, and sweet relish, then fill the hollowed-out egg whites.

Sometimes I switch dill relish for sweet relish and use Miracle Whip instead of mayo. Don’t tell Mother. She’d probably spin in her grave if she knew.

Our family cookouts in the past have included other family recipes, like Aunt Bick’s baked beans, homemade ice cream, and my mother-in-law’s chocolate cake [the one with the secret coffee ingredient that my father-in-law never knew about because he didn’t like coffee].

This year, the grill baton was passed to our grandson, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. The first thing he did was buy a much-needed new grill. Our hot dogs were perfectly cooked!

All the guests bought dishes to share. We had pasta salad, chicken salad, dips, and fruit salads, plus desserts galore. I, of course, brought Mother’s deviled eggs on my sister-in-law’s special egg plate, pictured above.

As we ate, we wondered how stuffed eggs came to be called deviled. Out popped the phones, and the race for the answer began.

The answer: By 1800, deviling became the verb to describe the process of making food spicy.

We also learned:

Deviled eggs have been around since the first century in ancient Rome.
The recipe was first compiled sometime between the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.
By the 15th century, stuffed eggs had made their way across much of Europe.
The popular egg hors d’oeuvres are also called “mimosa eggs,” “stuffed eggs,” “dressed eggs” or “salad eggs”—especially when served at church functions.

Why change the name for church potlucks, you ask? I’m guessing to avoid any association with Satan.

We also learned that most published recipes since the 1940s use mayonnaise, so Mother was right again. 😉

Deviled egg recipe variations include fresh dill, bacon, crabmeat, sriracha, kimchi, wasabi, and caviar. I am so happy that some of those extras were not in my mother’s recipe!

If you had stuffed eggs at your semiquincentennial celebration, did you call them angel eggs or deviled eggs?

29 06, 2026

Are We Rushing through Life?

By judythemorgan|2026-05-28T08:56:27-05:00June 29th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Feels like life is always in a rush. We hustle from one thing to the next through the days.

It’s interesting to note that the first definition of the word RUSH is:

to move, act, or progress with speed, impetuosity, or violence.

I’m okay with moving with speed when needed, but impetuosity or violence, not so much.

My daddy always cautioned, “Slow down. Haste makes waste.”

Okay, I know those words weren’t original with my Daddy, but the older I get, the wiser his words become.

Of course, there are times when it is necessary to RUSH and move quickly. For instance:

Catching a plane or train.

Meeting deadlines.

Responding to medical emergencies or urgent repairs.

Arriving on time for important meetings or appointments.

Being on time for events like weddings, plays, or concerts.

Unless I’m facing one of those situations, I prefer not to rush through things. In my experience, the important things get done just as the quote says.

Do you agree?

22 06, 2026

Summer’s Arrived

By judythemorgan|2026-06-21T15:30:44-05:00June 22nd, 2026|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Summer officially arrived yesterday.

Of course, if you judge by the ninety-degree temperatures we’ve been having, it’s been here since May.

Each day forward, we will head to bed later as dawn comes earlier, long days, late sunsets, and short nights begin.

Yesterday, the sun reached its highest point, signaling the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, south of the equator, winter begins.

The summer solstice has been around since the world began. Ancient cultures recognized that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted regularly throughout the year.

Stonehenge stands as a testament to their knowledge. The summer solstice sun rises directly above the heel stone at Stonehenge.

Psychologists have long suspected a link between our level of happiness and the amount of sunlight in the day.

Studies show that what truly mattered was not the absolute amount of daylight but the relative change in that daylight. Or was the day longer or shorter than the day that came before?

When the change in daylight was positive, as the summer solstice approached, people reported significantly greater positive effects than when the change was negative, i.e., approaching the winter solstice, when days are short and dark. No surprise there!

Not only was yesterday the longest day of the year, but it was also Father’s Day. We had the longest day of the year to celebrate the dads, grandfathers, and father figures who shape our lives with strength, love, and quiet dedication,

That won’t happen again until 2037. Father’s Day date changes because the holiday is anchored to a weekday rule, not a calendar number: the third Sunday in June, every year, without exception. Same as Mother’s Day.

Now that summer is officially here, it will last 93 long days, 15 hours, and 40 minutes and end on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at 8:05 PM EDT.

Some are happy.

Some of us, not so much.

8 06, 2026

The Wedding Dress

By judythemorgan|2026-05-31T16:11:06-05:00June 8th, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Before the 1800s, brides rarely bought a special wedding dress, opting instead for a homemade dress or their best outfit. White fabric was impractical and expensive. It was reserved for the wealthy.

Other wedding dress colors also have symbolic meanings.

Married in White, you have chosen right
Married in Grey, you will go far away
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in Blue, you will always be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
Married in Pink, your spirit will sink.

Wearing a white wedding dress originated in 1499 with Anne of Brittany’s marriage to Louis XII of France. When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, wearing a white gown, the white wedding dress became popular.

Nowadays, a white wedding dress is the traditional classic.

But brides often choose colors based on personal style or cultural traditions. Colors like ivory, blush, and blue, as well as black or patterned dresses, are now common.

What Does the Groom Wear?

The groom’s suit should match the bride’s choice. That might be a dress suit, a cutaway suit, or a tuxedo.

A cutaway suit is distinct from a tuxedo or a standard suit because it has a unique tailcoat design with a front that tapers away into long tails at the back. The cutaway is usually worn with a waistcoat (vest), a crisp dress shirt, and a tie or cravat and matching striped or checked trousers.

Accessories might include a boutonniere, a pocket watch, and sometimes a top hat, depending on the formality and wedding theme.

There is no symbolism in his clothing like the bride’s. There is meaning in the boutonniere he chooses. Different flowers traditionally represent love, devotion, or gallantry.

A red chrysanthemum means “I love you,” a white rose means “I am worthy of you,” and a sweet William stands for gallantry. Find out more about the meaning of flowers here.

If you are married, what was your wedding dress like?

1 06, 2026

Wedding Traditions

By judythemorgan|2026-05-30T09:21:00-05:00June 1st, 2026|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

It’s June, the most popular month for weddings. What makes June so popular for weddings?

First, the month is named for the goddess Juno, protector of women, especially in marriage and childbearing. A wedding in Juno’s month provides a providential start.

The second reason comes from the Celtic calendar.

On the Cross-Quarter Day of Beltane, May 1^st, young couples would pair off to court for 3 months then be wed on the next Cross-Quarter Day, which was Lammas Day, August 1. Impatient couples shortened that to mid-June, and thus June became the month of weddings.

Another contributing factor is June’s pleasant weather, which makes it easier for guests to travel to your wedding.

Sunday used to be the most popular wedding day until the Puritans strict adherence to no festiveness on the Sabbath stopped that.

In the United States, Wednesday used to be considered the luckiest day for weddings. Friday was avoided as the “hangman’s day.” Now Saturdays are by far the busiest day for weddings.

Brides seem to ignore the old rhyme:

“Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best of all; Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, Saturday for no luck at all.”

Wedding Party Traditions

Traditionally, only an unmarried woman could be the maid of honor, and only the brother, best friend, or father of the groom could be the best man.

In the past, bridesmaids were used as “stand-ins” for the bride to protect her from evil spirits. They would look and dress much like the bride to fool the spirits until the wedding.

Another theory is that bridesmaids were necessary as witnesses at a wedding. That one comes from the fact that ancient Rome required at least ten witnesses to get married.

Still, another reason for the bridesmaid and best man was to help capture a runaway bride or recover a bride kidnapped by a rejected suitor. They also made sure she got to the church on time and kept hostile family members away.

These days, bridesmaids usually help the bride with dressing. The groomsmen usher guests to their seats, and the best man carries the ring and offers a toast at the reception.

Flower girls were once meant to protect the bride from the Devil with their shield of virginity. Today, a girl, a boy, or even a dog can be seen as the ring bearer and/or flower girl.

Why Be Given Away?

This tradition evolved from the days when men bought brides from their fathers. Today, brides may ask either or both parents to walk them down the aisle. Or not.

The Wedding Vows

The declaration of vows symbolizes the moment when a couple officially becomes one, though the wording varies by religion. Or couples can write their own vows.

The most often used vow is the traditional version.

Wedding Rings

At most wedding ceremonies, the exchange of rings follows the vows and seals those promises. The ring symbolizes the unbroken circle of love, and, at many ceremonies, more vows are spoken as rings are exchanged.

While at some religious ceremonies only one partner receives a ring, many couples choose to have a double-ring ceremony. A practice that became popular in the United States after World War II.

Throwing Rice

Wedding guests usually toss rice or birdseed as the couple leaves the ceremony. The practice predates Christianity and signifies the guests’ and family’s wishes for good fortune, a prosperous marriage, and children if they desire.

Interesting that the ancient Celts tossed grains to appease spirits and ask for blessings and fertility for the couple. Ancient Romans used wheat. Italians toss candies or sugared nuts. The Polish use rice and place coins at the couple’s feet to ensure prosperity. In Morocco, it’s dried dates or figs, and in Eastern India, the tradition is a rain of flower petals.

Why A Diamond Engagement Ring?

Before 1477, engagement rings held different stones. The diamond engagement ring was first used in Austria when Archduke Maximilian presented Mary of Burgendy with a diamond. After that, the diamond became the symbol of love.