etcetera

Until today I did not know that the adverb et cetera had a noun form – it is spelled the same, but the space is left out between the et and the cetera – not sure which verbalistic rock I have been hiding under to miss that fact. Nor did I know that the expression “and et cetera” was redundant, since the ‘and’ is built into the definition of et cetera. Who says that an old dog – or old codger – can’t learn new words?

The expression “old codger” is also somewhat redundant because a codger is an eccentric man, especially one who is old. The word codger would have to be considered a bit sexist inasmuch as it only describes an eccentric old man. Not sure what an eccentric older woman is called and do not wish to get in trouble by even approaching the subject any closer than I have already.

The first definition of eccentric is something or someone deviating from the accepted or customary character or practice, or that is unconventional, peculiar, or odd. Now while I fully grasp the meaning of the word as it applies to people, I also know that we are all unique and different from and peculiar to, each other. Therefore I offer that we are all eccentric, it’s just the most radically eccentric ones that get so labeled and noticed as such.

As applied to humans, a label is a short word or phrase descriptive of a person. American Indians of long ago received their adult name – or label, in a sense – from some large event in their life. I’ve read the stories surrounding the naming of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, but I couldn’t help wondering about Running Bear. My main question about that was whether this particular Indian was chasing the bear or if the bear was chasing him. It seems to me that playing tag with a bear might negate the necessity to come up with a name for the Indian that got tagged by the bear.

One thing does lead to another and talking about bears made me think about my adventures with animals today. In spite of my delicate condition – still having trouble with back and leg – I can still run the vacuum if I space out the efforts with rest periods. The carpeted parts of the house offer many hiding places for dust bunnies, but the laminate flooring of our kitchen and dining area offers no such places of sanctuary.

At the very beginning of the vacuum efforts of the dining area, one of the largest dust bunnies that I have ever seen came from under the edge of the table – this was the mother of all dust bunnies. If this bunny had been used for food, it would have fed a dust family for several days. When I was through, all the bunnies had been rounded up and placed in captivity.

Captivity is not a good thing to us humans when speaking in a physical sense, but when spiritual captivity is added, it is even worse - basically double bondage. But if a person is spiritually free, this freedom can be maintained even in physical imprisonment. The only REAL freedom is the freedom of the soul and spirit that is offered by and though the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and can be received by “whosoever will” come to Him and ask. ec