To P or not to P, that is the question

Musings on the letter ‘P’ is what this is all about. It’s actually a thematic meme that was sent my way by cs. Since I have huge respect for her and her thoughts via her blog, I am honoured to be chosen by her, and will endeavor to do my best.

The gist of the meme is to select seven subjects beginning with the letter P. Why P? I know not. It was one sent to her. To P or not to P, that is the question, no doubt. Depends on the state of your urgency, if a body is going to be crude about the wordplay. I promise I won’t, despite the possible word considerations P brings to mind. Nope, won’t go there. And why seven? Again, I have no idea. It is a number with mystical (not to mention crapshooting) connections, but otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.

P isn’t the easiest of letters from which to choose words of personal meaning. I mean, there are ‘pachyderm’ (and I do like elephants), and polymorph, and even pi, but I don’t feel a connection, anymore than I do with psoriasis (blessedly). But, here are my seven:

Petting: Back in the days before ‘making out’ there was petting. Petting was a little more extreme than ‘necking’, since necking was mainly hugging and kissing and stuff – but not so much ‘stuff.’ Petting implied the odd ‘copping’ of a feel, which gave full marks to your average 14-year-old lad in those much more innocent times. In fact, when I was very young petting was even a borderline dirty word because it did indeed have sexual implications, especially when the truly fortunate boy got into the realm of ‘heavy petting.’

Peanuts: Despite all the hysteria surrounding the simple goober due to that relatively small percentage of the population that suffers from a particularly dreadful allergy (and they have my complete sympathy), I believe that George Washington Carver should be named a saint. I rarely go through a day without peanut butter being consumed, and I only venture into the realm of completely natural PB, such as Adams, or even Safeway’s house brand, which is surprisingly good. Peanuts in all their manifestations are wonderful, and they are even healthy. Wonderful and healthy rarely appear in combination. Peanut satay and all the various uses of the peanut, especially in Indonesian, Malay and Thai cuisine make me a significant devotee of the grub from that part of the world.

Psychiatry and Psychology: It is arguable that more lives have been saved thanks to these fields of study than have been by all the antibiotics in the world. There are few misfortunes more agonizing than mental illness, and those experts in such fields who lift their fellows from the most dreadful (and dangerous) misery are to be hugely extolled.

Pedagogery: Only mentioned because I once was a teacher, and I think a rather good one. So did not a few of my charges. Good teachers are born and they offer approaches to life that will stay with their former students forever if the task has been carried out properly. Good teachers should be hugely rewarded. Bad teachers should be pilloried, drawn and quartered because their lack of talent also stays with the unfortunate who have had to endure them.

Polynesia: I have already mentioned before how much I like the Hawaiian Islands, but I also like the whole of Polynesia, the culture, and especially the people. It’s something to do with the vastness of the Pacific and the fact that these people – who we of European and North American extraction deigned to refer to as ‘savages’ – via celestial navigation exclusively made the huge journey from what is now French Polynesia to the Hawaiian Islands, literally thousands of miles away and a place to which they’d never been. They also traveled from the Cook Islands to New Zealand, and arguably visited the shores of both North and South America. And I also happen to like the sound of the trade winds ruffling coconut palm fronds.

Panties: I promised to not be salacious, and I will not. I just happen to like the word, not to mention the garment, of all cuts and materials. Women have told me they don’t really like the word and feel it has both cutesy and sexual undertones. Probably. So, they prefer underpants, pants, undies, knickers or whatever else this nether garment might go by. But for me, hey, a rose by any name, etc.

Plumeria: My absolute favorite tropical tree. Call it a frangipani if you will, but that doesn’t change the enticing fragrance that lets me know I’m in the tropics.

Ponderosa Pine: I also, while speaking of matters botanical, love the plants of the dry belt, and the magnificent ponderosa with its huge needles and massive cones exemplifies a place that smells of sage and dryness. Having just been there I found I remained as charmed.

Oops, I did eight. Oh well, that’s OK. Cs did six. I don’t think it’s arbitrary that it must be seven. If so, then I guess I will have to be punished.

Now, I am supposed to tag five worthy souls to continue this on. If you accept the tag, please do so. If not, don’t worry about it. So, my taggees are jmb, Liz, Jazz, Wolfgirl, and Leesa.