Getting to the root of it all...Gratus...and the loss of oomph!

"Just for the hell of it": Over-heard in my house-hold, more often in a 'relatively' benign context, as in an expression our father used, on occasion, in a spirit of trying something, in the absence of much pressure to do so...preceded by our-selves, with "for the heck of it" as we were testing out language, on occasion or, given the low degree of chance of getting in much trouble, liberally...but these days...used so often that it almost loses its "oomph"! (when was the last time you saw/heard such an utterance?) Words and phrases that could, if well-timed, and used "in moderation" (what's that?!) be impact-full or, on the other hand, if used too often, in our days, lead to the loss of credibility...

"You're full of it!" (You, if being completely honest, now perhaps embarrassed thought I was going to end with a rhyming word). In any case, as I shared in revue a few days ago hear, as our "Nana" (everyone who grew to know her found themselves addressing her as such) a few days ago here (2/22), Eons after John Milton wrote about such conditions in "Paradise Lost" expressed her concern that over-exposure, perhaps coupled with over-indulgence, especially in the absence of purpose (i.e., the definition of "gratuitous") could lead to, what our parents also feared, would be a pre-mature loss of innocence. While, on the other hand, our parents, grandparents, and the rest of the clan who were trying in earnest to teach us the basics, informed us, taught us, modeled for us, that it was never out of fashion, always in style, in the best of taste, to express, even if...

Nudgingly, Grudgingly: through  words of gratitude, our appreciation..."Tell them you appreciate being invited over, for the snacks, for...don't forget..." These lessons in gratitude (remember that resolution many of you made last month, "to show more...") that were coupled with caveats of over-exposure, indulgences, that were part of the larger picture that informed us what it really took to make it to heaven ("if you're lucky"😇😈😢) while, especially in our state and the home town in which we resided "Hell's never far away" The latter of which led to a T-shirt with the caption, an early meme, "I've been to Hell and back in the same day" (84.2 miles roundtrip to be exact) which inevitably gave rise to, invited, begged for, smart-a - - feedback "Yeah, well don't run out of gas...say Hi to my friends while you're visiting..." The good old...

Hell-cyon Days: Almost idyllic, free of the dizzying array of choices that Nana talked with me about, that "came at" the younger generations which she, despite growing up in the days of the "Great Depression" had empathy, even a morsel of sympathy for. If she only knew what was to come or, probably in her words, "overcome"...the abundance of gratuitousness in so many forms and frequency...would even have found my father, even in the presence of Nana, resorting to his go-to, in such out-landish conditions...

"What the hell?!" Another phrase which has seen better days, with the Holly-woulds, in an attempt to "shock and awe" after so much exposure, replace it with another, which due to its profane nature, serving no value whatsoever, have our dad commenting, lamenting, on our behalf (us children and those we kept company with)...

"I swear!" A thought-full comment containing a complaint mixed with just enough contempt, to make a point...one which hopefully never loses its "Oomph!"