What was your worst wedding gift?

  Everyone gets at least one weird wedding gift. We may have gotten a few more than that but as a young couple in 1974 we were grateful for anything.
  The congregation of Foothill Baptist in Sylmar Calif was a generous group. With 3 wedding showers and gifts given at the wedding, our home was filled with many lovely and practical things. We had a new sofa, dining table, bed and dishes. We did return 11 of the 12 popcorn poppers we received but kept the case of popcorn.
  But my Mothers gift stood out above them all. In fact, this 1954 Westinghouse refrigerator stood sturdily humming in the garage for 20 years filled with the overflow from the kitchen fridge. Like many things built in days gone by it was a work horse. Nothing had ever broken or fallen off including the paint. There it stood in all its glory- Flamingo Pink- as the trades called it.
  Now what was a modern bride to do when the fashion colors of the day were stomach churning
        Burnt Orange, Avocado green and Harvest yellow. This pink wasn't even on the color wheel ( dont think those colors were either).
  So I drug the old thing into the driveway for a make-over. Wow-  4 cans of white spray paint later it was almost like having a new fridge- except that once we moved it to our kitchen, it moaned instead of hummed, smelled like a dead fish, and had a drip pan for excess condensation. I didn't know it had to be emptied and cleaned weekly leading to stagnant water and mold.

  I dont remember what happened to PINKY when Mike joined the Air Force and we moved to South Dakota, but I sure wouldn't mind having that "retro" fridge humming in my garage. The restored ones start at about $4000.00.
 
      

Do you fear Heliconia Latispatha ?

I wasn't much of a TV watcher growing up.

In the 1960's when most of my friends watched Felix the Cat, The Flintstones or Bugs Bunny I was happily playing some make believe game or reading a book. 

But that all came to a halt for 2 hours on Saturday afternoon when I raced to the den, closed the curtains, shut the door and grabbed a pillow as I scrunched into the sofa to be terrified by CHILLER THEATER. As the name implies it sent chills up my 6 year old spine as more and more of the pillow covered my face.

  Needless to say while most children were afraid of the dark or the Wicked Witch of the West I lived in terror of the Crawling Hand under my bed, the Blob oozing up from the plumbing or the 30 foot eyeball staring at me outside the window. 

    And thats when I developed my fear of Heliconia Latispatha. 

    The producer of the 1956 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS had the wrong alien plant. 

    It was this one!

    This creepy, gnarly, flamed colored flowering plant flanked the walkway to my front door. I always looked over my shoulder while passing. I felt its bird like head watching, waiting for me to let my guard down and blow spores into my face - making me forget I was human.