Wednesday 3 June 2009

Ahhh ... chooo!

I just sneezed three times! Normally I would only sneeze two times. (Yes I do keep track.) No one is here so I say "bless you" to myself. Which made me think. Where did this come from? The blessing after a sneeze. Does everybody do it? So I decided to look this up and I have to say most of us need to get a life! There are pages and pages out there on sneezing habits. Different countries have different sayings but some sayings pop up in a lot of countries. The most commonly used statement in many countries is "bless you" followed by a close second is "gesundheit".

Firstly, the "Bless you" or "God Bless You" saying that I hear in Canada, is also said in the UK, Australia and U.S.A. All of these seem to be based on the ancient belief that when you sneeze your soul may escape and saying bless you keeps you soul in or that your heart stops when you sneeze so again to keep your soul in place they say bless you. But I also read that some believe that a devil dwells in us all .When this devil is irritated sneezing happens, so saying "Bless you" prevents it from worsening. Also, in the days of the great plagues, it was well know that the plague started with a cold, so saying bless you was hoping it was nothing worse and god bless you if it is!
Many countries say something to the effect of "Health" or "Good Health". Holland says "gezonhied", health. The sneezer replies bedankt, thank you. In Argentina it is "Salud", health. Yugoslavians respond to a sneeze with "Na zdravlje!" which means "for your health".
Germany - "Geshundheit", health
Lithuania - "Sveikata", to your health
Poland - "Na zddrowie", health.
Other countries, such as Iran, "Afiyat bashe"say I wish you good health or"Elahi shokr" thank God for health.
In France they say "Tes souhaits", to your dreams (to come true) or "Tes amours", to your loves!
I think I will adopt this one! It sounds cooler! "Achoo!" "Tes souhaits! May your dreams come true!".

Does any one know of any more sayings and most importantly:How many times in a row do you sneeze?
I would love to hear from you, leave a comment and let me know.


Tuesday 2 June 2009

Yukon Jack - heads up!

Yukon Jack - I was looking up information on whiskey, particularly Yukon Jack when I found this Yukon Jack. Apparently a comic book hero from marvel comics.
He is a very skilled hand to hand fighter, usually fighting with a very strong and durable bone knife. He is apparently immune to temperature changes despite wearing little more than a loincloth. Hmm.. I think I prefer the Whiskey!

Monday 1 June 2009

Stand Alone



This picture was taken by the locks in Lindsay. I had been sitting in a pub having dinner and watching two Herons flying in between these buildings to the nest they had built behind this bridge. After dinner we walked into this park that gave us a view off the locks and the river and guess who was sitting on the bridge just waiting for me to take his picture!