Blergh

You know, I could actually imagine a child Esther getting a child Zeb to have DONE that (and yes I think it's likely they each were smaller/bigger than average even as children and kept those basic dimensions their entire lives)!

Today, for the first time in my locale since Tuesday, the sun actually came out and SHINED- as opposed to having been rainy, overcast or just gloomy. Yeah, I know it doesn't actually magically change stuff for the better. However, it proved to be a good morale booster when I looked out the window at work and I was also thankful Mama got to see it outside her kitchen window!

I recall in my youth that the term 'joey' when used for non-adult kangaroos as per the contemporary dictionaries was supposed to have been a word from an Australian Aboriginal language (but which of the 900+ known languages was not specified). Now it has 'unknown' origins so I'm wondering if perhaps the early English settlers might have asked a local Australian Aborigine what they called non-adult kangaroos and the individual responded- but whoever the first English speaker to use it might not have bothered to ask which TRIBE the Australian Aborigine informant came from. One thing I'm sure that EACH surviving Australian Aboriginal language has individualized terms for non-adult wombats, kangaroos, gliders and bandicots! Just like each European language has individualized terms for non-adult dogs, cats, horses, cows and sheep- instead of just terming them 'puppies'! BTW, 'kangaroo' IS somewhat documented as having been first recorded in 1770 from a Northeast [Queensland] Australian tribe and I guess that a British mariner wrote it down and it would be used from that point on (which is better than just having them being called 'pocket-hoppers']!

While we're talking Grandma, I thought it was an interesting touch to have her hand cut her youngest grandchild Elizabeth's food at the dinner table in the first Season even though Elizabeth herself was already old to have done this herself! I wonder if the others who only had maybe a year or two of being 'the baby' before being displaced by a new sib might have resented Elizabeth for having gotten Grandma's table pampering as a 7-year-old. In any case, Olivia herself seemed to have no problems with Grandma being a 'co-mother' to her youngest child at least at the dinner table.

It also needs to be said that Miss Corby herself not only bonded with the entire cast and would consider them her de facto family (along with her companion Stella Lucheta) for the rest of her life but she encouraged Eric Scott (Ben) to consider his shorter than average height to be a blessing so that he could keep his character younger longer therefore less expendable! And it worked since Ben wound up going from being the 4th born of the seven Walton grandkids to being the 5th born [after Erin- whose performer Mary McDonough shot up past him]!Since Miss Corby was a shorter than average person herself, he was happy to embrace her philosphical wisdom on the subject- although Esther's shortness didn't equate youthfulness.

What's amazing is that not only did Miss Spencer start playing the character when she was 31 until she became 103 [!] but that this radio drama survived all these decades despite debuting at a time when audio soaps on both sides of the Pond were being pressured into either becoming televised or getting scrapped. However, it seems not only did this UK soap somehow survive the medium of network radio somewhat losing its original variety of entertainment but it seems to have survived all the way to the Podcast age! It could be because this particular soap went out of its way to realistically deal with the contemporary issues of farmers and their families- and since farm families have had zillions of chores, they found it much more practical to blast/ carry a radio or listen this program to one in their vehicles while still tending to their chores than to attempt to do said chores while having to dart back and forth to a television set (which were far less portable than radios until recent decades with new innovations). Oh, it needs to be mentioned that Miss Spencer had to deal with the challenges of playing the wife of an Alzheimer's afflicted spouse after she herself had lost her own RL husband to that horrible condition. Lastly, as she aged, the BBC made things easier for her by converting a room in her own home into a radio studio so she could continue to perform her part without having to commute to the studio in Birmingham [UK ]. RIP, Miss Spencer, you've definitely earned it!

When I first saw the show as a small child, I thought that Grandma was nothing but a crabby fusspot for no reason but then I found I missed her presence in the family after her character's abrupt exit when Ellen Corby had had her devastating stroke because the show lacked a character who called things as they were rather than sugarcoated them. Thus when Ellen Corby returned, it was great having Grandma back- although they changed Grandma into someone who was far more vulnerable and had to struggle to communicate due to Esther having also had a stroke (though oddly seemed more cheerful afterwards than before). In my adulthood, however, I've come to realize that Esther wasn't mean for no reason but had had to hold the family together while dealing with Zeb's ways and somehow despite being tiny in comparison to his virtual gigantic size and presence, more than held her own but actually prevailed . Had Esther not been who she was, I could easily see their branch of Waltons devolving into a backwards, moonshine addled branch (not unlike Boone's after Martha Corrine's passing) but Esther somehow kept Zeb from totally giving into his weakest and most base inclinations AND for their teen sons Ben and John to do the same. Moreover, she helped Olivia also maintain a sense of right and wrong, fairness and justice to her grandchildren! Yep, Esther may have been the family's lemon to their lemonade but she also was their secret strength (and I somehow doubt the 16-year-old Olivia would have not been overwhelmed via being a new wife and mother had Esther not had her back)!

What interesting is that after the show was over, Miss Donati and her late sister were able to grow up without any spotlight and it would only be during the 50th Anniversary celebrations when Miss Donati brought the proof to Dean Butler,etc. that she and her late twin had played his infant daughter Rose that she opted to make this known. Thankfully, the surviving cast has appeared to have embraced her for her (and her late twin's) earlier contributions and this may bring comfort to her.

It's going to be a challenge but we each must hold onto what has been positive about our nation, its heritage and its ideals to pass that on to the next generations- regardless of how others may attempt to bastardize all the above for their own purposes!

I'm trying my best to stay strong and positive against the odds for the sake of future generations (and to keep Mama in as good a state as can be) but I know that things are going to be challenging in ways we can't anticipate. BTW,where I can apply for a transfer to 1979?

I don't claim to know what the future will be but of one thing I am certain: as long as I have the ability to legally vote in any future election where there is more than one choice, I WILL be voting and I refuse to waste that right that so many folks fought for . ..and literally died for! Yes, I am aware that it's possible that my vote may be tossed in the scrapheap but I'm not about give up my right to state my POV at the polling place as long as I have that right!

I would also urge everyone who has work, projects and/or volunteer duties to immerse in them as MUCH as possible in the near future so that we may hold on to having accomplished good regardless of how things have played out elsewhere. Oddly enough, work has often proven to have been a balm in tough times for me (and give your most proximate loved ones hugs and be as supportive as possible to them).

I'm not going to lie and sugarcoat anything. However, I must urge everyone to keep as cool and calm as possible even with these news- and we must each do what we can to help those most vulnerable in our own circles. I also would urge everyone to preserve as many records as one can to be able to educate future generations and, via educating others, that CAN be a beacon of hope regardless of what comes our way! So many times in history when things have seemed on the verge of being doomed, there HAVE been those who have kept hope alive and we must continue to do so even with all the odds stacked against us. A zillion to one odds beats a zillion to ZERO any day!

I don't recall any Presidential elections being depicted- just a mayoral race in which Harriet attempted to install Nels as a puppet mayor. While all four Ingalls sisters DID live to see the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, I only recall Mrs. Wilder herself having expressed her POV re contemporary politics but I don't recall any documentation confirming whether any or all of them actually registered then exercised their citizenship right to vote.

This hardly is 'warm or fuzzy' news but it is a rather unexpected twist re a onetime celeb: As per the recent interview with People magazine the 1990's exercise and diet guru Susan 'Stop the Insanity' Powter (born 1957) has claimed that her fortune from the diet, exercise videos and books has long since gone and she has been recently been a meal delivery driver to make ends meet. On a positive note, she has made the acquaintance of Jamie Lee Curtis who has produced a documentary telling Miss Powter's side of the story and Miss Powter herself has a new bio coming out . Hopefully, this will help her golden years be more comfortable. Miss Powter had had two ex husbands before the year 2000 then afterwards had a longtime partnership with another woman. However, where any of them or her three sons are now (much less if any of them have attempted to help her out) went unmentioned in the article.

Would the slogan be "Vote for Blah instead of . . .Witchy"?

Then Harriet comes out and says that the entire Walnut Grove populace has unanimously voted for Charles to put his shirt back on!😉

But the difference is that Miss Grant (born Lyvova Haskell Rosenthal) has used that as a performing name (though I'm not sure whether she ever legally changed her actual surname to that) while Mr. Asner kept his actual birth surname as his performing surname but wound up becoming best known for his character of Lou Grant.

I don't know where else to put this but I think folks need to be aware in case something similar happens to them what happened to my 90-something mother last week. Long-short is that an internet provider showed up at her doorstep with a large truck in the driveway first thing in the morning with her name and address all over their papers claiming that they were to install some high-tech gadget for her. Thankfully, she was able to clarify that she had NOT ordered anything from said provider and that they weren't needed. I don't know claim to know how she might have gotten on their list (much less if her name got put in it by them or someone else possibly intending to cause trouble) but I'm wondering if this might have been attempt at a scam- and also wonder if anyone else with a similar rude awakening (especially an elderly person) might have been too intimidated by a would-be installer to question it before they wound up paying $$$ for stuff they hadn't ordered and had zero need for.

I can't pinpoint it right now but I'm sure the late Mr. Asner and Miss Grant likely did cross paths in their respective decades-long performing careers(and their POV's were somewhat similar).

@EtheltoTillie Are you sure of that birthyear? IIRC, Miss Grant has been VERY guarded and non-committal about her actual age to the degree that virtually every online source has said that she could be anywhere from her late 90's to even past the century mark! I mention this not to in any way put her down but out of some sympathy because she sadly got blacklisted for a dozen years during her salad days in the movies, television and theater in the 1950's due to her having been married to her then-husband Arnold Manoff (1914-1965). However, it should be mentioned that Miss Grant won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Shampoo (1975) and directed the documentary Down and Out in America (1986) which won the Best Documentary Oscar- making Miss Grant the ONLY Oscar-winning performer who ALSO directed an Oscar-winning documentary. BTW, she is the mother of the now-retired performer Dinah Manoff (born 1956) who shined as the troubled teen Conrad's even more troubled friend in Ordinary People (1980) but might be better known to younger audiences as the rather obnoxious elder daughter Carol in the sitcom Empty Nest (1988-1995) [although it needs to be said that as per her performing colleagues and interviews, Miss Manoff appears to be a nice person offstage].

No, I sincerely did NOT know what you meant when you termed Mr. Levi 'Chuck' (and nothing else) in your original post in the thread. I mean not only had I never seen nor heard of the (2009-2012)series but the nickname is so generic that AFIAC, it could have been anyone from the late baseball legend turned Rifleman star Chuck Connors to Peppermint Patty's nickname for Charlie Brown. Only because Mr. Levi had been brought up by the previous poster that you quoted did I think there was a chance that it might have been for a role he'd played that I had never heard of so Prof. Wiki educated me on Mr. Levi's iconic role on a show I'd missed via having worked 2nd shift throughout the original airing. Anyway, at least we now both know that you have been able to distinguish this performer for the role he'd played-regardless of what you had initially termed him.

I wonder if with Miss Parton will look him up or vice versa so she can trade tales with him about the time she entered (and LOST) a look-alike contest for herself.

The other day, I went into the bank to get some spending cash, and the teller actually said that they were worried something had happened to me since I hadn't been there in X number of weeks. I explained that I'd been on vacation AND had some left over 'mad money' that I had cashed from my credit union account (which I never otherwise touch) so I hadn't needed any spending money for those weeks up to then. Well, anyway, it was touching to know that the teller not only remembered who I am but also cared enough to be concerned via my not having been there in X weeks (though I still ALWAYS use my driver's license to prove my ID at the bank).

A nephew of Michael Jackson (who may have been financially dependent on his uncle) claimed his uncle was framed via the magazine's reporting, what a surprise. .