I've recieved maybe a dozen emails from people who want me to know their
personal version of "Ring Around the Rosy."  It seems many Europeans and
Canadians tend to say "A-tichoo" (like a sneeze), while many Americans
tend to say "ashes." I even got a version in French, which was very
interesting.  That version also used a sneeze instead of ashes.  Today, I
was reading in a book about animal plagues, and the verse was included in
the section about the black death.  It used "a-tichoo," and suggested the
verse was describing the pneumonic plague epidemics of the mid-1300s.
 
The point, of course, is that folktales are conserved as part of a cultural
tradition, and do not easily disappear.  The emails coming from all over
the world, from people who recognize the verse from their childhood, only
support the idea that it ferrets were in more folktales, some would have
been preserved.
 
 -----
 
Bill K mentioned a post I had sent in some time ago regarding the
cat-ferret transition in Europe.  I remember the basics of the post, but
not the particulars, so I cannot really address his specific remarks.  I
guess I could look it up, but it really doesn't matter.  If what I say
today is different from what I said back then, it is because I have changed
my mind as I have learned more about the subject.  It is as simple as that.
As I learn more, I may say something different next year.
 
When I get more time, I will look up the old post and see exactly what I
said.  You can be sure that if I think what I said back then was wrong, I
will say so for everyone to hear.
 
 -----
 
Speaking of Bill K, thanks for nothing, pal.  NOW you tell me how to fix
PINE, after I had to start over from scratch after the Great MailBox Crash
of 1999.  Like it helps....
 
;-)
 
Actually, thanks.  I printed it out and have it in my "emergency computer
problems tips" folder.  Next time, I will be ready.
 
I have almost fixed the mailpost to the condition it was before.  Based on
the amount of mail I've recieved, I think I lost just over a third of the
mailbox.
 
I have almost retyped in all the email addresses of the people who want to
join the Fellow Ferret Geeks.  The original requests disolved in the crash,
and I lost the single post I was preparing to sign them all up on in one
deft posting, but I was lucky.  I had printed out a page with the addresses
on it (by accident, really; I was showing a friend how to print directly
from PINE, and I was working on the Geek list at the time).  I think I will
have everyone on the new list, which is now duped onto *3* different disks
(the learning curve looks flat, but there is a slight upward slope).  I
hope to have it up and running Friday night.
 
BOb C and 18 Mo' Fractured Ferret Tales
[Posted in FML issue 2835]