“I wanted to lie in a French crib and start from scratch, learning the language from the ground floor up. I wanted to be a baby, but instead, I was an adult who talked like one, a spooky man-child demanding more than his fair share of attention. ” David Sedaris, American humorist
Having teen daughters means it is frequently possible to laugh oneself nearly sick — the same way one did when oneself was a teen. (I know, two too many “ones…”)
Anyway, this time it was over a Spanish lesson one of them was taking on Duolingo, an on-line way to learn a new language. (Not a compensated endorsement.) Look at the picture and you’ll see why we were laughing.
Now, this was puzzling in its seeming impossibility.
Was Duolingo mocking the kinds of sentences Americans can come up with while trying to function abroad? “I have given birth to a toaster,” for example.
Was it sheer educational cleverness — offering nonsense sentences to make sure learners aren’t skating by on context clues?
Are Spanish-speaking people somehow doing things English-speaking people would get clawed to ribbons for — if we even dared try?
Whatever, swimming with cats. How ridiculous! We laughed some more.
But, a couple of days later, we noticed an odd story in the local paper. You guessed it! A feature on a regional, English-speaking person who also me gusta nadar en la piscina con mi gato!
Just like that, the impossible was possible. And, that, is something worth pondering these days.
Nora Edinger -- JOY Journal 
Lol 😂….hilarious. Enjoyed your post thoroughly from beginning to end 🤣
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Thanks, or gracias as the case may be!
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LOL! Almost as ridiculous a sentence as “My daughter spontaneously cleaned her room yesterday.” I do believe in miracles, however…someday.
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🙂 Well, there are miracles and there are parting-the-Red-Sea miracles. I have teen daughters…
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Thanks for the laugh this morning! You are more than correct!
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Too funny, Nora! Swimming with cats? I’m not a cat person, but thought cats don’t like to swim? 💦🐱💦🤪💦
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🙂 They usually don’t. Perhaps these people are cat whisperers!
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A second thought — big cats don’t seem to have any problem swimming in the wild. Maybe house cats have a side to them most people just haven’t explored!
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and then one finds out…it IS possible to swim with your cat…too funny 🙂
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I’m not saying I plan to try it anytime soon, but there are braver souls than I! 🙂
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fantastic post
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🙂 Thanks. Have a blessed weekend!
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Merriam-Webster second definition of “cat”:
a) guy
b) a player or devotee of jazz
There you have it! I like swimming in the pool with my Aristocat!
Hilarious post. Poor translations / accents often lead to laughter, except if you are a teacher correcting papers 🤪
Thank you Nora!
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🙂 I never thought about the “cool cat” possibility. I hear you on the accents. I kind of use the French ones at random, which is probably not a good thing. Have a blessed weekend, Joelle! (And, I have no idea how to type the little dots in your name…)
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