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Books About Life on a Farm Written Especially for People Who Like to Read! "Highly recommended reading." The Midwest Book Review Reviews & Readers' Comments |
LeAnn R. Ralph Rural Route 2 Author E6689 970th Ave. Colfax, WI 54730 (715) 308-6336 |
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by LeAnn R. Ralph It's uncanny and disconcerting, isn't it? You're talking with someone you know quite well, perhaps a family member or a close friend, discussing anything at all -- the weather, a picnic, a recipe -- and then it happens... In the same breath, at the exact same time, you utter the same, precise words. I used to have that experience with a dear friend of mine when I lived in the southern part of Wisconsin. I still have that experience with my husband. And when it happens, there's only one thing to do. Randy and I have to link our little fingers and then repeat the rhyme my mother taught me. I don't know where she learned the ritual, but I think her mother probably taught it to her. (Either that, or she learned it as a little girl when she was going to a one-room country school.) Anyway, here are the rules and the rhyme - Once both parties have uttered the same statement simultaneously, you must not say another word. Instead, you have to link your little fingers and repeat the following (it doesn't matter who starts, but you have to alternate phrases and keep your little fingers linked until you are completely finished). First Person: "Needles." Second person: "Pins." First person: "Triplets." Second person: "Twins." First person: "What goes up the chimney?" Second person: "Smoke." Then you have to pause to make a wish and you can't break the pause by speaking. When you've both finished your silent wish, then you must say together, with your little fingers still linked -- "Your wish and my wish shall never be broke!" Superstitious nonsense? Perhaps. When I was a kid, though, I used just such an opportunity to advance my most desired wish -- I wanted a pony. Eventually I DID get a pony, of course, but I don't know if it was the result of wishing on the rhyme, wishing on birthday cake candles, wishing on wishbones, or wishing on stars. Or maybe acquiring a pony wasn't due to wishing at all, but rather, was achieved by tenacious, shameless begging and pleading. At any rate, I'm sure people who have studied the phenomenon of speaking in the same breath have formulated a theory about it. Probably something like "People who are completely familiar with the thought and speech patterns of another person are bound to speak simultaneously with the other person on occasion." All I know is whenever I said something at the same time as Mom, she'd clam up instantly, extend her little finger, and we'd start the rhyme. "Needles," she'd say. "Pins," I'd respond. And away we'd go -- ending with a wish. By the way, the same rules apply here as for all other wishes. You have to keep your wish a secret, otherwise it won't come true. |
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