Friday, May 29, 2009

Dead People With Hula Hoops...

Have you ever had one of those disconcerting moments where you know what is factual but seeing something before your eyes makes you doubt what you know? They say that seeing is believing and yet the other day when I was out shopping, I couldn't quite believe what I saw...

I saw dead people with a hula hoop...

Well not a lot of dead people just one in particular but it did make me do a double take and think for a split second I was losing it. I could have swore it was her. I could have swore it was Louise.

Louise was an old neighbor and friend from my ladies community club. She was brash, outspoken, opinionated, loud and more to the point she died two years ago. But there she was, or there was her exact double getting into a vehicle parked next to mine, carrying a shopping bag and a hula hoop.

I felt kind of stupid, I saw her and automatically was putting my hand up in the air to wave and yell hi when it dawned on me that can't be her, she's dead, and there is no way she would be shopping for hula hoops. It gave me a bit of a weird feeling though. Seeing her double, they just looked so much alike it was creepy. I tried to tell myself that all old ladies look the same. They either have really tightly wound perms plastered so close to their heads in pastel colors, or they have their hair cut short with bangs and have let it go to it's natural greying color. Louise had bangs. She had bangs, and was short, and square and had the aches and pains of an 80+ year old farm woman. Louise was Louise and there was no doubting her. She could pinch a penny tighter than anyone I knew, yet she didn't have to. She sewed and quilted, and baked bread from grinding her own flour. She danced, she drank beer, she loved to play cards and she loved to cook.

It was from Louise that our ladies club learned you could use your leaf blower to blow the dust off of the top of your curtain rods. That driving a tractor on terraces made your boobs uneven, and one should always, ALWAYS cook with butter. Louise was a firm believer in butter. When it came on sale she thought nothing of spending 50 bucks to stock up on butter. I know when she passed away they had to have found a freezer full of butter. One woman can not eat that much butter, contrary to what Paula Deen might say on her cooking show.

It all made me think about people though. People that have left this world already. It made me wonder about those "twins" those look-alikes that could pass for their doubles, that are still wandering around. Are there more look-alikes than just the one other person twin? Perhaps there are whole groups of look-alikes? Which is kinda scary when you really think about it. We all think of ourselves as individuals with our own personal traits and personalities, and all of this time there could be more of us out there...maybe a lot more...

It makes you wonder about this individuality stuff. Maybe we aren't so unique after all? I have blogged before on angels walking among us, and I am not so sure that it was an angel or not. Angels carrying hula hoops? Or just an ordinary grandma  buying toys for grand kids? Or maybe I was just seeing a mirror image reflected downwards to spark my mind and memories of someone or something in my life to help me not forget?

As far as I know, Louise never had a hula hoop, but maybe they ran out of wings and are handing out hula hoops instead? It's got me thinking I need to start practicing some swiveling moves. I'd hate to disappoint the other groups of "me" out there with my uncoordinated abilities....

31 comments:

  1. I think we all have a "twin" someplace . I wish someone would come out with face recognition software so we could easily find them...as you say it would be interesting to see where and how they live.....
    I think Louise and my mom went learned from the same person about butter though....it was sin to cook with ANYTHING else.

    As for the hula hoops...I am in trouble.....

    Love your blogs Viccles....you are beginning to remind me of Erma Bombeck with your writings...maybe you should see about getting published.

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  2. I've heard it said that everyone has a twin...I don't know about everyone, but I do know I do...I've met her, and believe me, it WAS very disconcerting...eerie, really...
    She isn't anything like me personality-wise, but she is a clone-like...

    I agree with Sue...your blogs are outstanding...

    Walks off, shuddering with visions of two Wukkys...

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  3. I have a twin, she was living in Denver years ago. I feel sorry for her because if she aged like I did she is gosh darn ugly. lol

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  4. If I have a twin I hope he has more money than me, is a lot younger and doesn't use Facebook.

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  5. I know just how you feel about seeing things/people that are dead. You do know Vic that aliens have landed and been real busy over the last couple centuries cloning anything they can.
    There is this commercial on TV...Mom, daughter, son outside chilling. Dog comes tearing up onto the couch...Mom freaks and puts him outside..But really they are outside and she puts dog inside.
    Well her pretend daughter is sitting painting her toe nails. She is the dead spit of my cousin when she was that age. Her eyes, nose and definately her mouth and HER mannerisms too. Blew me off my couch when I saw it.
    Your blogs are outstanding. You need to do what VV did and go public and publish.

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  6. I have a twin in Mumbai..in fact we are best of friends because of that. We met when we were teenagers and we could not believe the similarity..not only in our looks but also our nature. She is a Scorpio like me, born on Suzi's birthday, and Suzi's humour reminds me a LOT of her...I think I've even told Suzi that. She went to live in New Zealand for 3 years..when we met after 3 years, at a coffee shop, we went to the ladies room together, she and I pulled out exactly the same lipstick and compact out of our handbags. It was a bit eerie..of all the shades of lipsticks in the world..we were using identical shades n cases. Then we both spoke up together to the waiter and asked for the same type of coffee. In many ways our life stories have been similar too.So many such incidents made me believe we were twins from another life. I also saw a twin of my dead aunt in a city down south..I went upto her and even told her that. Great blog Vic....it's a pity you do not blog more often. I feel very deprived...really.

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  7. Oh dear, I hope there isn't a twin of me. I agree with everybody, you do write good blogs and you should go public & publish. This is kind of public isn't it? Oh well I don't know, but I like it when you blog, you have a way with words. ;)

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  8. Dead people, hula hoops, and butter...what a combination of wit and prose. You are a master at writing and you had me hanging on each word. I met a double of one of my friends,,,,weird to say the least. My friend wore a wig due to a childhood illness and I almost ask her double if I could tug on her hair...needless to say I behaved and didn't ask...but yet to this day I swear it was her. I was hundreds of miles from where my friend lived. Eerie indeed.

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  9. People say I am the spitting image of Monsignor Maurice DeVonsho Liengue . . .

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  10. I was driving down the road one day and saw this guy that looked exactly like my brother who had died about 5 years ago. Same hair, cloths, bandana head band, beer in one hand. I had to pull over before I got into an accident.

    I would join you hula hooping Viccles but I think that if I started doing that jiggle to get it spinning, body parts might start falling off.

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  11. I was walking through a department store one day about 30 years ago and looked across the store into the eyes of a girl who looked exactly like me. We both just stopped stunned for a moment and then moved on. To this day I wish that I had gone over to her and found out her name and where she was from. From the look on her face there was no doubt that she noticed the resemblance too.

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  12. Hey I want a doppelganger too. You all seem to have one. Where's mine.

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  13. louise spunds like a great lady - glad u have fond memories of someone so special las'

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  14. I was watching them prepare for the shuttle launch a few weeks back, and I could have SWORN that was ME in the Nasa uniform. (no, not an astronaut, just one of the lil helper people) I even took a pic to show some of my friends and they couldn't believe it. Who knew the "other" me had such a cool job?? I wanted to post it on my blog sooooooo bad, but I'm thinking the other "me" might not appreciate that very much.

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  15. Me too..... he could have just said a twin .........LOL

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  16. LOL I actually bought myself a hula hoop a few weeks ago and can be seen, on a regular bases, trying to slip a disc in the garden doing the hula hoop.

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  17. LOL...Zee, you are such a goofball...xoxox

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  18. I've been thinking of that Chipmunks song about the huuuuulaaa hoooooops all day.

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  19. I had a "twin", she had all the fun and I got blamed. You really should publish.

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  20. That wasn't a hula hoop louise was carrying it was an oversized Halo, and yes I think you should be publicly punished also... or was that go public and publish.. ahhh heck I don't know....Two Wukkies,(shudders) I'll be in double trouble ..... now, which way out is it >>>>

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  21. WOW that is an amazing story, creepy, but amazing. But you're not alone who saw the alleged ghost of departed ones. Are ya creeping out yet?
    A friend of mine's mother had died and a couple of weeks later when she went to a restaurant with her aunt and her cousin, she saw her mother walking into the same restaurant, her aunt and her cousin also saw her. Plus they saw her in the same dress she was buried in.
    I was never one to believe in ghost stories, but now even scientists have to revise thumps in the night. Quantum Mechanics (science physics) speak of alternate universe, multiple universe and this will leave us with more unanswered questions than just saying it was a co-incident or imagination.
    (Not science fiction but science fact). Yep.

    Speaking of hoola hoops I thought they were out of the loop, maybe in an alternate universe we're all still kids doing the twist? Ok just speculating, couldn't huit eh - snort.

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  22. Came over with my hula hoop but nobody was home :(

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  23. Love this blog, dear Vic. You are truly a 'writer'. And you always make me "think".

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  24. Wonderful story, Vic. You write very well. I'm jealous! I used to hoola hoop. Is that a verb? Maybe an action verb? A noun? Anyway, I had one and could use it!

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  25. Now look here! How did I become a victim of a blog about a dead person with a hula hoop? Sometimes I wish there was two of me, but then again that may be asking for trouble. Any way Gloggy is loopy and I wouldn't want two of him around.

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  26. LOL oh vic you know they made a few of us, as once you land on a great idea you always duplicate it. Save us all!!!

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  27. LOL...omg...this was a great blog! (Like all of em')....that cracked me up....hula hoop, tight perms, butter, and unevent boobs from tractors...whatta rip!

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