Old wives tales, fables, urban legends, folklore, conspiracy theories, storytelling: there is so much for the brain, it needs to process like a dual-mode camera with all the settings.
An old wives’ tale is a supposed truth. We sort of understand that we can place it in the box of superstitions. It is often claimed to be a type of urban legend, not unlike ones in Whitewater Region. I’ve heard the folklore that is said to be passed down by older women to a younger generation. Such tales are considered unverifiable with exaggerated or inaccurate details. Interestingly it is a story that you would rather claim as your own than discard it like a fallen leaf.
Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with embellishment depending on whose turn it is to relate the story. Whitewater has its own stories to share with others, especially newcomers to the community or someone visiting. The more unusual or weird the narrative is, the line between believability and entertainment is blurred. Characters can remain with each other for weeks. The best of the lot is the big Joe Mufferaw one, who no matter who tells the story of him, I swear at those moments it is 100% true. His big fights in one Pembroke Hotel and another one in Bytown were classic. Folktales often share common themes, Paul Bunyan for instance, suggesting possible basic psychological similarities across various human cultures.
Stories about my teenage pranks are some of my favorites to tell. They’re the easiest way to tell funny tall tales about silly things I’ve done while not having to worry about consequences.
One time one friend was fast asleep on the sofa. Another brought a cup of fairly warm water. We managed to dip a couple of fingers of the sleeper into water, then step back for results. It was only minutes before he peed himself.
Another time we used a jack to lift the back of car and place wooden blocks under its chassis so the tires didn’t touch the ground. The driver and his family were attending mass at the church. We waited to see the commotion when tried to drive off.
I remember when my parents got their first television set. My grandmother when she came around would remind each of us that we were sitting “Too close to the TV we will go blind.” We all would ask, Is it okay until we have to wear glasses.
Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever,” made little sense to me. When laid up with a common cold you likely will lose your appetite. That’s why soup or jello is recommended to get started getting healthy.
The oldest and most well-known collection of fables in Western literature is undoubtedly Aesop’s Fables. Aesop was believed to have been a slave in Greece around the year 550 BC, and his fables are known worldwide. In fact, many of the morals and lessons of his fables are common phrases we use every day, like “slow but steady wins the race,” “look before you leap,” and “every man for himself.”
A fable is a short fictional story that has a moral or teaches a lesson. Fables can include humanized animals, a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents. The fable of the man with a hook for a missing arm that clamps onto a door handle of a car with a couple making out inside is so common no one reacts. What if it did happen just like that?
Publicly known as the place where the military tests out some of its most advanced weapons and technology, conspiracy theorists suspect that it’s also where the U.S. government stashes the UFOs it doesn’t want us knowing about. We have to mention my favourite conspiracy which I believe to be true although never admitted. In 1947, something really, really big, crashed on a ranch near Roswell New Mexico.
The U.S military quickly retrieved the debris, which led some of us to believe that it was a UFO they wanted to keep from the public eye, something they wanted to cover up… a UFO, perhaps?
