On the subway stood a nerdy young man, listening to his iPod, oblivious to the ladybug slowly crawling up to the collar of his swimming pool blue polo shirt. I was mesmerized and I didn't have the heart to tell him about it; I was afraid he would brush her away into oblivion.
* * * * * * *
Did you know there was a second couplet to the ladybug nursery rhyme?
Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home
Your house is on fire, your children are gone
All but one, and her name is Ann,
And she crept under the pudding pan.
But sometimes Ann is Nan, and she might hide under a frying pan. And sometimes she's not a ladybug at all, but a ladybird instead.
* * * * * * *
If the ladybug has no spots, is she spotless (clean) or unspotted (unseen)? English is so tricky.
9 comments:
I don't have any answers for you. I do love ladybugs, though. They are wonderful!
Thank you so much for posting the history behind this on my blog! I love ladybugs and am thrilled to find out that not all of her children were gone... :)
Great blog btw, I'll be checking back!
I like to think of him reclining there, too cool to notice anything but lady(bug)crawling against his collar.
I don't know that nursery rhyme, but I love cute little lady bugs.
I wonder how many ladybugs I have not noticed in all my pre-occupations...
i like ladybugs. They are cool.
I heard Ann and frying pan back in the day.
My toddler is terrified of ladybugs. And spiders. And teeny, tiny ants.
I think we are going to have to start saying the ladybug rhyme in it's entirety!
In the Old Country language, it's something like
Ladybug,
fly up to the sky
Your children are there
Eating cutlets
Yes, I know they are not actually carnivorous...
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