Excuse Me Madam, but Your Deviation is not Standard

Hmmmm, don't you love those words that can be both a noun and a verb. At the risk of approaching lexicon lunacy, they really get my motor running.

One such word is deviate. Depending on whether you are a liberal or a conservative, deviating from the status quo can be healthy and refreshing, or forbidden and criminal. But regardless of which tent you camp in, straying too far past the "standard deviation" could brand you as a deviate. "So counciler let me get this straight. Are you saying that partaking in this activity to an extreme degree is the cause celebre for this verb to noun transmogrification?" Oh lordy, how the mind at times takes itself on such flights of fancy, making one long for the days of electro-shock therapy and ice-pick lobotomies! Such good, clean fun.

Deviate: this word, seldom used today, invokes in many the feeling of disgust (noun and verb !!), shame (ok enough already, you've proven that the concept is not unique in any way), and other negative emotions that make the individual want to make a citizen's arrest, or at the very least cross this person off the christmas card list.

Variations of Deviation: one can be a social deviate (most often used from my memory), a political deviate, a religious deviate or academic deviate. Given the fact that we do not live under totalitarian rule, and that quality of prose and common sense is not required, we could come up with examples of deviate behavior iin every walk of life. Although the word is not frequently used these days, many people (conservatives, Tea party members, encyclopedia salesmen and Rednecks alike) are quick to condemn those that in their minds deviate too far from their values.

Woof Woof: Speaking of deviates, I was listening to Iggy Pop's "I wanna be your dog" the other day and it gave me a strange feeling. It brought me back to my youth, when I looked at the family dog with jealousy, wishing I could walk on all fours and fetch the ball and stick. As a child I often got down on my hands and knees with our dog to play, and never did I feel more comfortable. It struck me, I am truly a dog stuck in a human's body. Hmmmm, they allow gender change operations. Why not a species change operation? I know it sounds like absolute insanity, but just wait a few years. Did anyone think 50 years ago about the possibility of the transgender concept? Anything is possible, sadly.

Mind Bender: OK, let's get back to somehwere close to reality for a moment. You will all be happy to learn that I have planted my basil for the year. Linda and I have been very busy planting shrubs, flowers, grass seed and praying that it would get warm and sunny. Despite the facts that our prayers were not answered, everything we have planted is thriving. And the cardinals are singing and flying around our back yard like kamizazees! So take a deep breath, point your face to the sun, and say Thank You that the wretched winter is over.

Keep the Faith my Fellow Farmers !