Such a Card

Being a retired nurse, I have a warped sense of humor and being a writer, I often use words that have a double meaning and allow the reader to chose which meaning that makes them think or smile. I’ve written a ton of poetry and had seven books published. When I started to share the mysteries that I’d written, I would always include a double entendre line somewhere in the tale. I was chastised by the more serious authors saying that humor didn’t belong in a mystery. Being a nursing supervisor, I was used to complaints and allowed them to roll off my back. I thought a bit of humor allowed the reader to pause and take a deep breath. My books are all fictional, so who did it hurt.

People who use humor as a comedian does are often called cards. Researching the meaning I found it to be, Card -- a clownish, witty, or eccentric person, a "character." "The word is now much less common, but it was formerly often preceded by a stock adjective, such as 'a knowing card,' 'an old card,'..." etc. " The term itself was perhaps suggested by a phrase such as 'sure card,' meaning a winning card...Alternatively, there may be a pun on Latin 'carduus,' meaning thistle, as an instrument for combing and teasing cloth to raise its nap. The role of a card is similar." So I am an eccentric person, and label myself as a card.

Another reason I label myself as a “card” is that I am a card collector. I didn’t start that way, but somewhere in my 72 years, people began to give me postcards. It could also be my frugality kicking in. When our family would travel on vacation, it was an economical way of collecting souvenirs and memories of our excursions. Anyway, I have hundreds of postcards in my collection. Many were passed to me from my grandparents and are fragile and vintage. I keep those in several albums. Some were sent to me and my wife Cindy or to our children. I even have several from foreign countries. A few are from Iceland where I was stationed and several are from Canada from a mission’s trip. There are quite a few from out West. Many are from my mother-in-law’s trips when she travelled West with friends, while others were gathered when our family spent 17 days tenting through the Western states.

For those who follow me on Facebook, I post a different postcard each morning. I decided to share them instead of allowing the silverfish insects to dine on tem.

One last “card” mention. At 72, I’m no longer carded. Ha, ha.