Goofs

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Yesterday morning a friend texted to say that I had made a goof in yesterday’s post about Queen Elizabeth II. I assure you that Queen Elizabeth II visited President Ford in the White House in 1976, not 1776, as I said yesterday. I hurried to correct it on the Daily Encouragement blog site, but I chuckled to myself about my goof because it reminded me of a similar goof President George W. Bush made when the Queen visited America in 2007.

When President Bush welcomed her, he said that she had “helped our nation celebrate our bicentennial in 17 . . . er, 1976.” Queen Elizabeth II smiled and looked at him. President Bush joked that she “just gave me a look that only a mother could give a child.” I imagine you give those looks, too. I’m sure President Bush saw many of them over the years from his strong mother, Barbara.

Queen Elizabeth II and President Bush had a genial relationship. She had broken the ice with him when she met him 16 years before when his father George H. W. Bush was in the White House. At the time the younger Bush was nearing his 41st birthday. His and his wife Laura’s twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, were ten years old. Bush was then managing partner of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team. Though Bush had committed his life to Jesus five years before, he had sown some wild oats in his younger days.

The Queen and the younger Bush got into a conversation during the visit. At first they talked about the boots he was wearing. She asked him if the boots had Texas Rangers printed on them. He told her, “No, ma’am . . . God Save the Queen.”

Then the Queen asked Bush if he was the black sheep in the family. “I guess so,” he replied.

The Queen then reassured him, saying,  “All families have them.”

“Who’s yours?” Bush asked the Queen.

Suddenly Barbara Bush appeared and said, “Don’t answer that!”

Queen Elizabeth II walked away in her dignified way—without answering him.

I wonder what secret Queen Elizabeth II and then-President George W. Bush were enjoying in this photo from her visit to the White House in 2007.

George W. Bush’s “17 . . . er, 1976” goof wasn’t the only President Bush goof with Queen Elizabeth II. His father, George H. W. Bush, made one of his own while the Queen was in America in 1991. When Queen Elizabeth II, who was then 5 feet 4 inches tall, arrived at the White House for her State Visit in 1991, President Bush, who was 6 feet 2 inches tall, made his official welcome speech and then stepped aside for the Queen to make her speech. He was supposed to lower the podium for her, but he forgot. The microphone was so high that no one could see her face. It appeared that a bright purple talking hat was giving the speech instead. Headlines around the world told of the royal talking hat. A photo of the incident became one of the most famous photos of 1991. A few days later, the Queen became the first British monarch to speak to the U.S. Congress. She told them that she hoped they could see her this time.

I have a long reputation of being the goofball in the crowd, such as the time I used the house phone to call my lost cell phone—and got a wrong number!!

As my sweet husband said one time, “But you are so make-fun-able.” Goofballs are like black sheep, I guess. All families have them.

Yesterday two friends and I spent a “grand day out,” as Winnie the Pooh and our family like to say. We went to Andrew Jackson’s home, the Hermitage, on the 255th anniversary of his birth. We toured the mansion, watched the film about his life, and looked around the museum. After that we explored the gift shop. A table of shiny, vintage-style Christmas ornaments in various shapes caught my eye. I wondered if they were handblown in Europe. I picked up a box with an ornament shaped like a bird and looked on the bottom. I don’t remember the exact words, but I read aloud something like this: “Made from 80 percent recycled paper.”

“Hmmm,” I pondered and puzzled, thinking that ornament certainly didn’t look like paper. Then, reality slowly dawned on me, and I said, “Oh . . . that’s talking about the box.”

Boy, was I embarrassed.

One of our original English country dance teachers said that mistakes make dancing more fun. I think she’s right. Family goofs and homeschooling goofs might cause anxiety and a bit of family drama when they happen, but they have the potential of becoming some of your family’s favorite stories.

A joyful heart is good medicine. . . . 
Proverbs 17:22

 

 

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