unearths some literary gems.
***
It was an ideal time for Mrs. Whalen to be coming down the street, crisp and nosy in a light blue dress and white gloves.
***
Her narrow blue eyes opened and shut a couple of times, like a camera shutter.
***
"Ghost of your maternal grandfather, my pet. He had red eyebrows."
"Did he ride a bicycle in a long white nightgown?" Blue demanded.
"He was eccentric. I imagine one's eccentricity goes on when one becomes ectoplasm."
***
I winked at Bingo, and we didn't say anything. So the little guy wrote down what we didn't say.
***
"You could see Marmalade if she was baked in a cranberry pie."
["Marmalade," of course, is a character named Marmalade Mason, and the idea here is that she's very conspicuous. Personally, I think her being named Marmalade detracts from the purity of the fruit-pie joke, but whaddya gonna do? On the bright side, I applaud the choice of "cranberry pie" for funny-kind-of-pie value--granting, naturally, that all pies are somewhat funny. Have I ever even heard of a cranberry pie? (Add 50 funniness points if "no.")]
***
I wheeled the lawn mower into the garage, under Grandpa Murphy in his walnut frame. The old buzzard always looks at me with disapproval, and I gave the picture a shove so he'd hang on the bias. [That's showing him!]
***
He was sort of a walking "Life is real, life is earnest." [And while I was reading this book, a "walking encyclopedia" came up in a crossword puzzle.]
***
The music came out into the night, quick and gay, happy as a peppermint stick. [No Google results for "happy as a peppermint stick"!]
***
It was the first time I had ever owned anything, except an old Ford that had long since joined its ancestors. [I've heard of automobile "graveyards," but I didn't realize cars had ancestors!]
***
