Journal of a Living Lady #230
Nancy White
Kelly
I hadn’t planned on spending my Saturday afternoon working a word
puzzle, but I couldn’t put it down. A friend from Atlanta sent an interesting one to me in the
morning email. Nothing else got done for the next three hours. Actually it
saved Buddy and me money. Otherwise, I would have been hitting the yard sales
or flea market.
Though I am usually not a puzzle
fan, I enjoyed this experience. It was a relief to discover that chemo brain
hasn’t yet robbed me of all of my mental recall. My long-term memory is still
there, but sometimes the circuit is slow.
Vacation
Bible School
evidently wasn’t wasted in my primary years. I can still recite all the books
of the Old Testament and the New Testament.
I recently challenged my Wednesday Bible study class to learn all 66
books in order. Most have. It is inspiring to hear them sing the books with a
catchy tune. No generation gap here. This unique choir ranges in age from early
twenties to late eighties.
As an incentive to you loyal
readers, I thought it would be nice to offer this same puzzle that my friend
shared as a contest. Real prizes await.
This little contest is my idea, not the paper owners, so please don’t
blame the editor, typesetter, or water boy if Murphy’s Law prevails. The
decision of the Living Lady is final, except, being old-fashioned, Buddy can
technically trump.
There are 30 books of the Bible in
the paragraph below. The first three readers who find and underline all 30
books will be the winners. The gold, silver, and bronze winners will be
determined by the postmark on the envelope as received in our mailbox. Those
counties who normally receive their paper a day later than others will have 24
hours deducted.
The prizes? Sitting in the Kelly vault are three silver
rounds containing an ounce of .999 pure silver, inscribed with the word Liberty and a picture of our seventh U.S. president.
Here is the puzzle. Ignore
Punctuation marks or spaces. Go!
This is a most remarkable
puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight
from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He
enjoyed it so much he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this
while fishing from his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his
banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned
it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving
this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will
be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a fact. Some people,
however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are
not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to
admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst.
Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the
difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund
raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth
set a new sales record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200
patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had
ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, "the books are all right here
in plain view hidden from sight." Those able to find all of them will hear
great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may
help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers.
Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A
chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to
know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus, there really are
30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found.
To be fair, only those entries
postmarked and in our mailbox will be eligible. Be sure to include a complete
and legible name, address, and phone number. If you don’t have a Bible in your
home, email me or write. We’ll see that you get one as soon as possible.
Send entries to The Living Lady,
6156 Southern Rd., Young Harris,
GA 30582-2518.
Please don’t deliver the completed puzzle in person, though casseroles and
banana pudding are always welcome. Winners will be contacted. Note: SORRY, BUT INTERNET READERS OF THIS COLUMN ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE CONTEST SINCE IT IS POSTED EARLIER THAN THE NEWSPAPER IS PRINTED.
Happy Hunting.
___________________________
nancyk@alltel.net
