Hello Fr. Keleher:

You initially posted the Down East proverb as a statement, but now you pose it as a question. As a result, I am now wondering whether you are being pedantic or socratic regarding the dead horse analogy?

In any case, I came across the following excerpt which seemed relative to the initial points of discussion on this thread. I offer it below for your consideration.

"The dead horse on the living room floor. It’s there all right and we are most certainly aware of its presence, yet we pretend that it doesn’t exist. Why?

Well, first of all, if we acknowledged its presence, then we’d have to do something about it.

Second, it is unpleasant, and whilst we know we’d have to clean it up, the cleansing might challenge us.

We hope by denying its presence, that we won’t have to deal with it, to think about it, to speak it’s name. We hide from the truth. It might belie our self opinion, our perception of the world around us, it might make us think, change our minds." Tim Smith, PhD, Directorial Editor of The Wiglaf Journal and Adjunct Professor of Marketing at DePaul University.

+Cosmos

Actually the whole thing springs from Down East (=Maine) humor. This girl lives in a lovely house, where everything is beautiful, including the girl - except for the dead horse lying on the living room floor.

Eventually, of course, her budding boy friend can't resist and asks her "honey, your house is gorgeous, but why is that dead horse on the living room floor?"

The girl bursts into tears and responds to the boy: "I never said I was tidy!"

Fr. Serge

ahahaha!!!

Thank you, Father Serge.

Beating deceased equines may appear to be a opportune method
of engaging in healthy exercise, convenient to old coots like
myself and Fr.Serge, but the downside of this situation quickly
become apparent. I have always made it a policy to refuse
entrance to my abode to any horse, regardless of its state
of health, no matter how importunate they may be. They make
inconvenient guests alive, never mind dead. I would urge all
forum members to resist the temptation of allowing horses
of whatever condition access to their residences. Be polite,
yet firm. You will otherwise come to regret it.

Edmac

I did have a half-Morgan I formerly owned once come onto the front porch after making his escape from the barn, but he was not invited to come into the house proper. Goats I have had in the house before, but no horse.

After graduate school, I visited a friend who had taken a position in Wisconsin.

I asked him why his neighbor had a deer hanging from the tree in his front yard.

As it turned out, there was a perfectly logical explanation: He didn't have any trees in his back yard . . .



hawk