It’s Enough For Me

What would I have named after me?

There are already so many things named Susan, I really don't see the need for one more.
There are flowers - Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
There is even a tree- A smallish Magnolia cultivar 'Susan'
There are towns - Susan Virginia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan,_Virginia)
There are lakes -In Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin
There are insects - The Susie grub (Elexus weevil larva)
There are many songs with Susan in the title, or about a Susan.
There was even a ballad: John Gay (1685-1732)

Sweet William's Farewell to Black-ey'd Susan: A Ballad
I.
All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd,
The streamers waving in the wind,
When black-ey'd Susan came aboard.
Oh! where shall I my true love find!
Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true,
If my sweet William sails among the crew.

II.
William, who high upon the yard,
Rock'd with the billow to and fro,
Soon as her well-known voice he heard,
He sigh'd, and cast his eyes below:
The cord slides swiftly through his glowing hands,
And, (quick as lightning) on the deck he stands.

III.
So the sweet lark, high pois'd in air,
Shuts close his pinions to his breast,
(If, chance, his mate's shrill call he hear)
And drops at once into her nest.
The noblest captain in the British fleet,
Might envy William's lip those kisses sweet.

IV.
"O Susan, Susan, lovely dear,
My vows shall ever true remain;
Let me kiss off that falling tear,
We only part to meet again.
Change, as ye list, ye winds; my heart shall be
The faithful compass that still points to thee.

V.
"Believe not what the landmen say,
Who tempt with doubts thy constant mind:
They'll tell thee, sailors, when away,
In ev'ry port a mistress find.
Yes, yes, believe them when they tell thee so,
For thou art present wheresoe'er I go.

VI.
"If to far India's coast we sail,
Thy eyes are seen in di'monds bright,
Thy breath is Afric's spicy gale,
Thy skin is ivory, so white.
Thus ev'ry beauteous object that I view,
Wakes in my soul some charm of lovely Sue.

VII.
"Though battle call me from thy arms
Let not my pretty Susan mourn;
Though cannons roar, yet safe from harms,
William shall to his dear return.
Love turns aside the balls that round me fly,
Lest precious tears should drop from Susan's eye".

VIII.
The boatswain gave the dreadful word,
The sails their swelling bosom spread,
No longer must she stay aboard:
They kiss'd, she sigh'd, he hung his head.
Her less'ning boat, unwilling rows to land:
"Adieu", she cries! and wav'd her lily hand.
© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes

But after all the many things, places, & creatures
that have been named after one Susan or another,
the one that is most common in my daily hearing is
The Lazy Susan.
I've never liked that one. It felt personal.
Why was it not a Lazy Larry?
Or perhaps a Lazy Lizbeth?
I do like alliteration.
No one can be sure why they named it Susan.
There are myths and unresearched opinions
that date back all the way to the 18th century.
It probably came from France.
Doesn't that sound like a fitting birthplace for a genteel mechanism
that would tempt you with a bit of this or a taste of that?
Not having a servant would have seemed enlightened I'm sure.
Using the simple device would have been private.
So maybe that name wasn't Susan at all
but "Laissez-sous ons"(Leave us alone) instead.


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