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| LIFE IN SOLERA | APRIL 2025 | 23 Thi & Tha By the Solera Ghostwriter Why dogs circle before laying down. Domestic dogs, being descendants of wild dogs, still retain some of the wild dog's natural instincts. One of these instincts, it is believed, accounts for the way dogs often prepare for a nap. Since wild dogs live in the forest or the brush, they often have had to trample down grass and weeds to make a comfortable place to lie down. They do this by walking around and around in a tight circle. It is speculated that remnants of the instinct may account for the domestic dog's tendency to turn around a few times before it lies down for a nap. Why is Black the color for mourning? Because our ancestors were afraid of ghosts. Our ancient forebears believed that ghosts would be lurking about at the site of a recent burial looking for a living body to invade. They tried to hide from the ghosts by painting their white skins black. Later, black clothes were used for the same purpose. Why are So many umbrellas Black? When umbrellas first came into wide use during the 1700s, they were made of oil-soaked cotton cloth stretched over whalebone. The purpose of the oil was to make the cotton cloth waterproof, but it also gave the cloth a blackish color. This type of umbrella was, in fact, very waterproof but not vey durable. Soon, newer and better umbrellas were developed, and since the color black had come to be associated with effective waterproofing, most of the newer models were dyed black. Why illegal whiskey is called moonshine? It was once supposed that this term was first applied to the making of illegal whiskey by moonlight in the mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. In fact, the term is much older than that and was originally used to describe the smuggling of illegal brandy into England from France by moonlight. Buttons on the left, or right? It is easier for right-handed to push buttons on the right through holes on the left, and since most people are right-handed, this is why men's clothes have buttons on the right. But what about women, who are also mostly right-handed? When buttons firsts came into being, they were very expensive and were worn primarily by the well-to- do. Women in that class did not usually dress themselves but were dressed by maids. Since a maid would be facing a woman she was dressing, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right, and this, of course, put them on the woman's left where they have remained.