Ditz Golf

"Next on Day-to-Day, we'll be talking with people who love ditz golf," droned Laura Connoy or some such person.

"What?" I said to myself. I'd turned on NPR to keep me entertained while cleaning bathroom. Seeing that NPR was not being entertaining, I'd mostly resorted to blocking it out, but had my ears pricked for something interesting.

"Many people like to use a ditz when they play golf. There's something so impersonal about hitting a ball..."

My mouth hung open. This sounded highly unPC and unNPRlike. Now usually I delight in anythin unPC or unNPRlike, but this seemed a bit much.

"...You can see where the disc is going as soon as it leaves your hand."

Aha...the lovely Laura was referring to DISC golf, much beloved by....thinks*...the Demmes!

My mind was set at rest.

Yankee talk?

A few months ago, Aaron read an article about "New Hampshire speak." This article included a list of terms in the local vernacular, such as wicked (as an adjective, of course), Massachusetts drivers, ice out, some very, very strange terms I'd never heard in my life, and finally, "flatlanders." Now, DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FLATLANDER IS? Half the members of my family did and said it was quite a common term, and the other half insisted that no New Hampshirite that they knew had ever used it or knew what it meant. This debate has continued for months. I now turn it over to you, dear reader. Have you heard the term, do you know what it means, and would you consider it common?

Strangeness

Yesterday, as Cara and I drove into the Nashua TJMaxx/Target parking lot, we saw several fire engines already there and another peeling in with its lights flashing. In a moment we spotted their emergency. Four or five firemen were standing around one of the little barkmulch islands in the lot, spraying chemicals on a tiny little sapling. The hoses they were using were coming from a trailer-like apparatus that bore the urgent motto, "PREVENT FOREST FIRES!" We shrugged and entered Panera.

Just did a quick spellcheck. It suggested that I replace "barkmulch" with "fearsomely."

"Sheer plod makes plow down sillion shine"

Somehow I've a feeling that these poem posts are a tad boring. But this one's been stuck in my mind so long, I have to share it.

The Windhover
Gerard Manley Hopkins

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,--the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

Herodotian Update

Chad kindly informed me that his name is herOdotus, not HERoDOtus. I had sort of wondered and had been alternating pronunciations. Good to know, I guess. :P

I read about an Egyptian guy who had a cow-shaped tomb built for his young daughter who died. ONce a year, the cow tomb was brought outside so that her bones could see the sun. (!)

For those of you who think you go through a lot of shoes: "The former of these cities, which is a place of note, is assigned expressly to the wife of the ruler of Egypt for the time being, to keep her in shoes."

Herodotus makes me laugh, because he's always making these statements such as "he, for his part, does not credit this," "the Greeks think this, but that is ridiculous." Usually he follows that sort of statement with a report of one of his exciting new discoveries (that the sun is what pulls the Nile out of its banks) or an important historical fact about the Oracle at Delphi.

I've also learned a lot about embalming.

Little Susie Homemaker

I love making lasagna. Makes me feel so domestic and homey and stuff... chopping up onions and carrots really small, making a sauce with a little bit of this and that, trying to figure out how to stretch seven noodles into the nine or so needed. Friday is a good lasagna day, in case you're unaware of that. Life is good.

Another thing about Fridays...cleaning. Today I was in a major cleaning mood (actually, I would have had to do the cleaning I did whether or not I was in a mood, so that was lucky for me.), scrubbing bathrooms (yeah!), deep cleaning stuff, finally vacuuming my room, picking up random clutter, vacuuming other people's rooms. Has anyone else ever noticed that the more you clean, the more stuff you notice needs cleaning? It's a bit discouraging. However, our house is now beeautiful, to my joy. (Oh, and no, I am not a slave. The rest of ma famille worked hard also. :-) )

Fairness, Family, and Flip-Flops

Did you know the common definition of "fair" has changed over the years while retaining a its old connotation? Yes, it has, and I just finished a paper about it, so now I don't have to think about it anymore!! Happiness.

Alicia and I went out for ice cream Tuesday to celebrate a great accomplishment. She'd been dry for an entire week, no small feat for a two year old. (And no, she hasn't had problems with alcohol; this was a matter of potty training.) This outing was in continuation of a long standing tradition of aunts and older cousins taking me out to ice cream in commemoration of such great events. We had great fun. She chatted away about "her brother Andrew," Baby Luke and his new sister, my family's Rialta, Uncle Earl and Aunt Ali, and many other interesting topics. Two year old have extraordinary minds! They also eat there ice cream exceedingly slowly and sometimes decide they want a treat as soon as they finish it...despite which, I happen to love this particular two year old very much.

I broke one of my flip-flops this week. "Exciting!" you say in a sarcastic tone. But really, it was rather, because it broke while I was walking in Manchester. The part that goes between the toes pulled right out. I dragged my foot along for a bit before surreptitiously taking it off and shoving it back together as best I could. It lasted about ten steps before coming apart again. This process was repeated multiple times. Believe me, there's nothing like a broken shoe to make one feel silly. I hobbled around the grocery store feeling like a homeless person who couldn't afford a decent pair of $1.69 flip-flops from WalMart. sigh. Once home, I taped them all together and went back out again. (Praise the Lord for duct tape.) Yes, I know, a bit unwise and rather cheap, but I was low on time and extra flip-flops. How was I rewarded for my frugality? By suddenly being shoeless on Elm Street the next day. grr. Managed to make it to a store and buy some shockingly bright blue and green plastic things that don't go with anything I have. Ah well, such is life.

The Obedient Sister

Aaron tells me that I should post more. To hear is to obey.

Observations

~The ancients certainly knew how to write history texts. Herodotus blows A Beka out of the water. Every time he introduces a new character, he tells interesting stories about him, not to mention the fact that there are no "comprehension checks" at the end of each page.

~It is entirely possible for homeschoolers to get senioritis.

~Today I lost several games of "horse" and a bet. Our pond insisted on melting nearly a month earlier than my guess, dooming me to last place in our little family competition. How sad.

~There is no nicer thing in the world than a secondhand compliment. (I've heard some nice things about you.)

~I saw one of the greatest tabloid headlines ever today, not that I make a habit of reading the Enquirer. I just happened to notice one at WalMart this afternoon. It read, "Army develops Invisible Soldier!!" To prove the point, there was a picture of a soldier standing next to a tank next to a picture of the same tank without a soldier, sort of before and after pictures. Cara and I had a good laugh.

~It is well past my bedtime, but I can sleep in, so who cares.