Words for Writers – Lamott
11
04, 2018
9
04, 2018
Texas, My Texas
I recently changed my FB banner. I know, I know. FB is a touchy subject these days, but in order to connect with readers I keep an active FB presence. But I digress…
I chose a Texas bluebonnet picture. It’s the one you see on the left. When I think of Texas, I think of bluebonnets. I missed them when I lived away.
Famous Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) Wildflowers.
Texas is bluebonnets. People also associate the state with Lone Star beer, cowboys and rodeos, astronauts and space centers, cattle and the Texas Medical Center.
Texas is a very diverse place. Same thing’s true of a Texan and I’m not talking about the football team players.
We all have a picture in our heads when we think of a native Texan. Usually it’s someone with a cowboy hat and boots, but there’s more to a Texan and even Texans who never wear cowboy boots.
Hurricane Harvey gave images of real Texans and not many of them wore Stetsons. The folks in those pictures looked like anyone else helping their families and neighbors when hard times strike.
Texas has its own language, Texas-speak. A whole slew of vocabulary that can have folks scratching their heads. I just used a Texas-ism—slew, meaning a whole bunch.
We’re always y’all-ing and gonna and fixin’ when we talk. Non-Texans do sometimes need an interpreter.
When I’m lazy in my writing, Texas talk naturally flow into my first drafts even if my characters are not Texans. My critique partners and editors often catch phrases like:
come hell or high water – proceeding, regardless of the problems, obstacles, etc.
conniptions – get upset and raise a ruckus
hissy fit – kin to a conniption; a state of extreme agitation and not a pretty thing to see
hot as tin toilet seat – in Texas we know that’s HOT
screaming bloody murder or banshee scream – not a pleasant sound at all
bone tired – yep, been there
slow as molasses – visualize molasses syrup oozing out of the jar
keep your pants on – meaning not what you think, but to be patient!
If you’ve ever been to Texas, you know it’s a special place. You love it or hate it. Seems there’s no in between.
But there’s something in a natural born Texan’s blood that tends to bring them back to Texas no matter how far or how long they wander. My daddy always said I’d come home and I did.
6
04, 2018
Presents from the Dachshunds
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
I have had to accept the fact that part of living on a farm is living with rodents. The rat population varies from season to season. We do what we can to keep it under control. We’ve put traps in the garage and poison in the shed.
The rats like to share the chicken feed and the hens and roosters tend to be pretty selfish. We also don’t need to feed any free loading animals.
I have also had to accept the fact that dachshunds catch and kill small animals. They are not particular as to which small animals making the chickens on the wrong side of the fence fair game. This is unfortunate.
In the “fortunate” column is the tendency the dachshunds have to hunt and kill rats. Penelope and Bella are particularly good at this endeavor. Yesterday I let the dogs out while I checked eggs and fed the chickens. When I was ready to get the dogs back in the house I discovered a present.
I’m not sure who brought it to me but I am always grateful for the help with rodent control.
4
04, 2018
2
04, 2018
A Weekend of Anomalies
An anomaly is a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form. In order words, something out of the ordinary. Three such unusual events happened last weekend.
- A Blue Paschal Full Moon occurred.
The orb we saw last weekend was officially a Blue Paschal Full Moon.
It was the second full moon of March and any time a two full Moon occur during month it’s called a Blue Moon.
Saturday’s moon was the first full moon after the spring equinox making it a Paschal Full Moon.
The date of the Paschal Full Moon is determined from historical tables that go back to the Council of Nicea in 325 AD when astronomers established an Ecclesiastical Full Moon table to determine Holy Days for Western Christianity.
According to that table, our weekend moon was an ecclesiastical full moon. That’s a full moon that occurs on the 14th day of the ecclesiastical lunar month.
A moon can be any one of these moon types, but a Blue Paschal (ecclesiastical) Full Moon doesn’t happen often. The last time we experienced the phenomena was in 1999. The next time we’ll see a Paschal Blue Moon will be in 2037.
Interesting side note, Paschal is a Greek transliteration of the Aramaic word Pascha meaning Passover. And, this weekend both Passover and Easter coincided.
- Good Friday and Passover fell on the same date.
The exact date of Christ’s resurrection is unknown. Early Christians in determining a date to celebrated correlated their Resurrection feast (Easter) with the Jewish Passover, which is based upon a lunar calendar. As a result, our celebration of Easter is a rotating Holy Day.
Passover began on Friday night and will continue for eight. Easter and Passover are being celebrated at the same time. Another rare happening.
The unusual timing of the weekend caused another two events to occur on the same day this last weekend.
- Easter and April Fools’ Day happened on the same day.
The date of Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the “Paschal Full Moon” falling on or after the Spring Equinox (March 21). This year that Sunday was April 1.
The date for April Fools’ Day is fixed. The annual tradition of playing practical jokes on April Fools’ Day began in 1700.
The last time Easter Sunday fell on April 1 was in 1956.
It’s been much longer since a Blue Paschal Moon rose on March 31, followed the next day by Easter Sunday.
According to Space.com, we’d have to go back to the year 1646 to have a Blue Paschal Moon on Saturday, March 31 followed by Easter Sunday the very next day. There’s no prediction as to when such a unique event will happen again.
This was indeed a weekend filled with anomalies.
31
03, 2018
Chickens in the News
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
There have been a couple of articles about chickens in the newspaper lately.
One of them talked about free range chickens in Bastrop, Texas. Apparently the free range chickens belong to a chicken sanctuary which has done such a good job protecting them, the population has exploded. The city is working with a local zoo to provide a new home for the birds.
I’m just glad we don’t live closer. Our home tends to collect roaming animals and we are about full.
Another article talked about the popularity of raising backyard chickens. It is becoming a status symbol in California.
We have been keeping chickens for almost 10 years. I guess Miller Farm is just ahead of its time.
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03, 2018
26
03, 2018
My Lexicon Love
Words and I have a long-standing relationship. I spend an extraordinary amount of my time with words. I can’t seem to get enough of words.
I can lose myself in dictionaries and thesauruses for hours on end. I delight in discovering their rules, their uniqueness, and their amazing variety. These are just some of the words I’ve come to love.
- Made up words
One of my favorites is dinglehopper, Scuttle the seagull’s word for a fork Ariel found in the Disney movie The Little Mermaid.
Scuttle twirls his feathery crest into a wild mess with the fork and says, “See? Just a little twirl here and a yank there and voila. You’ve got an aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over.”
I’ve used dinglehopper as a conversation starter at dinner parties. I’ve even been known to slip in the phrase “aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over” upon occasion. And, voila gets frequent use.
- Vocabulary words
Dictionary.com sends a Word of the Day to my inbox every day. Krummholz was a recent word. It means a forest of stunted trees near the timberline on a mountain.
An interesting word, but I doubt its value for my daily conversation or writing. Maybe tomorrow’s word will be more useful.
- Foreign language words
Foreign language words have begun to pop into my social media feeds more and more. A little link translates. I do wonder, though, about the accuracy of translations since I ran across the Greek word meraki in a recent blog.
You’ll find no on-line dictionary definitions for meraki.
A web search did turn up an article in NPR that explains meraki is an adjective, which describes doing something with soul, creativity, or love. According to the article, it is often used to describe cooking or preparing a meal, but it can also mean arranging a room, choosing decorations, or setting an elegant table.
Meraki is not the only foreign language word that has no English equivalent. Check out the full article here: Translating the Untranslatable
There’s also an interesting variation to NPR’s definition from the comments on a different blog:
“I am Greek. Meraki is not an adj. It is a noun. Like the English word ‘gusto’ as in, ‘I eat with gusto.’ You do something with ‘meraki’. You do it with a good feeling, with a light heart and a smile. With all your heart. The best way to translate it would be to listen to the seven dwarves sing, “Whistle while you work…”
Meraki may not have an exact English translation and I may never have an opportunity to use the word in conversation or my writing, but isn’t it a great word to apply in our lives.
21
03, 2018
19
03, 2018
Reading Obituaries for Character Development
One of the things I was thrilled to have again now we’re back in Texas is home delivery of the Sunday newspaper. I really missed my Sunday funnies.
And the obituaries. Often the newspaper where we previously lived didn’t even have an obituary section.
Yes, I read the obituaries. I also make a habit of stopping at cemeteries to walk around and read epitaphs on tombstones.
Morbid? Not really. There’s so much to learn from gravestones and obituaries.
All the years of a person’s life are summarized in a few short paragraphs or, in the case of epitaphs, there’s only a line or two. Some obits tell of lives well lived or a life taken too soon, long fruitful lives and sudden loss.
But obituaries are not only a notice of a death; they are great sources of what a life was about.
Some stories tell sobering tales. Some describe ordinary lives with important or interesting jobs. Others tell of mundane or grueling work.
I find descriptions of odd achievements or wild adventures and quirky lives. Still others reveal lives of generosity with time and money.
I’m partial to the photographs. Looking into a face tells a story too. Even the choice of which picture to use can reveal much. Why did the family choose a picture of a much younger grandparent or a photo in uniform when a veteran passes?
Sometimes an obituary reveals a person was far more than who and what we see. Recently, the obituary of an acquaintance told of wide interests about which I knew nothing.
Reading obituaries (and tombstone epithets) makes me appreciate the gift of life more.
They are a stark reminder that life does not go on forever and can serve as a reminder that perhaps I should be more grateful for family and friends.
Obituaries and epithets can be a great writer resource, too.
Full story plots can spring forth along with ideas for character names, backstory, life experiences, and relationships between characters. Even the listing of birthplaces and burial sites gives ideas for setting locations.
Reading obituaries also reminds me that someday my smiling face will appear with a few inches summing up my life. Maybe, to be on the safe side, I should pen my own.
Writing your own obituary to spare your loved ones the task is a trend these days, you know.
What about you? Do you read obituaries only when you hear that someone you know has died, regularly, or not at all? If you never read them, why not?