Word-Wednesday for August 9, 2023

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for August 9, 2023, the thirty-second Wednesday of the year, the eighth Wednesday of summer, and the two-hundred twenty-first day of the year, with one-hundred forty-four days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for August 9, 2023
Mullein is Flowering

mullein: /ˈmʌ-lɪn/ n., any of a genus Verbascum, in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, usually woolly-leaved Eurasian herbs of the snapdragon family including some that are naturalized in North America, with over 450 species of flowering plants worldwide. Minnesota has over fifty different folk names for common mullein, including Velvet Plant, Flannel Plant, Hare's Beard, Candlewick Plant, Hag's Taper, Velvet Dock, Clown's Lung-wort, Torches, Our Lady's Flannel, Jacob's Staff, Aaron's Rod, and of course, Sven's Vand.

The leaves and flowers are used for medicinal purposes. The leaves contain a large concentration of mucilage that can make a demulcent /di-ˈməl-sənt/ a substance that soothes or protects mucous membranes. Decoctions and infusions were used to allay coughs, particularly the hacking cough of consumption; to remove the pain of hemorrhoids; and in treating diarrhea's. The flowers contain gum, a resin, a glucoside, phosphoric acid and a volatile oil, where infusions of the flowers are used as a remedy for catarrhs and colic.

And in our morning sky:

August 9 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


August 9 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily by 11:00am, usually.


Earth/Moon Almanac for August 9, 2023
Sunrise: 6:07am; Sunset: 8:49pm; 3 minutes, 7 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 12:05am; Moonset: 4:19pm, waning crescent, 44% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for August 9, 2023
                Average            Record              Today
High             77                     91                     71
Low              53                    36                    47

The Pond
by Mary Oliver

August of another summer, and once again
I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.
I know now what they want is to touch each other.
I have not been here for many years
during which time I kept living my life.
Like the heron, who can only croak, who wishes he
could sing,
I wish I could sing.
A little thanks from every throat would be appropriate.
This is how it has been, and this is how it is:
All my life I have been able to feel happiness,
except whatever was not happiness,
which I also remember.
Each of us wears a shadow.
But just now it is summer again
and I am watching the lilies bow to each other,
then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,
close, close to one another,
Soon now, I’ll turn and start for home.
And who knows, maybe I’ll be singing.

August 9 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Passion Fruit Day
• International Coworking Day
• World Calligraphy Day
• International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
• National Veep Day
• National Rice Pudding Day
• National Book Lovers Day
• Nath Í of Achonry Day

August 9 Word Riddle
What is the thing that most of us can’t stand doing well?*


August 9 Word Pun
Ban pre-shredded cheese; make America grate again.


August 9 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
BEG, v. To ask for something with an earnestness proportioned to the belief that it will not be given.

Who is that, father?

               A mendicant, child,
Haggard, morose, and unaffable—wild!
See how he glares through the bars of his cell!
With Citizen Mendicant all is not well.

Why did they put him there, father?

               Because
Obeying his belly he struck at the laws.

His belly?

          Oh, well, he was starving, my boy—
A state in which, doubtless, there's little of joy.
No bite had he eaten for days, and his cry
Was "Bread!" ever "Bread!"

               What's the matter with pie?

With little to wear, he had nothing to sell;
To beg was unlawful—improper as well.

Why didn't he work?

               He would even have done that,
But men said: "Get out!" and the State remarked: "Scat!"
I mention these incidents merely to show
That the vengeance he took was uncommonly low.
Revenge, at the best, is the act of a Siou,
But for trifles—

               Pray what did bad Mendicant do?

Stole two loaves of bread to replenish his lack
And tuck out the belly that clung to his back.

Is that *all* father dear?

               There's little to tell:
They sent him to jail, and they'll send him to—well,
The company's better than here we can boast,
And there's—

               Bread for the needy, dear father?

                    Um—toast.

                                                                    Atka Mip


August 9 Etymology Word of the Week
frugality
/frü-ˈga-lə-tē/ n., the quality or state of being frugal, careful management of material resources and especially money, thrift, from 1530s, "economy, thriftiness," from French frugalité (14the century), from Latin frugalitatem (nominative frugalitas) "thriftiness, temperance, frugality," from frugalis (frugal): originally dative of frux (plural fruges) "fruit, produce," figuratively "value, result, success," from Proto-Indo-European root bhrug- "to enjoy," with derivatives referring to agricultural products.


August 9 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1173 Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins (and it takes two centuries to complete).
• 1854 Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden.
• 1930 Betty Boop debuts in Max Fleischer's cartoon Dizzy Dishes.
• 1943 Bertolt Brecht's play Life of Galileo premieres.

August 9 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1631 John Dryden, English poet.
• 1648 Jhann Michael Bach, German composer.
• 1653 John Oldham, English satirical poet.
• 1694  Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher.
• 1674 František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect.
• 1834 Elias Álvares Lobo, Brazilian composer.
• 1854 Marie Červinková-Riegrová, Czech writer and librettist.
• 1875 Albert William Ketèlbey, British composer.
• 1896 Jean Piaget, Swiss developmental psychologist.
• 1914 Tove Jansson Finnish author.
• 1920 Enzo Biagi, Italian writer.
• 1922 Philip Larkin, English poet.
• 1923 Gerrit Kouwenaar, Dutch poet.
• 1927 Daniel Keyes, American author.
• 1945 Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist.

Words-I-Looked-Up-This-Week Writer's Challenge
Make a single sentence (or poem or pram) from the following words:

• abreaction: /ˌa-brē-ˈak-shən/ n., the expression and consequent release of a previously repressed emotion, achieved through reliving the experience that caused it (typically through hypnosis or suggestion).
• buckram: /ˈbə-krəm/ n., a stiff-finished heavily sized fabric of cotton or linen used for interlinings in garments, for stiffening in millinery, and in bookbinding; adj., stiffness, rigidity.
• casque: /ˈkask/ n., a helmet; a structure resembling a helmet, such as that on the bill of a hornbill or the head of a cassowary.
• empyrean: /ˌem-ˌpī-ˈrē-ən/ adj., relating to heaven or the sky.
• faro: /ˈfer-(ˌ)ō/ n., a gambling card game in which players bet on the order in which the cards will appear.
• Nantucket sleighride: /næn-ˈtʌ-kɪt ˈslā-rīd/ n., the dragging of a whaleboat by a harpooned whale while whaling.
• peplum: /ˈpe-pləm/ n., a short flared, gathered, or pleated strip of fabric attached at the waist of a woman's jacket, dress, or blouse to create a hanging frill or flounce.
• quirt: /ˈkwərt/ n. a short-handled riding whip with a braided leather lash; v., to hit with a quirt.
• sciolist: /ˈsī-ə-list/ n., a person, esp. an editor of a text, who possesses only superficial knowledge.
• talion: /ˈtalēən/ n., lex talionis, the principle or law of retaliation that a punishment inflicted should correspond in degree and kind to the offense of the wrongdoer, as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; retributive justice.

August 9, 2023 Word-Wednesday Feature
Poo, Too
Tis the season where berry eating forest denizens are leaving their marks. 

 

What better time to follow up on previous posts with euphemisms of poo and fart? Today Word-Wednesday presents a summer reading list, along with some new vocabulary words.

Today's Parent Magazine's lists of 19 best poop and fart books, where as usual, Word-Wednesday has placed links for each book to library sources:

Everything I Know About Poop by Jaume Copons and illustrated by Mercè Galí, AGES 5-7.

Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi, AGES 6-8.

Where's the Poop? by Julie Markes and illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung, AGES 1-2.

Poo in the Zoo by Steve Smallman and illustrated by Ada Grey, AGES 3-6.

It Hurts When I Poop!: A Story for Children Who Are Scared To Use the Potty by Howard J Bennett and illustrated by Ms. Weber, AGES 3-6.

It’s You and Me Against the Pee… and the Poop, Too! by Julia Cook and Laura Jana and illustrated by Anita DuFalla, AGES 2-4.

Super Pooper!: A Cute Story on How to Bring Fun and Laughter to Potty Training by Monika Sloan and illustrated by Mike Motz and Jason Fain, AGES 2-3.

The Dinosaur That Pooped The Past by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, illustrated by Garry Parsons, AGES 2 and up.

Animal Gas by Bryan Ballinger, AGES 3-6.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, AGES 7-10.

Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbø and illustrated by Mike Lowery, AGES 8-12.

Fart's: A Spotter's Guide by Crai S. Bower and illustrated by Travis Millard, AGES 4-10.

Farts Around the World by August O’Phwinn and illustrated by Lisa Hanawal, AGES 4-10.

Fart Squad (six-part series) by Seamus Pilger and illustrated by Stephen Gilpin, AGES 6-10.

Jurassic Farts by Ben Grossblatt and P.U. Rippley and illustrated by Evan Palmer, AGES 4-10.

The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts by Shinta Cho, AGES 3-5.

Toot by Leslie Patriceii, AGES 1-3.

Walter the Farting Dog by Glenn Murray and William Kotzwinkle, illustrated by Audrey Colman, AGES 5-9.

Winchell Cuts the Cheese by Taylor Lee and Peter Van Dijk and illustrated by Taylor Lee, AGES 3-6.

To expand your vocabulary and impress your friends, here are a few fecund words on today’s topic:

• bodewash: /bōd-wäSH/ n., cow dung.
• coprolite: /ˈkä-prə-ˌlīt/ n., fossilized dung.
• egesta: /i-ˈje-stə/ pl. n., anything egested, as waste material from the body; excrement.
• frass: /ˈfras/ n., fine powdery refuse or fragile perforated wood produced by the activity of boring insects; the excrement of insect larvae.
• guzunder: /ɡə-ˈzəndər/ n., chamber pot, often place under the bed.
• hunker: squat or crouch down low; apply oneself seriously to a task.
• ordure: /ˈȯr-jər/ n., excrement.
• shimogoe:  /人糞/ Japanese, n., night soil.

Readers and authors with interests in terminology for poo colors, characteristics, compositions, and more will value the Bristol Stool Chart and other resources here.


From A Year with Rilke, August 9 Entry
Mount Fuji, from New Prams

Thirty-six times and a hundred times
the artist portrayed the mountain.
Now pulled away, now compelled
(thirty-six times and a hundred times)

to return with glad impatience
to that ungraspable one.
To see it rise there, bold in outline,
withholding nothing of its majesty.

Out of each day emerging over and over,
letting the unrepeatable nights
fall away as though too small.
Each glimpse exhausted in an instant,

form ascending into form,
far off, impassive, wordless—
then suddenly the revelation
of an awareness lifting in the sky.

 

Red Fuji
by Katsushika Hokusai

Be better than yesterday,
learn a new word today,
try to stay out of trouble - at least until tomorrow,
and write when you have the time.




*sleep.