Word-Wednesday for September 13, 2023

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for September 13, 2023, the thirty-seventh Wednesday of the year, the thirteenth Wednesday of summer, and the two-hundred fifty-sixth day of the year, with one-hundred nine days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for September 13, 2023
Forest Floor Changes
Fall starts at the end of the summer on the forest floor. Half of the ferns are already brown, the rose hips are bright red, the blueberry plant leaves are losing their chlorophyll, and there’s not a berry to be found.

But beauty emerges.

Looking up at night: 

Spot the Space Station from Wannaska: 9:32pm tonight appears 10 degrees in the southwest for about two minutes, disappearing over the horizon 25 degrees south.

September 13 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


September 13 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily by 11:00am, usually.


Earth/Moon Almanac for September 13, 2023
Sunrise: 6:57am; Sunset: 7:43pm; 3 minutes, 32 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 5:10am; Moonset: 7:35pm, waning crescent, 1% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for September 13, 2023
                Average            Record              Today
High            76                     87                     70
Low             44                     26                     52


Three Songs at the End of Summer
by Jane Kenyon

A second crop of hay lies cut  
and turned. Five gleaming crows  
search and peck between the rows.
They make a low, companionable squawk,  
and like midwives and undertakers  
possess a weird authority.

Crickets leap from the stubble,  
parting before me like the Red Sea.  
The garden sprawls and spoils.

Across the lake the campers have learned  
to water ski. They have, or they haven’t.  
Sounds of the instructor’s megaphone  
suffuse the hazy air. “Relax! Relax!”

Cloud shadows rush over drying hay,  
fences, dusty lane, and railroad ravine.  
The first yellowing fronds of goldenrod  
brighten the margins of the woods.

Schoolbooks, carpools, pleated skirts;  
water, silver-still, and a vee of geese.

*

The cicada’s dry monotony breaks  
over me. The days are bright  
and free, bright and free.

Then why did I cry today  
for an hour, with my whole  
body, the way babies cry?

*

A white, indifferent morning sky,  
and a crow, hectoring from its nest  
high in the hemlock, a nest as big  
as a laundry basket ...
                                    In my childhood  
I stood under a dripping oak,
while autumnal fog eddied around my feet,  
waiting for the school bus
with a dread that took my breath away.

The damp dirt road gave off  
this same complex organic scent.

I had the new books—words, numbers,  
and operations with numbers I did not  
comprehend—and crayons, unspoiled  
by use, in a blue canvas satchel
with red leather straps.

Spruce, inadequate, and alien  
I stood at the side of the road.  
It was the only life I had.

September 13 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• Positive Thinking Day
• National Celiac Disease Awareness Day
• Uncle Sam Day
• Day of the Programmer
• National Peanut Day
• National  Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
• National Bald is Beautiful Day

September 13 Word Riddle
What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo?*


September 13 Word Pun
Sven vas banned from cruise ships after his poop deck misunderstanding.


September 13 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
DIARY, n. A daily record of that part of one's life, which he can relate to himself without blushing.

Hearst kept a diary wherein were writ
All that he had of wisdom and of wit.
So the Recording Angel, when Hearst died,
Erased all entries of his own and cried:
"I'll judge you by your diary." Said Hearst:
"Thank you; 'twill show you I am Saint the First"—
Straightway producing, jubilant and proud,
That record from a pocket in his shroud.
The Angel slowly turned the pages o'er,
Each stupid line of which he knew before,
Glooming and gleaming as by turns he hit
On Shallow sentiment and stolen wit;
Then gravely closed the book and gave it back.
"My friend, you've wandered from your proper track:
You'd never be content this side the tomb—
For big ideas Heaven has little room,
And Hell's no latitude for making mirth,"
He said, and kicked the fellow back to earth.
                                            "The Mad Philosopher"

September 13 Etymology Word of the Week
happy
/ˈha-pē/ adj., feeling or showing pleasure or contentment, from late 14th century, "lucky, favored by fortune, being in advantageous circumstances, prosperous;" of events, "turning out well," from hap (n.) "chance, fortune" + -y (2). Sense of "very glad" first recorded late 14c. Meaning "greatly pleased and content" is from 1520s. Old English had eadig (from ead "wealth, riches") and gesælig, which has become silly. Old English bliðe "happy" survives as blithe. From Greek to Irish, a great majority of the European words for "happy" at first meant "lucky." An exception is Welsh, where the word used first meant "wise."

Happy medium "the golden mean" is from 1702. Happy ending in the literary sense recorded from 1756. Happy as a clam (1630s) was originally happy as a clam in the mud at high tide, when it can't be dug up and eaten. Happy hunting ground, the reputed Native American paradise, is attested from 1840, American English. Happy day for "wedding day" is by 1739; happy hour for "early evening period of discount drinks and free hors-d'oeuvres at a bar" is by 1961, said to be 1950s. Rock-happy (1945) was U.S. Pacific theater armed forces slang for "mentally unhinged after too much time on one island."


September 13 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 122 Building begins on Hadrian's Wall, Northern England.
• 1501 Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.
• 1930 Winnipeg Rugby Football Club's first game.
• 1947 T-Bone Walker records his biggest hit Call it Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad).

September 13 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1502 John Leland, English poet.
• 1551 Pandolfo Zallamella, Italian composer.
• 1660 Daniel Defoe, English novelist.
• 1819 Clara SChumann, German pianist and composer.
• 1830 Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer.
• 1844 Odoardo Barri, Irish composer.
• 1858 Catherinus Elling, Norwegian organist and composer.
• 1874 Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-American composer and painter.
• 1876 Sherwood Anderson, American author.
• 1886 Alain LeRoy Locke, African-American writer.
• 1889 Pierre Reverdy, French poet.
• 1894 J. B. Priestly, English novelist.
• 1894 Julian Tuwim, Polish poet.
• 1911 Bill Monroe, American singer known as the "Father of Bluegrass".
• 1913 Roy Engle, American writer.
• 1916 Roald Dahl, British author.
• 1917 Jón Thórarinsson, Icelandic composer.
• 1923 Miroslav Holub, Czech poet.
• 1954 Denis "Den" Hegarty, Irish doo-wop singer.
• 1962 Tõnu Õnnepalu, Estonian poet.
• 1969 Tyler Perry, American filmmaker.

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

• buttockitis: /ˈbə-tək-'līdəs/ n., inflammation of the back of a hip that forms one of the fleshy parts on which a person sits.
• ctenophile: /ˈti-nə-faɪl/ n., lover of combs.
• duende: /do͞o-ˈen-dā/ n., a quality of passion and inspiration; (in the folklore of Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines) a supernatural being or spirit resembling a pixie or imp.
• emprise: /em-ˈprīz/ n., an adventurous, daring, or chivalric enterprise.
• hyperthral: /hi-ˈpēTH-rəl/ adj., (of a classical building) having no roof; open to the sky.
• intercalary: /in-ˈtər-kə-le-rē/ adj., (of a day or a month) inserted in the calendar to harmonize it with the solar year, e.g., February 29 in leap years; (of the meristem of a plant) located between its daughter cells, especially (in a grass) at or near the base of a leaf.
• moggadored: / MAH-guh-dord/ adj., confused; confounded, at a loss.
• oung: /owng/ v., to push, roll, or drag (logs) from one place to another or down a stream.
• pfennig: /ˈ(p)fe-niɡ/ n., a monetary unit of Germany (until the introduction of the euro), equal to one hundredth of a mark.
• sedue: /sə-ˈdo͞o/ v., to lead (a person) astray in action, conduct, or belief; to entice into error or wrongdoing.

September 13, 2023 Word-Wednesday Feature
happy words
Today Word-Wednesday presents some happy words from languages associated with contributor ancestors and/or contributor linguistic interests.

French

amour, love
bon appétit, enjoy your food
bonheur, happiness
joie de vivre, joy of living
merci, thank you
oui, yes
salut, hello
sourire, smile
tête à tête, one-to-one, often in a romantic context

German

bitte, please
danke, thank you
entschuldigung, excuse me
glück, happiness
hallo, hello
ja, yes
lächeln, smile
liebe, love
tschüss, good bye

Spanish

adios, good bye
amor, love
felicidad, happiness
gracias, thank you
hola, hello
petricor, the smell of rain touching the ground
por favor, please
sí, yes
sonreír, smile

Czech

ahoj, hello or goodbye
ano, yes
báseň, poem
děkuji, thank you
milovat, love
obejmout, hug
prosím, please
štěstí, happiness
usměj se, smile

Irish

dia dhuit, hello
go raibh maith agat, thank you
grá, love
le do thoil, please
meangadh, smile
slán, goodbye
sláinte, health
sonas, happiness
tá, yes

Norwegian

fatøl, draft beer
ha det, good bye
hallo, hello
ja, yes
kjærlighet, love
lykke, happiness
smil, smile
takk skal du ha, thank you
vennligst, please

Swedish

adjö, good bye
fina flätor, nice braids
hallå: hellow
ja, yes
kärlek, love
leende, smile
lycka, happiness
snälla du, please
tack, thank you

Maori

aroha, love
ataata, smile
awhi, hug
harikoa, happiness
kia ora, hello and good bye
kihi, kiss
koa, please
moko pai, nice tattoo
whakawhetai koe, thank you

From A Year with Rilke, September 13 Entry
Memory is Not Enough, from Uncollected Prams

Memory is not enough...
I do not recollect. What I am
is alive in me because of you. I do not reinvent you
at sadly cooled-off places you have left behind.
Even your absence is filled
with your warmth and is more real
than your not-existing. Longing often meanders
into vagueness. Why should I throw myself away
when something in you may be
touching me, very lightly, like moonlight
on a window seat.

Black Sea with Moon, Nurse with Baby
by Leonid Pasternak  

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.




*a hippo is really, really heavy, and a Zippo is a little lighter.