Word-Wednesday for February 26, 2025

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for February 26, 2025, the nineteenth Wednesday of the year, the tenth Wednesday of winter,  the first Wednesday of Psychological Spring, the fourth Wednesday of February, and the fifty-seventh day of the year, with three-hundred eight days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for February 26, 2025
Psychological Spring
As recently reported in The Palmville Globe, Volume 1, Issue 3, a fit, 28,462-day-old Irish retiree from Wannaska declared that Sunday, February 23, 2025 (coincidentally, the birthday of Sven’s bride, Monique) was the first day of Psychological Spring. This same 40,984,799-minute-old meteoastroastrologist (who happens to be an Aries) defined Psychological Spring as as that period “which starts when the long-range forecast shows no below-zero temperatures for the next ten days”. The jumpiness of the Palmville snow flea sprinkles (collective noun) confirms the retired toddler’s proclamation, and judging by activity reports of local Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, revelies (collective noun), we now have a new season to look forward to each year.

Ode to Psychological Spring
by Chairman Joe

The thin white predawn line has slowly moved from 7 am to 6.
A rosy ray lights up every hair and crumb on the countertop.
I wipe it clean with a clean wet rag.
Shame cleaning- Skam rengöring, in Swedish, or 恥を拭う

Spot the Space Station:
Wednesday, February 26 at 5:51 AM, visible: 5 minutes, maximum height: 61°, appearing 24° above WNW, disappearing: 10° above E.


February 26 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


February 26 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for February 26, 2025
Sunrise: 7:11am; Sunset: 6:02pm; 3 minutes, 32 seconds more daylight today
Moonrise: 6:59am; Moonset: 4:24pm, waning crescent, 2% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for February 26, 2025
                Average            Record              Today
High             24                     47                     34
Low               1                    -40                     24

February
by Hilaire Belloc

The winter moon has such a quiet car
That all the winter nights are dumb with rest.
She drives the gradual dark with drooping crest,
And dreams go wandering from her drowsy star.
Because the nights are silent, do not wake:
But there shall tremble through the general earth,
And over you, a quickening and a birth.
The sun is near the hill-tops for your sake.

The latest born of all the days shall creep
To kiss the tender eyelids of the year;
And you shall wake, grown young with perfect sleep,
And smile at the new world, and make it dear
With living murmurs more than dreams are deep.
Silence is dead, my Dawn; the morning's here.

February 26 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Letter to an Elder Day
• National Set a Good Example Day
• National Tell a Fairy Tale Day
• National Pistachio Day
• For Pete’s Sake Day

February 26 Word Pun

February 26 Word Riddle
What do you call a weekend with intermittant rane, hale, gails, drissle, thundre, litnin, turnaydos, and frizzing colde?*


February 26 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
FREE-WILL, n.
    A chip, in floating down a stream,
    Indulged a gratifying dream:

    "All things on earth but only I
    Are bound by stern necessity—

    "Are moved this way or that, their course
    Determined by some outer force.

    "The helpless boughs upon the trees
    Confess the suasion of the breeze.

    "The stone where it was placed remains
    Till loosened by the frost or rains.

    "The animals go here and there,
    As circumstances may declare.

    "The influence they cannot see
    Is clearly visible to me.

    "Yet all believe they're governed still
    By nothing but their sovereign will.

    "Deluded fools! I—I alone
    Obey no forces but my own.

    "Without or sail or oar, I glide
    At pleasure to the ocean's tide.

    "No pow'r shall stay me till I lave
    My body in the salt sea wave."

    Just then an eddy's gentle strength,
    By hardly half a finger's length,

    His chipship drew aside. Said he:
    "'Tis far indeed to reach the sea."

    Now more and more, behold him swervet
    Along the eddy's outer curvet.

    He says: "My joy in swimming's o'er:
    I'm half inclined to go ashore."

    As still he sweeps along his arc,
    He adds: "The day is growing dark,

    "But still there's time to reach, no doubt,
    The point from which I first set out."

    The circle was completed quite.
    "Right here," he said. "I'll pass the night."

    Nor ever once that chip suspected
    That aught but he his course deflected.

    Free-will, O mortals, is a dream:
    Ye all are chips upon a stream.


February 26 Etymology Word of the Week
doozy
/Do͞o-zē/ n., something outstanding or unique of its kind, from 1903 (adj.) "excellent, splendid," 1916 (n.), "an excellent of splendid thing or person," perhaps an alteration of daisy, or from popular Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1859-1924). In either case, reinforced by Duesenberg, the expensive, classy make of automobile from the 1920s-30s.


February 26 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 747 BC Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
• 1616 The Roman Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo demanding he abandon his belief in heliocentrism.
• 1797 Bank of England issues first £1 note.
• 1869 US 15th Amendment guaranteeing right to vote sent to states to ratify.
• 1891 Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler premieres.
• 1899 First performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 in A.
• 1930 First red & green traffic lights installed in Manhattan.
• 1937 Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden's Ascent of F6 premieres.
• 1954 First typesetting machine (photo engraving) used in Quincy, Massachusetts.
• 1956 Writers and poets Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes meet at a party in Cambridge.
• 1960 Verne Gagne beats Doctor X in Omaha, to become NWA wrestling champ.
• 1967 Verne Gagne beats Mad Dog Vachon in St Paul, to become NWA champion.
• 1984 Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Penn Warren is named the first US poet laureate.

February 26 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1564 Christopher Marlowe, English poet and dramatist.
• 1587 Stefano Landi, Italian opera composer.
• 1588 Nicolaus Erich, German compose.
• 1677 Nicola Fago, Italian baroque composer.
• 1714 James Hervey, English writer.
• 1770 Antoine Reicha, Czech composer.
• 1772 Caspar Fürstenau, German flautist and composer.
• 1802 Victor Hugo, French author.
• 1808 Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist, painter, and sculptor.
• 1808 Nathan Kelley, American architect.
• 1831 Filippo Marchetti, Italian opera composer.
• 1832 John George Nicolay, German-American author.
• 1834 Aleksander Zarzycki, Polish composer.
• 1838 Wendelin Weißheimer, German composer.
• 1874 Carl Vogler, Swiss composer.
• 1875 Richard Wetz, German composer.
• 1877 Carel Steven Adama van Scheltema, Dutch socialist poet.
• 1877 Russell Alexander, American vaudeville composer.
• 1879 Frank Bridge, English violinist, composer, conductor, and tutor of Benjamin Britten.
• 1880 Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer.
• 1884 Dina Appeldoorn, Dutch pianist and composer.
• 1884 Hildo Krop, Dutch modernistic sculptor.
• 1885 Lili Green [Alice Sally Mary], Dutch English dancer.
• 1887 Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer.
• 1893 (Ivor Armstrong) I. A. Richards, British poet.
• 1893 Dorothy Whipple, English novelist.
• 1896 Tauno Hannikainen, Finnish cellist and conductor.
• 1898 Julien de Valckenaere, Belgian poet.
• 1902 Vercors [Jean Bruller], French writer.
• 1905 William Russell [Russell William Wagner], American violinist, composer.
• 1906 Nikos Ghika, Greek artist.
• 1908 Leela Majumdar, Bengali writer.
• 1908 Néstor Mesta Cháyres, Mexican lyric tenor.
• 1911 Tarō Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist.
• 1913 George Barker, English poet.
• 1913 Hermann Lenz, German writer.
• 1914 Witold Rowicki, Polish conductor and composer.
• 1915 Elisabeth Eybers, South African poet.
• 1916 Mordecai Seter, Israeli composer.
• 1918 Theodore Sturgeon, American science fiction author.
• 1919 Luc-Andre Marcel, French composer.
• 1920 Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish writer.
• 1922 (Bernard) "Bunny" Briggs, American tap dancer.
• 1926 Chris Anderson, American jazz pianist.
• 1927 Donald Gramm, American concert and opera bass-baritone.
• 1928 Aldonis Kalniņš, Latvian composer.
• 1928 Fats Domino, American rhythm & blues piano player, singer.
• 1928 Monique Leyrac, French Canadian singer.
• 1930 Lazar Berman, Russian pianist.
• 1937 William Ferris, American composer and conductor.
• 1940 Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter.
• 1942 Yōsuke Yamashita, Japanese jazz pianist.
• 1943 Bob van Reeth, Flemish architect.
• 1946 Phyllis Eisenstein, American science fiction author.
• 1947 Clodagh Rodgers, Irish singer.
• 1947 Guy Klucevsek, American jazz and free-improv accordionist.
• 1949 Elizabeth George, American novelist.
• 1949 Emma Kirkby, British classical early music soprano.
• 1953 Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author.
• 1958 Michel Houellebecq, French novelist.
• 1969 Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer.
• 1986 Patrick Star from SpongeBob Squarepants.

Words-I-Looked-Up-This-Week Writer's Challenge
Write a story or pram from the following words:

• anyhowly: /E-nē-hau̇-lē/ adj., in any manner, by any means; in any way whatsoever; haphazardly.
• balletomane: /bə-LE-də-mān/ n., a ballet enthusiast.
• cod: /käd/ adj., not authentic; fake; v., play a joke or trick on (someone).
• dauphinoise: /dô-fin-WÄ/ adj., (of potatoes or other vegetables) sliced and cooked in milk, typically with a topping of cheese.
• dob: /dab/ v., inform against someone; contribute money to a common cause; impose on someone to do something.
• kine: /kīn/ n., cows, collectively.
• mulct: /məlk(t)/ v., extract money from (someone) by fine or taxation; n., a fine or compulsory payment.
• ruddock: /Rə-dək/ n., a robin.
• thorpe: /THôrp/ n., (in place names) a village or hamlet, e.g., Wannaskathorpe.
• verger: /VəR-jər/ n., an official in a church who acts as a caretaker and attendant.

February 26, 2025 Word-Wednesday Feature
conduplicatio
con-do-plih-CAE-sheeoh, n., a rhetorical term for the repetition of one or more words in successive clauses, from the Latin, conduplicatus, pp. of conduplicare,  com: "together, together with, in combination," and  + duplicare: "to double". According to the Rhetorica ad Herennium (Rhetoric for Herennius), the oldest surviving Latin book on rhetoric from 90 B.C., the purpose of conduplicatio is usually either amplification or an appeal to pity.

Looking for ways to identify core themes in your writing; to craft compelling openings? Conduplicatio is the ticket — if you use it sparingly, practice, and refine. Here are come famous examples:


Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus, Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-10

Beware the Ides of March

Soothsayer and Brutus in Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2, by William Shakespeare

Then thou thy regal Sceptre shalt lay be,
For regal Sceptre then no more shall need,
God shall be All in All. But all ye Gods,
Adore him, who to compass all this dies,
Adore the Son, an honor him as mee.

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 339-343

Before I had been standing at the window five minutes, they somehow conveyed to me that they were all toadies and humbugs, but that each of them pretended not to know that the others were toadies and humbugs: because the admission that he or she did know it, would have made him or her out to be a toady and humbug.

Wemmick in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."

Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?"

Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson, Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

conduplicatio
con-do-plih-CAE-sheeoh, n., a rhetorical term for the repetition of one or more words in successive clauses, from the Latin, conduplicatus, pp. of conduplicare,  com: "together, together with, in combination," and  + duplicare: "to double". According to the Rhetorica ad Herennium (Rhetoric for Herennius), the oldest surviving Latin book on rhetoric from 90 B.C., the purpose of conduplicatio is usually either amplification or an appeal to pity.

Looking for ways to identify core themes in your writing; to craft compelling openings? Conduplicatio is the ticket — if you use it sparingly, practice, and refine. Here are come famous examples:


Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus, Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-10

Beware the Ides of March

Soothsayer and Brutus in Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2, by William Shakespeare

Then thou thy regal Sceptre shalt lay be,
For regal Sceptre then no more shall need,
God shall be All in All. But all ye Gods,
Adore him, who to compass all this dies,
Adore the Son, an honor him as mee.

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 339-343

Before I had been standing at the window five minutes, they somehow conveyed to me that they were all toadies and humbugs, but that each of them pretended not to know that the others were toadies and humbugs: because the admission that he or she did know it, would have made him or her out to be a toady and humbug.

Wemmick in Great Expectations by Charles Dicken

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."

Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?"
Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson, Where Have All the Flowers Gone?


From A Year with Rilke, February 26 Entry
What You Cannot Hold, from Sonnets to Orpheus I, 4

You who let yourselves feel: enter the breathing
that is more than your own.
Let it brush your cheeks
as it divides and rejoins behind you.

Blessed ones, whole ones,
you where the heart begins:
You are the bow that shoots the arrows
and you are the target.

Fear not the pain. Let its weight fall back
into the earth;
for heavy are the mountains, heavy the seas.

The trees you planted in childhood have grown
too heavy. You cannot bring them along.
Give yourselves to the air, to what you cannot hold.

Orpheus & Eurydice
by Auguste Rodin

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 bad spell of weather.