Word-Wednesday for April 30, 2025

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for April 30, 2025, the twenty-eighth Wednesday of the year, the sixth Wednesday of spring, the fifth and final Wednesday of April, and the one-hundred twentieth day of the year, with two-hundred forty-five days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for April 30, 2025
Spring Peepers
Pseudacris crucifer has begun singing in the Wannaskan forests. Pseudacris breaks down to pseudes, meaning false, and akris means locust, because the sounds of this frog family are similar to a locust; cucifer - Latin for cross-bearer. Somebody has to bear the cross of announcing amphibian spring. Spring Peepers grow up to be 3/4 to 1. 5 inches long, tan or brown in color, with a distinct darker X marking on their back. Males usually have dark throats, and are darker and slightly smaller than the females.

Spring Peepers sing a high-pitched, short peeping sound similar to the trill of a young chicken, only louder and rising slightly in tone. Their can carry as far as two and a half miles depending on the number of peepers in the chorus and if the Scrabble™-playing neighbors aren't squabbling too loudly in their screen tent. A vocal sac located by the Spring Peeper throat inflates and deflates like a balloon to create the call, typically during dusk and throughout the evening during the spring breeding season.

Spot the Space Station
Wednesday, April 30 at 5:19 AM, Visible: 7 minutes, Max Height: 52°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 10° above E.


April 30, 2025 Hummingbird Migration Update
They’ve made it to Minnesota! Get those feeders out.

April 30 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


April 30 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for April 30, 2025
Sunrise: 6:05am; Sunset: 8:37pm; 3 minutes, 10 seconds more daylight today
Moonrise: 7:28am; Moonset: 12:02am, waxing crescent, 7% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for April 30, 2025
                Average            Record              Today
High             56                     88                     57
Low              32                     14                     40

Prairie Spring
by Willa Cather

Evening and the flat land,
Rich and sombre and always silent;
The miles of fresh-plowed soil,
Heavy and black, full of strength and harshness;
The growing wheat, the growing weeds, The toiling horses, the tired men;
The long empty roads,
Sullen fires of sunset, fading,
The eternal, unresponsive sky.
Against all this, Youth,
Flaming like the wild roses,
Singing like the larks over the plowed fields,
Flashing like a star out of the twilight; Youth with its insupportable sweetness, Its fierce necessity,
Its sharp desire,
Singing and singing,
Out of the lips of silence,
Out of the earthy dusk.

April 30 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• Stop Food Waste Day
• National Bubble Tea Day
• National PrepareAthon Day
• National Militry Brats Day
• National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day
• National Sarcoidosis Day
• National Raisin Day
• National Oatmeal Cookie Day
• National Hairstylist Appreciation Day
• National Bugs Bunny Day
• National Honesty Day
• International Jazz Day
• National Go Birding Day
• Walpurgis Night

April 30 Word Pun
Sven attempted to swallow a pocketbook of synonyms to improve his vocabulary. It gave him thesaurus throat he’d ever experienced.


April 30 Word Riddle
How does AI make an apology?*

a Chairman Joe original

April 30 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
CRITIC, n., A person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries to please him.

    There is a land of pure delight,
    Beyond the Jordan's flood,
    Where saints, apparelled all in white,
    Fling back the critic's mud.

    And as he legs it through the skies,
    His pelt a sable hue,
    He sorrows sore to recognize
    The missiles that he threw.
                        —Orrin Goof


April 30 Etymology Word of the Week
book
/bo͝ok/ n., a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in cover; a bound set of blank sheets for writing or keeping records in, from Middle English bok, from Old English boc "book, writing, written document," generally referred (despite phonetic difficulties) to Proto-Germanic bōk(ō)-, from bokiz "beech" (source also of German Buch "book" Buche "beech;" see beech), the notion being of beechwood tablets on which runes were inscribed; but it may be from the tree itself (people still carve initials in them). Latin and Sanskrit also have words for "writing" that are based on tree names ("birch" and "ash," respectively). And compare French livre "book," from Latin librum, originally "the inner bark of trees" (see library).

The sense gradually narrowed by early Middle English to "a written work covering many pages fastened together and bound," also "a literary composition" in any form, of however many volumes. Later also "bound pages," whether written on or not. In the 19th century it also could mean "a magazine;" in the 20th century, a telephone directory.

From circa 1200 as "a main subdivision of a larger work." The meaning "libretto of an opera" is from 1768. A betting book "record of bets made" is from 1812. The meaning "sum of criminal charges" is from 1926, hence slang phrase throw the book at (1932). Book of Life "the roll of those chosen for eternal life" is from mid-14th century. Book of the month is from 1926. To do something by the book "according to the rules" is from 1590s.


April 30 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1483 Orbital calculations suggest that on this day, Pluto moved inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503.
• 1573 The spire of Beauvais Cathedral, France, which made it the tallest human-made monument in the world at the time, collapses (never rebuilt).
• 1598 First theater performance in America, the Spanish comedy Rio Grande.
• 1695 William Congreve's Restoration comedy Love for Love premieres.
• 1804 The New Hague Theater opens in The Hague, Netherlands.
• 1808 First practical typewriter finished by Italian Pellegrini Turri.
• 1852 Anton Rubinstein's opera Dmitri Donskoi premieres.
• 1859 Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is first published.
• 1864 New York becomes first state to charge a hunting license fee.
• 1880 The Metropolitan Museum's new premises opens at its current site at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey.
• 1885 Henry Lee Higginson starts the "Popular Music" series with the Boston Symphony, which evolves into the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1900.
• 1900 Casey Jones dies heroically in a train wreck at Vaughn, Mississippi, while driving Cannonball Express, immortalized in Ballad of Casey Jones.
• 1902 Claude Debussy's only completed opera Pelléas et Mélisande premieres.
• 1904 Ice cream cone makes its debut at St. Louis World's Fair invented by Ernest A. Hamwi.
• 1911 Portugal approves female suffrage.
• 1916 Germany ratifies bill bringing in Daylight Saving Time - first country in the world.
• 1939 Tropicana ballet of Havana, Cuba, forms.
• 1943 Noël Coward's play This Happy Breed premieres in London.
• 1989 World Wide Web (WWW) is first launched in the public domain by CERN scientist Tim Berners-Lee.

April 30 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1717 Guillaume-Gommaire Kennis, Belgian violinist and composer.
• 1792 Johann Friedrich Schwencke, German organist and composer.
• 1837 Alfred R. Gaul, English composer.
• 1853 Alfred Berger, Austrian playwright.
• 1864 Frans Netscher, Dutch writer.
• 1864 Juhan Liiv, Estonian poet.
• 1869 Hans Poelzig, German architect.
• 1870 Franz Lehár, Austrian-Hungarian composer.
• 1874 Cyriel Verschaeve, Belgian writer.
• 1877 Alice B. Toklas, American-Parisian avant-garde and companion of Gertrude Stein.
• 1882 Nine van de Schaaf, Dutch author.
• 1883 David John de Lloyd, Welsh musician and composer.
• 1883 Jaroslav Hašek, Czech writer.
• 1883 Annie O'Meara de Vic Beamish, Irish writer.
• 1884 Albert Elkus, American composer.
• 1885 Luigi Russolo, Italian Futurist composer.
• 1886 Frank Merrick, English composer.
• 1888 John Crowe Ransom, American poet.
• 1889 Acario Cotapos, Chilean composer.
• 1889 Rudolph Simonsen, Danish composer.
• 1891 Watze Cuperus, Frisian author.
• 1902 André-François Marescotti, Swiss organist and composer.
• 1902 Rudolf Wittelsbach, Swiss pianist and composer.
• 1903 Günter Raphael, German composer.
• 1909 F. E. McWilliam [Frederick Edward], Irish surrealist sculptor.
• 1911 Hans Studer, Swiss composer.
• 1911 Luise Rinser, German writer.
• 1913 Edith Fowke, Canadian folklorist.
• 1919 Valeer van Kerkhove, Flemish writer.
• 1920 Leen 't Hart, Dutch organist and composer.
• 1923 George Byatt, Scottish playwright.
• 1926 Edmund Cooper, British science fiction author.
• 1928 Hugh Hood, Canadian author.
• 1930 Raoul de Keyser, Flemish painter.
• 1938 Larry Niven, American science fiction author.
• 1939 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, American composer.
• 1941 Wilfried Jentzsh, German composer.
• 1945 Annie Dillard, American writer.
• 1945 Claude van de Berge, Flemish writer.
• 1947 Abdul Wadud [Ronald DeVaughn], American jazz, avant-garde, and classical cellist.
• 1956 Jorge Chaminé, Portuguese operatic baritone.
• 1971 John Boyne, Irish novelist.
• 1981 Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian writer.

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

• billet-doux: /bi-lā-DOO/ n., a love letter.
• currick: /KURR-ik/ n., a mound of stones piled high as a landmark, usually on a hill or mountain top or other exposed area; a cairn.
• cynanthropy: /sin-AN-thruh-pee/ n., the belief, either as a mental delusion or in folklore, that one is a dog or that one can shape-shift between human and canine forms.
• guttle: /GəT-ᵊl/ v., to eat or drink greedily and noisily.
• guyour: /GUY-yoor/ n., a guide (in literal and figurative senses); a ruler or commander; a person who directs the course of something.
• pomace: /PəM-əs/ n., (especially in cider making) the pulpy residue remaining after fruit has been crushed in order to extract its juice.
• slub: /sləb/ n., a lump or thick place in yarn or thread; wool that has been slightly twisted in preparation for spinning.
• sonnettomaniac: / suh-ned-uh-MAY-nee-ak/ n., a great enthusiast for sonnets; a person who is extremely fond of the sonnet as a literary form.
• synodic: /sə-NÄ-dik/ adj., relating to or involving the conjunction of stars, planets, or other celestial objects.
• wight: /wīt/ n., a person of a specified kind, especially one regarded as unfortunate; a spirit, ghost, or other supernatural being.

April 30, 2025 Word-Wednesday Feature
spring
/spriNG/ n., the season after winter and before summer, in which vegetation begins to appear, in the northern hemisphere from March to May and in the southern hemisphere from September to November, from "season following winter, first of the four seasons of the year; the season in which plants begin to rise," by 1540s, a shortening of spring of the year (1520s), which is from a special sense of an otherwise now-archaic spring (n.) "act or time of springing or appearing; the first appearance; the beginning, birth, rise, or origin" of anything.

The earliest form seems to have been springing time (early 14th century). The notion is of the "spring of the year," when plants begin to rise and trees to bud (as in spring of the leaf, 1520s). The Middle English noun also was used of sunrise, the waxing of the moon, rising tides, sprouting of the beard or pubic hair, etc.; compare 14th century spring of dai "sunrise," spring of mone "moonrise." Late Old English spring meant "carbuncle, pustule." As the word for the vernal season it replaced Old English lencten (see Lent). Other Germanic languages take words for "fore" or "early" as their roots for the season name (Danish voraar, Dutch voorjaar, literally "fore-year;" German Frühling, from Middle High German vrueje "early").

In 15th century Norman English, the season also was prime-temps, after Old French prin tans, tamps prim (Modern French printemps, which replaced primevère circa 1600 as the common word for spring), from Latin tempus primum, literally "first time, first season."

Beginningness, hope, gleeful madness, renewal, earthiness — all fodder for goodness, even with the satirical words of Dorothy Parker:

Spring has come again. The earth is like a child who knows poems by heart.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Everything is new in the spring. Springs themselves are always so new, too. No spring is ever just like any other spring. It always has something of its own to be its own peculiar sweetness.

L. M. Montgomery

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.

Doug Larson

The spring is coming. Yesterday the lambs were dancing, and the birds whistled, the doves cooed all day down at the farm. The world of nature is wonderful in its revivifying spontaneity.

D. H. Lawrence

The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearl’d;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven—
All’s right with the world!

Robert Browning

Autumn arrives in the early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day.

Elizabeth Bowen

Spring is the season of hope, and autumn is that of memory.

Marguerite Gardiner

At last the spring came, when Nature and Hope wake up together.

Constance Cary Harrison

Today I went out. It smelled, it felt, it sensed spring. I had for the first time faith—not intellectual belief, but a sudden feeling of turning tide. “Yes there will be spring.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Spring cold is like the poverty of a poor man who has had a fortune left him—better days are coming.

Margaret Oliphant

In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

Alfred, Lord Tennysball

Spring never comes abruptly; it makes promises in a longer twilight or a day of warmer sunshine, and then takes them back in a dark week of storm.

Bertha Damon

In spring, nature like a thrifty housewife sets the earth in order…taking up the white carpets and putting down the green ones.

Mary Baker Eddy

Birds that cannot even sing—
Dare to come again in spring!

Edna St. Vincent Millay

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

Margaret Atwood

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.

Ruth Stout

I feel like a louse, or tick, for not having written sooner in answer to your nice letters, but have been having my spring orgy in the barn, settling arguments among the geese, taking temperatures, replacing young robins fallen from nests, stepping on the edges of hoes and rakes, challenging black flies to fifteen rounds without even attempting to make the weight, and constructing jury-rig incubators that would make Rube Goldberg blush.

E. B. White

The Spring is generally fertile in new acquaintances.

Fanny Burney

Spring’s first conviction is a wealth beyond its whole experience.

Emily Dickinson

The older I grow the more do I love spring and spring flowers. Is it so with you?

Emily Dickinson

A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King.

Emily Dickinson

Everything is blooming most recklessly: if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”

Robin Williams

In our spring-time every day has its hidden growths in the mind, as it has in the earth when the little folded blades are getting ready to pierce the ground.

George Eliot

Spring, in Connecticut, made fair false promises which summer was called upon to keep.

Edna Ferber

It was a perfect spring afternoon, and the air was filled with vague, roving scents, as if the earth exhaled the sweetness of hidden flowers.

Ellen Glasgow

Tantarrara! the joyous Book of Spring
Lies open, writ in blossoms.

William Allingham, from the poem Daffodil

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.

Ernest Hemingway

Every year, back Spring comes, with the nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off, and the ground all mucked up with arbutus.

Dorothy Parker

However long we have to live, there are never enough springs.

P. D. James

I am thankful that in a troubled world no calamity can prevent the return of spring.

Helen Keller

Despite the forecast, live like it’s Spring.

Lilly Pulitzer

From A Year with Rilke, April 30 Entry
The Donor, from New Prams

That is what he had ordered from the painters' guild.
It's not that the savior himself had appeared to him,
or even that one single bishop
ever stood beside him, as depicted here,
gently laying his hand upon him.

But this, perhaps, was all he wanted:
to kneel like this.
He had known the desire to kneel,
to hold his own outward thrusting
tightly in the heart,
the way one grasps the reins of horses.

So that when the Immense might happen,
unpromised and unpaid for,
we might hope that it wouldn't notice us
and thus, undistracted, deeply centered,
it would come closer, would come right up to us.

Triptychon des Willem Moreel
by Hans Memling

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.







*iSorry.