Word-Wednesday for May 14, 2025

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for May 14, 2025, the thirtieth Wednesday of the year, the eighth Wednesday of spring, the second Wednesday of May, and the one-hundred thirty-fourth day of the year, with two-hundred thirty-one days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for May 14, 2025
Ferns!
The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem [/ˈflōˌem/ n., the vascular tissue in plants that conducts sugars and other metabolic products downward from the leaves]) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular — having specialized tissues that conduct water and nutrients, and in having life cycles in which the branched sporophyte is the dominant phase. Ferns produce coiled fiddleheads that uncoil and expand into fronds. The fiddleheads are just starting to appear here in the forest produce — along with tamarack spiky punk sprouts, plum tree blossoms, and the very first blueberry blossoms.

Spot the Space Station:

Wednesday, May 14, 12:37 AM; Visible: 3 minutes, Maximum Height: 65°; Appears: 10° above WNW; Disappears: 65° above N.

Wednesday, May 14, 10:12 PM; Visible: 7 minutes, Maximum Height: 60°; Appears: 10° above W, Disappears: 10° above ENE.

Wednesday, May 14, 11:49 PM; Visible: 5 minutes, Maximum Height: 56°; Appears: 10° above WNW; Disappears: 28° above ENE.

May 14 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


May 14 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for May 14, 2025
Sunrise: 5:43am; Sunset: 8:57pm; 2 minutes, 40 seconds more daylight today
Moonrise: 11:48pm; Moonset: 6:12am, waning gibbous, 97% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for May 14, 2025
                Average            Record              Today
High             62                     86                     89
Low              39                     21                      60

Spring
by Linda Pastan

Just as we lose hope
she ambles in,
a late guest
dragging her hem
of wildflowers,
her torn
veil of mist,
of light rain,
blowing
her dandelion
breath
in our ears;
and we forgive her,
turning from
chilly winter
ways,
we throw off
our faithful
sweaters
and open
our arms.

May 14 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Decency Day
• National Third Shift Workers Day
• National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
• National Underground America Day
• National Dance Like a Chicken Day
• National Receptionists Day
• Feast Day of Mo Chutu of Lismore

May 14 Word Pun
Sven’s thinking of having his ashes stored in a glass urn; remains to be seen…


May 14 Word Riddle
What do Italians yell at an opera singer who stinks?*

a Joe McDonnell original

May 14 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
GREAT, adj.,

    "I'm great," the Lion said—"I reign
    The monarch of the wood and plain!"

    The Elephant replied: "I'm great—
    No quadruped can match my weight!"

    "I'm great—no animal has half
    So long a neck!" said the Giraffe.

    "I'm great," the Kangaroo said—"see
    My femoral muscularity!"

    The 'Possum said: "I'm great—behold,
    My tail is lithe and bald and cold!"

    An Oyster fried was understood
    To say: "I'm great because I'm good!"

    Each reckons greatness to consist
    In that in which he heads the list,

    And Vierick thinks he tops his class
    Because he is the greatest ass.
                                —Arion Spurl Doke


May 14 Etymology Word of the Week
innocent
/I-nə-s(ə)nt/ adj., not guilty of a crime or offense; n., a pure, guileless, or naive person, from mid-14th century, "doing no evil; free from sin, guilt, or moral wrong," from Old French inocent "harmless; not guilty; pure" (12th century), from Latin innocentem (nominative innocens) "not guilty, blameless; harmless; disinterested," from in- "not" + nocentem (nominative nocens), present participle of nocere "to harm," from nok-s-, suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European root nek- (1) "death." Meaning "free from guilt of a specific crime or charge" is from late 14th century, as is the meaning "with childlike simplicity or artlessness." Humorous sense "free, devoid of" is from 1706. The noun meaning "person who is innocent of sin or evil, artless or simple person" is from circa 1200, especially a young child (who presumably has not yet sinned actively). The Holy Innocents (early 14th century) were the young children slain by Herod after the birth of Jesus (Matthew ii.16), hence Innocents day (Dec. 28). Indo-European words for "innocent" are generally negative compound of the word for "guilty." An exception is the Germanic group represented by Gothic swikns (also "pure, chaste"), Old Norse sykn "free from guilt, innocent" (especially as a law term), Old English swicn "clearance from a charge," also "cleansing," but these are of uncertain origin.


May 14 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1796 English country doctor Edward Jenner administers his revolutionary cowpox-based vaccine for smallpox.
• 1800 Friedrich von Schiller's translation of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth premieres.
• 1832 Felix Mendelssohn's concert overture Hebrides premieres.
• 1842 Illustrated London News, the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper, begins publication.
• 1861 The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite, strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain.
• 1897 Oldest continuously operating movie theater in the world, the State Theatre first opens in Washington, Iowa.
• 1925 Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway is published.
• 1939 Lina Medina of Peru becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.
• 1942 World premiere performance of Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait.
• 1946 Paul Hindemith's requiem For Those We Love premieres.
• 1986 Netherlands Institute for War Documentation publishes Anne Frank's complete diary.
• 2013 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah is published.

May 14 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1574 Francesco Rasi, Italian composer, singer, poet.
• 1652 Johann Philipp Förtsch, German Baroque composer.
• 1707 Antonio Teixeira, Portuguese composer.
• 1727 Thomas Gainsborough, English portrait painter.
• 1752 Timothy Dwight, American poet.
• 1805 Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann, Danish Romantic composer.
• 1812 Emilie Mayer, German composer.
• 1816 Gualtiero Sanelli, Italian composer.
• 1817 Alexander Kaufmann, German poet and folklorist.
• 1864 Eleanor Everest Freer, American composer.
• 1870 Zygmunt Stojowski, Polish-American concert pianist, composer.
• 1891 Egon Kornauth, Austrian composer.
• 1892 Arthur Vincent Lourie, Russian composer.
• 1892 Felix Petyrek, Austrian composer.
• 1898 Bonifacio Gil Garcia, Spanish composer and folklorist.
• 1900 Hal Borland [Harold Glen Borland], American author.
• 1900 Walter Rehberg, Swiss concert pianist, composer.
• 1916 Marco Zanuso, Italian Modernist architect.
• 1917 Lou Harrison, American composer.
• 1925 Patrice Munsel [Munsil], American operatic soprano.
• 1925 Tristram Ogilvie Cary, British-Australian composer.
• 1926 Čestmír Gregor, Czech composer.
• 1929 Barbara Branden, Canadian writer.
• 1932 Richard Estes, American artist and photorealist painter.
• 1932 Robert Bechtle, American photorealist painter.
• 1943 Tania León, Cuban-American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.
• 1947 Karin Struck, German feminist writer.
• 1954 Jens Sparschuh, German writer.
• 1960 Anne Clark, British poet.
• 1965 Eoin Colfer, Irish author of children's books.
• 1967 Deirdre Gribbin, Irish classical c omposer.
• 1973 Sinéad O'Carroll, Irish singer.

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

• biff: /bif/ v., strike (someone) roughly or sharply with the fist; n., a sharp blow with the fist.
• cladistics: /klə-DIS-tiks/ n., a method of classification of animals and plants according to the proportion of measurable characteristics that they have in common. It is assumed that the higher the proportion of characteristics that two organisms share, the more recently they diverged from a common ancestor.
• darshan: /DÄR-SHän/ n., HINDUISM, an opportunity or occasion of seeing a holy person or the image of a deity.
• dood: /do͞od/ adj., dead; without life.
• dudder: /DUD-uhr/ v., to shudder, shiver.
• hortatory: /HÔR-də-tô-rē/ adj., tending or aiming to exhort.
• gambade: /gam-BAYD/ n., a lively or playful skipping, leaping, or dancing movement; a caper; a gambol.
• pulicosity: /PYOO-li-KOSS-i-tee/ n., the condition of being infested with fleas.
• ship: /SHip/ n., a romantic pairing of two characters who appear in a work of (serial) fiction, esp. one which is discussed, portrayed, or advocated by fans rather than depicted in the original work.
• tzitzit: /tsēt-SĒT/ n., the fringes or tassels worn on traditional or ceremonial garments by Jewish males as reminders of the commandments of Deuteronomy 22:12 and Numbers 15:37–41.

May 14, 2025 Word-Wednesday Feature
Mythed by a Mile
We here at Word-Wednesday head-quarters read, on-average, five books at the same time to fertilize and cross-pollinate our imagination. We recently noticed  common theme in all five of our current reads — The Overstory, by Richard Powers; a mercy, by Toni Morrison, Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Lion, the Witch,  and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis — myth: /miTH/ n., a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events; a widely held but false belief or idea. The OED notes that the use of this word has peaked from rarity in 1820 to a common plateau since 2002, where usage has focused primarily on the second meaning: a widely held but false belief or idea. Once again, etymology provides important insights. The work myth entered the English language in 1830, from French mythe (1818) and directly from Modern Latin mythus, from Greek mythos "speech, thought, word, discourse, conversation; story, saga, tale, myth, anything delivered by word of mouth," a word of unknown origin. Beekes finds it "quite possibly Pre-Greek." In his Dictionary of English Folklore, Simpson and Roud describe myths as:

stories about divine beings, generally arranged in a coherent system; they are revered as true and sacred; they are endorsed by rulers and priests; and closely linked to religion. Once this link is broken, and the actors in the story are not regarded as gods but as human heroes, giants or fairies, it is no longer a myth but a folktale. Where the central actor is divine but the story is trivial ... the result is religious legend, not myth.

However, the general sense of myth as "untrue story, rumor, imaginary or fictitious object or individual" dates from 1840 and rapidly became the most popular usage. All the current authors of fiction and non-fiction on the current Word-Wednesday reading list see mythic figures as common personal archetypes on the psychic developmental timeline of any member of the human species, depending on one's conditioning and circumstances, which determines where one falls on that timeline. As narratives go, these myths, fables, legends, parables, yarns, allegories, bestiaries, tales, folklore, and bedtime stories represent the human wisdom about our selves dating back from before the printed word became commonly available. Let's put this in context — the first named poet to ever write down a pram was Enheduana, who lived around 2300 BCE. Other anonymous poets are recorded writing down prams and stories ~500 years before her, but she was first. That means a lot of oral transmission, which was mostly storytelling. Johannes Gutenberg invented his printing press sometime in the mid-15th century, but how many people could read even then? Even so, the place- and culture-specific stories got told, so the keepers of those cultures, be they priests or parents, saw them as important.

As Iain McGilchrist convincingly argues in The Master and His Emissary, our word-obsessed left hemispheres believe that words are the keys to the universe of knowing, but our right hemispheres use metaphor to unlock the meaning of our selves and our places in this living world. Myth represents the longest form of metaphor practiced by our species. And yes, metaphors use words; just don't myth the importance of these age-old forests of meaning by becoming lost in the leaves of knowing a few facts.


From A Year with Rilke, May 14 Entry
God’s True Cloak, from The Book of Hours I, 4

We must not portray you in king's robes,
you drifting mist that brought forth the morning.

Almond Blossoms
by Vincent van Gogh

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.







* Pavarotten!