Word-Wednesday for July 30, 2025

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for July 30, 2025, the twenty-fourth Wednesday of the year, the sixth Wednesday of summer, the fifth Wednesday of July, and the two-hundred eleventh day of the year, with one-hundred fifty-four days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for July 30, 2025
Dark Fishing Spider
Dolomedes tenebrosus is also known as Nursery Web Spider, Raft Spider, Dock Spider. Despite the moniker of “fishing spider,” this particular species is frequently found far away from water like the one spotted recently on the window sill at Word-Wednesday headquarters. Females are over an inch long, measuring from the head to the spinnerets on the abdomen. Dark Fishing Spider is a pale to dark brown color with several chevron markers and lighter stripes around its legs. The legs are banded with brown/black annulations on the femora and reddish-brown/black annulations on the tibia. Dark Fishing Spider is often mistaken for a “wolf spider” (members of family Lycosidae), but the eye arrangements are vastly different. Courtship lasts about 1.5 hours, resulting in no more male, and a grey, spherical egg sac, just over one-half inch in diameter, which mom holds in her jaws as she wanders and waits. The egg sac contains over 1,000 eggs. When she finds just the right spot, the mother hangs the egg sac in a “nursery web” when the babies become just ready to emerge, and she watches over them until they disperse after their first molt.

July 30 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


July 30 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for July 30, 2025
Sunrise: 5:55am; Sunset: 9:06pm; 2 minutes, 44 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 12:36pm; Moonset: 11:13pmm, waxing crescent, 35% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for July 30, 2025
                Average            Record              Today
High             79                     97                     73
Low              56                    39                     46

July
by George Meredith

Blue July, bright July,
Month of storms and gorgeous blue;
Violet lightnings o’er thy sky,
Heavy falls of drenching dew;
Summer crown! o’er glen and glade
Shrinking hyacinths in their shade;
I welcome thee with all thy pride,
I love thee like an Eastern bride.
Though all the singing days are done
As in those climes that clasp the sun;
Though the cuckoo in his throat
Leaves to the dove his last twin note;
Come to me with thy lustrous eye,
Golden-dawning oriently,
Come with all thy shining blooms,
Thy rich red rose and rolling glooms.
Though the cuckoo doth but sing "cuk, cuk",
And the dove alone doth coo;
Though the cushat spins her coo-r-roo, r-r-roo –
To the cuckoo’s halting "cuk".

Sweet July, warm July!
Month when mosses near the stream,
Soft green mosses thick and shy,
Are a rapture and a dream.
Summer Queen! whose foot the fern
Fades beneath while chestnuts burn;
I welcome thee with thy fierce love,
Gloom below and gleam above.
Though all the forest trees hang dumb,
With dense leafiness o’ercome;
Though the nightingale and thrush,
Pipe not from the bough or bush;
Come to me with thy lustrous eye,
Azure-melting westerly,
The raptures of thy face unfold,
And welcome in thy robes of gold!
Tho’ the nightingale broods— "sweet-chuck-sweet" –
And the ouzel flutes so chill,
Tho’ the throstle gives but one shrilly trill
To the nightingale’s "sweet-sweet".

July 30 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Climb a Mountain Day
• National Whistleblower Day
• National Father-In-Law Day
• National Cheesecake Day
• National Chili Dog Day
• International Day of Friendship

July 30 Word Pun
Sven told Monique she should embrace her mistakes. She gave him a big hug.


July 30 Word Riddle
What do you call a bullet-proof Irishman?*


July 30 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
FUNNY, adj., Having the quality of exciting merriment, as a Bulletin editorial by Dr. Bartlett when he is at his sickest.

    He lay on his deathbed and wrote like mad,
    For his will was good though his cough was bad.
    And his humor ran without ever a hitch,
    Urged by the rowels of Editor Fitch,
    Who took the sheets as they fell from his hand,
    Perused and endeavored to understand.
    The work was complete. "'Tis a merry jest,"
    The writer remarked; "I think it is my best.
    How strange that a man at the point of death
    Should have so much wit with so little breath!"
    Then thoughtfully answered him Editor Fitch,
    As he scratched his head, though it didn't itch:
    "The point of death I can certainly see,
    But that of the joke is concealed from me"


July 30 Etymology Word of the Week
jubilee
/jo͞o-bə-LĒ/ n., a special anniversary of an event, especially one celebrating twenty-five or fifty years of a reign or activity, from late 14th century, in the Old Testament sense, from Old French jubileu "jubilee; anniversary; rejoicing" (14th century, Modern French jubilé), from Late Latin iubilaeus "the jubilee year," originally an adjective, "of the jubilee," from Greek iabelaios, from iobelos, from Hebrew yobhel "jubilee," formerly "a trumpet, ram's horn," literally "ram." The original jubilee was a year of emancipation of slaves and restoration of lands, to be celebrated every 50th year (Levit. xxv:9); it was proclaimed by the sounding of a ram's horn on the Day of Atonement.

The form of the word was altered in Latin by association with unrelated Latin iubilare "to shout with joy" (for which see jubilant), and the confusion of senses has continued in the Romanic languages and English. The general sense of "season of rejoicing" is first recorded mid-15th century in English, however through early 20th century the word kept its specific association with 50th anniversaries.

As a type of African-American folk song, it is attested from 1872. The Catholic Church sense of "a period for remission of sin penalties in exchange for pilgrimages, alms, etc." was begun in 1300 by Boniface VIII.


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

• 1836 First English-language newspaper published in Hawaii.
• 1928 George Eastman shows first amateur color motion pictures to guests at his New York house including Thomas Edison.
• 1935 First Penguin books published, starting the paperback revolution.
• 1965 Charles Ives' From the Steeples & the Mountains premieres.
• 1965 Duke Ellington's orchestral piece The Golden Broom and the Green Apple premieres.
• 1981 Simon Gray's play Quartermaine's Terms premieres.

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

• 1511 Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter.
• 1747 Antonio Benedetto Maria Puccini, Italian composer.
• 1751 Maria Anna Mozart, Austrian pianist and Wolfgang's sister.
• 1763 Samuel Rogers, English poet.
• 1793 Joseph-François Snel, Belgian composer.
• 1815 Karel Javůrek, Czech painter.
• 1818 Emily Brontë, English novelist.
• 1824 Eugenio Terziani, Italian composer.
• 1855 James E. Kelly, American sculptor.
• 1859  Julia Frankau, Irish writer.
• 1875 James W. Tate, English composer.
• 1877 Charles Radoux-Rogier, Belgian composer.
• 1886 Algot Haquinius, Swedish pianist and composer.
• 1898 Henry Moore, English artist and sculptor.
• 1899 John Woods Duke, American composer.
• 1904 Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet.
• 1906 Ľudovít Rajter, Slovak composer.
• 1906 Serafin Pro, Cuban composer.
• 1910 Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer.
• 1913 Ivo Lhotka-Kalinski, Yugoslav composer.
• 1913 Karl Guttmann, Austrian-Dutch playwright.
• 1919 Berniece Baker Miracle, American writer.
• 1921 George Lampe, Dutch painter.
• 1922 Zbigniew Wiszniewski, Polish composer.
• 1924 Christopher Shaw, British composer.
• 1924 William H. Gass, American novelist.
• 1925 Antoine Duhamel, French composer.
• 1930 Tony Lip [Frank Anthony Vallelonga], American author.
• 1934 André Prévost, Canadian composer.
• 1934 Kirsten Simonsen, Danish prima ballerina.
• 1936 Yuri Falik, Russian cellist, conductor, and composer.
• 1939 Tom Wilkes, American photographer.
• 1944 Teresa Cahill, British soprano opera singer.
• 1944 Renate Feyl, Czech author.
• 1945 Patrick Modiano, French novelist.
• 1950 Wime de Craene, Flemish singer and composer.
• 1956 Soraida Martinez, American painter.
• 1958 Anthony Byrne, Irish musician.
• 1968 Sarah Ryan, Irish camogie player.
• 1975 Graham Nicholls, English artist.
• 1980 Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter.

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

• ataraxy: /AD-ə-rak-sē/ n., a state of serene calmness.
• barjeel: /bar-JEEL/  بادگیر n., PERSIAN, a traditional wind tower, a passive cooling system used in the Arabian Gulf region, particularly in older buildings.
• bombus: /BAHM-buhss/ n., the low, continuous humming or buzzing sound made by a bee or bees. 
• cirque: /sərk/ n., a half-open steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley or on a mountainside, formed by glacial erosion; a ring, circlet, or circle.
• colure: /kuh-LYOOR/ n., either of two great circles intersecting at right angles at the celestial poles and passing through the ecliptic at either the equinoxes or the solstices.
• deliriate: /duh-LEER-ee-ayt/ v., to act, speak, or reason in a manner considered insane, deluded, or absurd; to be affected by delirium.
• duppy: /Də-pē/ n., WEST INDIAN, a malevolent spirit or ghost.
• immorigerous: /im-ō-RIJ-er-uhs/ adj., obstinate; disobedient; rude; uncivil; boorish; tiff; inflexible.
• rafty: /RAF-tē/ n., damp, raw; musty, fusty; rancid if used to describe bacon.
• xyresic: /zye-RES-ik/ adj., being as sharp as a razor.

July 30, 2025 Word-Wednesday Feature
generosity
/je-nə-RÄS-ə-dē/ n., the quality of being kind and generous, from early 15th century, "nobility, goodness of race," from Latin generositatem (nominative generositas) "nobility, excellence, magnanimity," from generosus "of noble birth; magnanimous" (see generous). Meaning "munificence, quality of being generous" is recorded from 1670s. It's curious that this word, known across the world as a human value, through "magnanimity", which denotes rivalry or a higher place with respect to the person towards whom we give. Jesus and the Buddha both taught followers to wash feet and clean wounds, where neither suggested that these acts were for lesser beings, where the poor or the sick were particularly deserving of generosity.

Word-Wednesday has previously examined generosity, but like other good things, deeper and repeated examination bears additional fruits. Our world could always use more of a good thing, and acts of generosity travel into the future, so today we explore the words used by gifted writers to describe the gifts of generosity:

GENEROSITY, n., Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature and is taking a bit of a rest.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

People who think they’re generous to a fault usually think that’s their only fault.

Sydney J. Harris

Generosity with strings is not generosity: it is a deal.

Marya Mannes

Generosity gives assistance rather than advice.

Luc de Clapiers

Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Like humility, generosity comes from seeing that everything we have and everything we accomplish comes from God’s grace and God’s love for us.

Desmond Tutu

Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.

Richard Dawkins

It is always so pleasant to be generous, though very vexatious to pay debts.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Generosity makes at least two people feel good.

Karen Casey

That’s what I consider true generosity. You give your all and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.

Simone de Beauvoir

Being generous…often consists of simply extending a hand. That’s hard to do if you are grasping tightly to your hand, your rightness, your belief system, your superiority, your assumptions about others, your definition of normal.

Patti Digh

Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.

Albert Camus

Generosity without delicacy, like wit without judgment, generally gives as much pain as pleasure.

Fanny Burney

The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something—usually ourselves.

Pema Chodron

It wasn’t that he was specially ungenerous but that he put things off to give his generosity a longer and more significant route.

Saul Bellow, Augie March

Our generosity never should exceed our abilities.

Marcus Tulles Cicero

You are forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if you generously consent to share them.

Albert Camus

The poor don’t know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Attention is the rarest and purest from of generosity.

Simone Weil

’Tis a curious fact that a generous act
Brings leisure and luck to a day.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Joy is a sign of generosity. When you are full of joy, you move faster and you want to go about doing good to everyone.

Mother Teresa

Generosity is luck going in the opposite direction, away from you. If you’re generous to someone, if you do something to help him out, you are in effect making him lucky. This is important. It’s like inviting yourself into a community of good fortune.

Twyla Tharp

And so you have found out that secret—one of the deep secrets of Life—that all, that is really worth the doing, is what we do for others.

Lewis Carroll

Generosity, to be perfect, should always be accompanied by a dash of humor.

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

From A Year with Rilke, July 30 Entry
The Shelter of Your Heart, from Uncollected Prams

Who knows: eyes may be watching us
from all sides. Ah, only stumbling toward you
am I no longer on display. Growing into you,
I am forever set invisibly
in the darkening shelter of your heart.

The House with the Green Eye
by Marc Chagall

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.







*Rick O’Shea.