Word-Wednesday for May 27, 2026

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for May 27, 2026, the twenty-first Wednesday of the year, the tenth Wednesday of spring, the fourth Wednesday of May, and the one-hundred forty-seventh day of the year, with two-hundred eighteen days remaining.


Wannaska Phenology Update for May 27, 2026
Wild Plums
Prunus americana — bagesaanaatig in Anishinaabe — is now blooming across Wannaskaland. Flowers are ¾ to 1 inch across with 5 white, round to egg-shaped petals with a single slender style and a spray of perfectly white, slender yellow-tipped stamens in the center. The fruit is a purplish red drupe with a thin waxy bloom, about one inch in diameter with a single hard seed inside. If you're lucky enough to find wild plums later this season, several Wannaskan Almanac readers have cherry pitters you might be able to borrow. Several Wannaskan Almanac contributors and readers recently lamented the scarcity of ripe wild plums, which are bound to be popular with other non-human Wannaskaland residents.

May 27 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


May 27 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for May 27, 2026
Sunrise: 5:29am; Sunset: 9:13pm; 1 minutes, 58 seconds more daylight today
Moonrise: 5:55am; Moonset: 3:22am, waxing gibbous, 84% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for May 27, 2026
                Average            Record              Today
High             68                     94                     78
Low              46                     22                     55

The Veil of May
by W. S. Merwin

No more than a week and the leaves
have all come out on the ash trees
now they are more than half open
on the ancient walnuts standing
alone in the field reaching up
through the mute amazement of age
they have uncurled on the oaks from
hands small as the eyelids of birds
and the morning light shines through them
and waits while the hawthorn gleams white
against the green in the shadow
in a moment the river has
disappeared down in the valley
the curve of sky gliding slowly
from before not seeming to move
it will not be seen again now
a while from this place on the ridge
but over it the summer will
flow and not seem to be moving

May 27 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Grape Day
• National Flip Flop Day
• National Grape Popsicle Day
• National Senior Health and Fitness Day
• National Cellphone Tape Day

May 27 Word Pun
Forgive me, father, vicar, pastor, padre, priest, for I have synonymed.


May 27 Word Riddle
Who is Minke Mouse?*

a Chairman Joe original

May 27 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
DECALOGUE, n., A series of commandments, ten in number—just enough to permit an intelligent selection for observance, but not enough to embarrass the choice. Following is the revised edition of the Decalogue, calculated for this meridian.

        Thou shalt no God but me adore:
        'Twere too expensive to have more.
        No images nor idols make
        For Robert Ingersoll to break.
        Take not God's name in vain; select
        A time when it will have effect.
        Work not on Sabbath days at all,
        But go to see the teams play ball.
        Honor thy parents. That creates
        For life insurance lower rates.
        Kill not, abet not those who kill;
        Thou shalt not pay thy butcher's bill.
        Kiss not thy neighbor's wife, unless
        Thine own thy neighbor doth caress.
        Don't steal; thou'lt never thus compete
        Successfully in business. Cheat.
        Bear not false witness—that is low—
        But "hear 'tis rumored so and so."
        Covet thou naught that thou hast not
        By hook or crook, or somehow, got.
                                                        —G.J.


May 27 Etymology Word of the Week
doctrine
/DÄK-trən/ n., a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group, from late 14th century, "the body of principles, dogmas, etc., in a religion or field of knowledge," from Old French doctrine (12th century) "teaching, doctrine" and directly from Latin doctrina "a teaching, body of teachings, learning," from doctor "teacher" + -ina, fem. of -inus, suffix forming fem. abstract nouns. The notion is "whatever is taught or laid down as true by a master or instructor", hence "any set of principles held as true." In Middle English, it could be used generally for "learning, instruction, education." In U.S. history, the Monroe doctrine was put forward in a message to Congress Dec. 2, 1823; the exact phrase is attested by 1848.


May 27 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1898 Arthur Pinero's Trelawney of the Wells premieres.
• 1944 Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist play Huis Clos (No Exit) premieres.
• 1950 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Wallace Stevens.
• 1958 Ernest Green becomes the first African-American to graduate from Little Rock's Central High School.

May 27 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1265 Dante Alighieri, Italian poet.
• 1576 Caspar Schoppe, German author
• 1738 Bonaventura Furlanetto, Italian composer.
• 1799 Fromental Halévy, French composer.
• 1806 Charles-Joseph Tolbecque, French violinist, and composer.
• 1819 Julia Ward Howe, American poet.
• 1822 Henry Wylde, English composer.
• 1822 Joachim Raff, German-Swiss composer.
• 1837 Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter.
• 1854 Georges Eekhoud, Belgian writer.
• 1861 Victoria Earle Matthews, American author.
• 1867 Arnold Bennett, English novelist.
• 1871 Georges Rouault, French expressionist painter.
• 1874 Richard von Schaukal, Moravian-Austria poet.
• 1876 Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer.
• 1881 Rudolf Pannwitz, German writer.
• 1884 Max Brod, Czech-Israeli composer, writer.
• 1887 Emiel Delrue [Emiel van der Straeten], Belgian writer.
• 1888 Louis Durey, French composer.
• 1891 Claude Champagne, Canadian composer.
• 1894 Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist.
• 1894 Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French writer.
• 1895 Marij Kogoj, Slovenian composer.
• 1900 Chester Zardis, American jazz 'slap-style' double-bassist.
• 1900 Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet.
• 1902 Celius Dougherty, American pianist and composer.
• 1907 Rachel Carson, American marine biology author.
• 1908 Harold Rome, American composer.
• 1908 Melle Oldeboerrigter, Dutch painter and cartoonist.
• 1909 Isador Goodman, South African-Australian pianist and composer.
• 1911 Torolf Elster, Norwegian journalist and writer.
• 1912 John Cheever, American writer.
• 1913 Wols [Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze], German cartoonist and painter.
• 1914 Hugh Le Caine, Canadian physicist and composer.
• 1915 Herman Wouk, American novelist.
• 1920 Gwyneth George, Welsh cellist.
• 1922 Sidney Keyes, English poet.
• 1925 Tony Hillerman, American writer.
• 1928 Thea Musgrave, Scottish composer.
• 1930 Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer.
• 1930 John Barth, American satirist and author.
• 1931 Věroslav Neumann, Czech composer.
• 1932 Jeffrey Bernard, British writer.
• 1935 Elias Gistelinck, Flemish classical trumpeter and composer.
• 1937 Andrei Bitov, Russian writer.
• 1939 Frank Bidart, American poet.
• 1942 Priscilla McLean (née Taylor), American composer.
• 1946 Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish jazz double bassist.
• 1947 Liana Alexandra, Romanian pianist and composer.
• 1951 Norma Jean Almodovar, American author.
• 1963 Calliope Tsoupaki, Greek classical pianist and composer.
• 1971 Vilma Kadlečková, Czech writer.
• 1972 Maggie O'Farrell, Irish bestselling author.
• 1977 Áine Minogue, Irish musician.

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

• anagapesis: /an-ə-ga-PĒ-sis/ n., falling out of love; the feeling of not loving someone or something once loved.
• covey: /KUH-vee/ n., a small group or gathering, often of people or birds, moving or appearing together.
• hoaching: /HOTCH-ching/ adj., SCOTTISH, swarming, thronging, crowded; (figurative) turbulent.
• lownly: /LOWN-lee/ adv., so  as to be sheltered or protected; cosily, snugly.
• mauley: /MAW-lee/ n., a hand; a fist.
• paillette: /pə-LET/ n., a piece of glittering material used to ornament clothing; a spangle.
• plumbago: /pləm-BĀ-ɡō/ n., old-fashioned term for graphite.
• rumspringa: /Ro͞oM-spriNG-ə/ n., (in some Amish communities) a period of adolescence in which boys and girls are given greater personal freedom and allowed to form romantic relationships, usually ending with the choice of baptism into the church or leaving the community.
• saucesense: /SAW•sentz/ n., fig., an intervention to bring clarity to a difficult or confusing situation: Sven poured  some saucesense onto Ula's word salad is from 2026; a plant-based sausage. No animals were injured in the making of this saucesense is from 2026. [a Chairman Joe original]
• selvage: /SEL-vij/ n., an edge produced on woven fabric during manufacture that prevents it from unravelling; a zone of altered rock, especially volcanic glass, at the edge of a rock mass.

May 27, 2026 Word-Wednesday Feature
indoctrinate
/in-DÄK-trə-nāte/ v., to teach a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically, from formerly also endoctrinate, 1620s, "to teach," formed as if from Latin (but there seems to have been no word indoctrinare), perhaps modeled on French endoctriner or extended from earlier (now obsolete) verb indoctrine, endoctrine, "to instruct" (mid-15th century); "in" + doctrine + -ate). Meaning "to imbue with an idea or opinion" first recorded 1832. Related: Indoctrinated; indoctrinating. The same recent gathering of Wannaskan Almanac contributors and readers who talked about wild plums featured a discussion on teaching youth, with an extended exploration of indoctrination — its meaning, merits, and morality. In a community of families as as small as, and yet as diverse as those of Wannaskaland, we inevitably run into many neighbors — sometimes friends — who The Devil's Dictionary would define as: DOCTRINAIRE, n., one whose doctrine has the demerit of antagonizing your own.

With reference to the definition and etymology of doctrine, as featured early in this post, can we actually and consistently guide our children through their many stages of development in a manner that is true to our own values while teaching each child to make experienced-based decisions while becoming a loving person of conscience? Thích Nhất Hạnh organized a worldwide Order On Interbeing, which developed a set of fourteen mindfulness trainings, where the first seven are most pertinent to this discussion of indoctrination:

The First Mindfulness Training: Openness; Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. We are committed to seeing the Buddhist teachings as guiding means that help us learn to look deeply and develop our understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill, or die for. We understand that fanaticism in its many forms is the result of perceiving things in a dualistic and discriminative manner. We will train ourselves to look at everything with openness and the insight of interbeing in order to transform dogmatism and violence in ourselves and in the world.

The Second Mindfulness Training: Nonattachment to Views; Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. We are committed to learning and practicing nonattachment to views and being open to others’ insights and experiences in order to benefit from the collective wisdom. We are aware that the knowledge we presently possess is not changeless, absolute truth. Insight is revealed through the practice of compassionate listening, deep looking, and letting go of notions rather than through the accumulation of intellectual knowledge. Truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment, ready to learn throughout our lives.

The Third Mindfulness Training: Freedom of Thought; Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our views on others, we are determined not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever – such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination – to adopt our views. We are committed to respecting the right of others to be different, to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, learn to help others let go of and transform fanaticism and narrowness through loving speech and compassionate dialogue.

The Fourth Mindfulness Training: Awareness of Suffering; Aware that looking deeply at the nature of suffering can help us develop understanding and compassion, we are determined to come home to ourselves, to recognize, accept, embrace and listen to suffering with the energy of mindfulness. We will do our best not to run away from our suffering or cover it up through consumption, but practice conscious breathing and walking to look deeply into the roots of our suffering. We know we can only find the path leading to the transformation of suffering when we understand the roots of our suffering. Once we have understood our own suffering, we will be able to understand the suffering of others. We are committed to finding ways, including personal contact and using telephone, electronic, audio-visual, and other means, to be with those who suffer, so we can help them transform their suffering into compassion, peace, and joy.

The Fifth Mindfulness Training: Compassionate, Healthy Living; Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, we are determined not to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying, nor to take as the aim of our life fame, power, wealth, or sensual pleasure, which can bring much suffering and despair. We will practice looking deeply into how we nourish our body and mind with edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. We are committed not to gamble or to use alcohol, drugs or any other products which bring toxins into our own and the collective body and consciousness such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books and conversations. We will consume in a way that preserves compassion, well-being, and joy in our bodies and consciousness and in the collective body and consciousness of our families, our society, and the Earth.

The Sixth Mindfulness Training: Taking Care of Anger; Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, we are committed to taking care of the energy of anger when it arises, and to recognizing and transforming the seeds of anger that lie deep in our consciousness. When anger manifests, we are determined not to do or say anything, but to practice mindful breathing or mindful walking to acknowledge, embrace, and look deeply into our anger. We know that the roots of anger are not outside of ourselves but can be found in our wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in ourselves and others. By contemplating impermanence, we will be able to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves and at those we think are the cause of our anger, and to recognize the preciousness of our relationships. We will practice Right Diligence in order to nourish our capacity of understanding, love, joy and inclusiveness, gradually transforming our anger, violence and fear, and helping others do the same.

The Seventh Mindfulness Training: Dwelling Happily in the Present Moment; Aware that life is available only in the present moment, we are committed to training ourselves to live deeply each moment of daily life. We will try not to lose ourselves in dispersion or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present. We will practice mindful breathing to be aware of what is happening in the here and the now.

We are determined to learn the art of mindful living by touching the wondrous, refreshing, and healing elements that are inside and around us, in all situations. In this way, we will be able to cultivate seeds of joy, peace, love, and understanding in ourselves, thus facilitating the work of transformation and healing in our consciousness. We are aware that real happiness depends primarily on our mental attitude and not on external conditions and that we can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that we already have more than enough conditions to be happy.

From A Year with Rilke, May 27 Entry
Patience is All, from Viareggio, April 23, 1903, Letters to a Young Poet

Do not measure in terms of time: one year or ten years means nothing. For the artist there is no counting or tallying up; just ripening like the tree that does not force its sap and endures the storms of spring without fearing that summer will not come. But it will come. It comes, however, only to the patient ones who stand there as if all eternity lay before them—vast, still, untroubled. I learn this every day of my life, I learn it from hardships I am grateful for: patience is all.

A Wind-Beaten Tree
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.






*He’s Mickey’s kid who thinks he’s a whale.