Word-Wednesday for July 1, 2026

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for July 1, 2026, the twenty-sixth Wednesday of the year, the second Wednesday of summer, the first Wednesday of July, and the one-hundred eighty-second day of the year, with one-hundred eighty-three days remaining.


Wannaska Phenology Update for July 1, 2026
Blue Jay
Cyanocitta cristata—diindiisi in Anishinaabe—is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, along with raven, crow, and magpie, making its presence known to Wannaskans everywhere. Diindiisi breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common in residential areas. Blue jays feed mainly on seeds and nuts, such as acorns, which they may hide to eat later; soft fruits; arthropods; and occasionally small vertebrates. They typically glean food from trees, shrubs, and the ground, and sometimes hawks insects from the air.

Blue jay parents build an open cup nest in the branches of a tree, and both sexes participate. The clutch may be two to seven eggs, which are bluish or light brown with darker brown spots. Young are altricial [/al-TRISH-(ə)l/ adj., (of a young bird or other animal) hatched or born helpless and requiring significant parental care], and are brooded by the female for 8–12 days after hatching. They may stay with their parents for one to two months.

In old African-American folktales of the southern United States, blue jay was a significant metaphysical creature. In some tales, the blue jay was credited with making the earth "when all de worl' was water" by bringing the first "grit" or "dirt". In other tales, blue jay was temporarily conscripted as a servant of the Devil, and would not be seen on Friday as it was gathering twigs to furnish hell's kindling and give fire to wicked men on Earth. Relieved from duty on Saturday, its song for the day was abundant and joyous.

July 1 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


July 1 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for July 1, 2026
Sunrise: 5:24am; Sunset: 9:31pm; 54 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 10:58pm; Moonset: 6:37am, waning gibbous, 98% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for July 1, 2026
                Average            Record              Today
High             77                     92                     77
Low              56                    34                     58

Answer July
by Emily Dickinson

Answer July—
Where is the Bee—
Where is the Blush—
Where is the Hay?

Ah, said July—
Where is the Seed—
Where is the Bud—
Where is the May—
Answer Thee—Me—

Nay—said the May—
Show me the Snow—
Show me the Bells—
Show me the Jay!

Quibbled the Jay—
Where be the Maize—
Where be the Haze—
Where be the Bur?
Here—said the Year—

July 1 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
• National Postal Worker Day
• National U.S. Postage Stamp Day
• National Gingersnap Day
• Canada Day
• International Tartan Day
• Feast Day of Oliver Plunkett

July 1 Word Pun
Never buy flowers from a monk. Only you can prevent florist friars.


July 1 Word Riddle
What did Ula say to comfort Sven, who was struggling with grammar?*


July 1 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
IMMOLATION, n., Killing, as a sacrificial act.

    The butcher knocks his victim on the head—
    That's slaughter, for 'tis man who's to be fed;
    The priest downs his, before the gods to set it,
    That's immolation—pray do not forget it.
    If I have made the difference distinct
    My fingers to some purpose I have inked;
    But there I stop—you'll have to ask the priest
    Why gods who love the meat can't kill the beast.
    Perhaps he'll give your question recognition,
    Perhaps condemn your spirit to perdition.


July 1 Etymology Word of the Week
jargon
/JÄR-ɡən/ n., special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand, from mid-14th century, "unintelligible talk, gibberish; chattering, jabbering," from Old French jargon "a chattering" (of birds), related to jar, v., 1520s, "to make a brief, harsh, grating sound," often in reference to bird screeches; the word often is said to be echoic or imitative; compare jargon (n.), jay (n.), garrulous. Figurative sense of "have an unpleasant effect on" is from 1530s; that of "cause to vibrate or shake" is from 1560s. Related: Jarred; jarring. As a noun in this sense from 1540s.

Also "language, speech," especially "idle talk; thieves' Latin" (12th century). Ultimately of echoic origin (compare Latin garrire "to chatter"). From 1640s as "mixed speech, pidgin;" 1650s as "phraseology peculiar to a sect or profession," hence "mode of speech full of unfamiliar terms." Middle English also had it as a verb, jargounen "to chatter" (late 14th century), from French.


July 1 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1200 Sunglasses are invented in China.
• 1731 Benjamin Franklin and members of his "Junto" community improvement club draw up articles of agreement to found the Library Company of Philadelphia, the first public library in British America.
• 1820 First edition of newspaper Courrier de la Meuse published in the Netherlands.
• 1858 Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society renders audience awestruck and silent.
• 1861 First public schoolhouse opens at Washington and Mason St, San Francisco.
• 1862 The Russian State Library is founded in Moscow.
• 1863 Slavery abolished in Dutch territories including Sint Maarten, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, (now marked as Keti Koti Day in Suriname and the Netherlands).
• 1973 British Library established as the country's national library and legal depository, one of the largest libraries in the world with over 170 million items.

July 1 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1574 Joseph Hall, English writer.
• 1586 Claudio Saracini, Italian composer.
• 1663 Franz Xaver Murschhauser, German composer.
• 1688 Johann Ludwig Steiner, Swiss composer.
• 1725 Rhoda Delaval, English painter.
• 1735 James Lyon, American composer.
• 1764 Georg Christoph Grosheim, German composer.
• 1804 George Sand [Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dudevant], French novelist.
• 1822 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Vietnamese poet.
• 1834 Jadwiga Łuszczewska, Polish poet.
• 1850 Florence Earle Coates, American poet.
• 1858 Willard Metcalf, American painter.
• 1858 Velma Caldwell Melville, American poet.
• 1869 William Strunk Jr., American grammarian and author.
• 1887 Amber Reeves, New Zealand-English author.
• 1892 James M. Cain, American novelist.
• 1892 László Lajtha, Hungarian composer.
• 1896 Pavel Antokolsky, Russian poet.
• 1899 "Georgia" Tom [Dorsey], American blues and gospel pianist, songwriter.
• 1902 José Luis Sert, Spanish-American architect.
• 1908 Peter Anders, German opera singer.
• 1909 Juan Carlos Onetti, Uruguayan novelist.
• 1913 Jo Sinclair [Ruth Seid], American writer.
• 1915 Jean Stafford, American writer.
• 1916 Lawrence Halprin, American landscape architect.
• 1917 Milada Blekastad, Czech writer.
• 1918 Ahmed Deedat, South African writer.
• 1926 François-Régis Bastide, French writer.
• 1926 Hans Werner Henze, German composer.
• 1927 Hans Eklund, Swedish composer.
• 1928 Volker Wangenheim, German conductor and composer.
• 1935 James Cotton, American blues vocalist and harmonica player.
• 1941 Twyla Tharp, American dancer and choreographer.
• 1946 Kojo Laing, Ghanaian novelist and poet.
• 1949 Denis Johnson, American short story writer and novelist.
• 1954 Hossein Nuri, Iranian artist.
• 1958 Louise Penny, Canadian mystery novelist.
• 1969 Séamus Egan, American-Irish singer-songwriter.

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

• affuage: /ah-foo-AHZH/ n., the legal right or privilege granted to individuals (often villagers or peasants) to cut and gather wood in a communal or national forest for domestic use, specifically for firewood.
• clonographic: /klō-noh-GRAF-ik/ n., a single cell's ability to proliferate and develop into a distinct colony of cells.
• fattoush: /fuh-TOOSH/ n., in Middle Eastern cookery: a type of salad consisting of croutons (typically of toasted pitta bread) mixed with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and often other vegetables and herbs.
• horehound: /HÔR-(h)ound/ n., a strong-smelling hairy plant of the mint family, with a tradition of use in medicine.
• meandriform: /mee-AN-druh-form/ adj., having a winding form; labyrinthine.
• orlop: /ÔR-läp/ n., the lowest deck of a wooden sailing ship with three or more decks.
• pooter: n., a small, airtight jar used by entomologists to collect small, fragile insects safely using suction; a crimping tool used to crimp a ruff, as worn during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I; a small fart; v., to study for a test; to hurry away.
• roopy: /ROO-pee/ adj., hoarse, raspy, or rough-sounding.
• skiffle: /SKIF-(ə)l/ n., (in the US) a style of 1920s and 1930s jazz deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, using both improvised and conventional instruments; British English, a kind of folk music with a blues or jazz flavor that was popular in the 1950s, played by a small group and often incorporating improvised instruments such as washboards.
• weazen: /WEE-zuhn/ adj., dried up, shriveled, or wrinkled, usually as a result of aging, illness, or a lack of moisture.

July 1, 2026 Word-Wednesday Feature
perfect
/PəR-fək(t)/ adj., having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be, from early 15th century classical correction of Middle English parfit "flawless, ideal" (circa 1300), also "complete, full, finished, lacking in no way" (late 14th century), from Old French parfit "finished, completed, ready" (11th century), from Latin perfectus "completed, excellent, accomplished, exquisite," past participle of perficere "accomplish, finish, complete," from per "completely" + combining form of facere "to make, to do" (from Proto-Indo-European root dhe- "to set, put").

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Using the word, perfect, in this sense, the founders introduce their new Constitution as a process—a neverending goal, which in his book, The Perfectibility of Man, John Passmore traces our understanding of perfectibility from ancient Greece through Christianity, the Enlightenment, and modern ideologies like communism and psychoanalysis. On this two-hundred fiftieth anniversary of our nation, we pause to consider our priorities in working toward that state of perfection from where we now sit. What most fundamental projects await our attention to become more perfect?

Returning to the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution for clues, we see justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Justice, /JəS-təs/ n., the quality of being fair and reasonable, seems to be an ever-changing perfectibility depending on one's intersectionality identification. Domestic tranquility currently ranks as a common priority, as few people seem tranquil at this time. We can probably place common defense as a current achievement and a low current priority. General welfare, the overall health, happiness, safety, and prosperity of a community or nation, appears to increasingly be tipped in favor of the wealthy, in a manner proportionate to the degree of one's wealth, which leaves the majority wanting a greater share of that general welfare. Liberty, /LIB-ər-dē/, n., the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views, like the current states of justice and general welfare in our democracy, depends more on who one is and what one possesses. Please do your own rank-ordering of your current priorities for these five perfectibility endeavors.

In celebration of our nation's coming independence, today Word-Wednesday presents another historical declaration from 1848, for which much has yet to be done in terms of justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, and liberty, to move to a reasonable approximation of a more perfect union.

Declaration of Sentiments

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.

The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

•  He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.
•  He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
•  He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men - both natives and foreigners.
•  Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.
•  He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.
•  He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.
•  He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes, with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master - the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement.
•  He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes of divorce; in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women - the law, in all cases, going upon the false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands.
•  After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it.
•  He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration.
•  He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known.
•  He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education - all colleges being closed against her.
•  He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.
•  He has created a false public sentiment, by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated but deemed of little account in man.
•  He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and her God.
•  He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation, - in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States.

In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State and national Legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by a series of Conventions, embracing every part of the country.

Firmly relying upon the final triumph of the Right and the True, we do this day affix our signatures to this declaration.

Lucretia Mott
Harriet Cady Eaton
Margaret Pryor
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Eunice Newton Foote
Mary Ann M'Clintock
Margaret Schooley
Martha C. Wright
Jane C. Hunt
Amy Post
Catherine F. Stebbins
Mary Ann Frink
Lydia Mount
Delia Matthews
Catharine C. Paine
Elizabeth W. M'Clintock
Malvina Seymour
Phebe Mosher
Catherine Shaw
Deborah Scott
Sarah Hallowell
Mary M'Clintock
Mary Gilbert
Sophrone Taylor
Cynthia Davis
Hannah Plant
Lucy Jones
Sarah Whitney
Mary H. Hallowell
Elizabeth Conklin
Sally Pitcher
Mary Conklin
Susan Quinn
Mary S. Mirror
Phebe King
Julia Ann Drake
Charlotte Woodward
Martha Underhill
Dorothy Matthews
Eunice Barker
Sarah R. Woods
Lydia Gild
Sarah Hoffman
Elizabeth Leslie
Martha Ridley
Rachel D. Bonnel
Betsey Tewksbury
Rhoda Palmer
Margaret Jenkins
Cynthia Fuller
Mary Martin
P.A. Culvert
Susan R. Doty
Rebecca Race
Sarah A. Mosher
Mary E. Vail
Lucy Spalding
Lavinia Latham
Sarah Smith
Eliza Martin
Maria E. Wilbur
Elizabeth D. Smith
Caroline Barker
Ann Porter
Experience Gibbs
Antoinette E. Segur
Hannah J. Latham
Sarah Sisson

The following are the names of the gentlemen present in favor of the movement:

Richard P. Hunt
Samuel D. Tillman
Justin Williams
Elisha Foote
Frederick Douglass
Henry W. Seymour
Henry Seymour
David Salding
William G. Barker
Elias J. Doty
John Jones
William S. Dell
James Mott
William Burroughs
Robert Smalldridge
Jacob Matthews
Charles L. Hoskins
Thomas M'Clintock
Saron Phillips
Jacob Chamberlain
Jonathan Metcalf
Nathan J. Milliken
S.E. Woodworth
Edward F. Underhill
George W. Pryor
Joel Bunker
Isaac Van Tassel
Thomas Dell
E.W. Capron
Stephen Shear
Henry Hatley
Azaliah Schooley


From A Year with Rilke, July 1 Entry
Sky Within Us, from Uncollected Prams

Oh, not to be separated,
shut off from the starry dimensions
by so thin a wall.

What is within us
if not intensified sky
traversed with birds

and deep
with winds of homecoming?

Aleka and Zemphira by Moonlight
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.






*There, their, they’re.