Thursday, May 14, 2015

More this and that




The Lilac Bush

It blooms beautifully every spring. But in the eleven years we've lived here the flowers have never had that dearly familiar lilac scent. Now this year, perhaps our last in this house, that well-remembered scent has burst forth with the blossoms. The sweet fragrance wafts through the yard, the house, my office.

Why the flowers chose this year to give us this gift is a mystery. Is it their way of saying goodbye? Poetic fancies aside, it's probably due to the unseasonably warm weather earlier this year. Another oddity this spring--a couple of rhododendrons changed from pink to deep red.

The whims of nature? Climate change? Or a sweet sad farewell...


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What I Learned Watching the Nature Channel

1. When a victorious lion takes over a new pride, he kills all the cubs that are not his.
[Did the Disney people know this when they made the Lion King?]

2. Wildebeest moms make sure they give birth around ten in the morning because by nightfall the calf needs to be able to run from predators. [Like the lion who killed all the cubs.]

I admire the wildebeest moms, but have no kind words for the lion males. Yeah, I know it's nature, the circle of life and all that, but still...

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Nouns Becoming Verbs

On a recent TV show, an FBI agent said to a bad guy, "I'm going to end you." On the same show one character said to another about an upcoming meeting, "are we going to conversate..."

I checked the Internet for these usages, and yes, they've been noted as part of dialogue in some areas of the country.

That just goes to prove that language is not writ in stone.

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An interesting Video

The one-man orchestra is exactly that. Ben Morfitt, known as Squid Physics, the creator of this video, composed the music and recorded himself playing every instrument. I think he did a fantastic job!







–– Cat

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