Poetry Barn
Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 2:09PM I got an email from the home goods store Pottery Barn recently, but in my bleary morning-eyed state I misread it as Poetry Barn and eagerly opened the message. I hope it’s near Monterey, I thought, already anticipating what I might find inside and going through my calendar in my head to plan a visit. Never has attractive patio furniture been so disappointing.
It got me thinking, though, about poetry and the west and I remembered hearing that my new hometown has an annual Cowboy Poetry Festival in December. Turns out there is also a website dedicated to Cowboy Poetry where, among many other fantastic programs, a Lariat Laureate is chosen from among the many cowboy poets.
Lariat is one of the great cowboy words. According to my Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, lariat is an American English word from 1832 meaning lasso, and borrowed from the Spanish la reata, the rope.
We were lucky enough to visit a ranch in south Monterey County recently where we saw the lariat put to use with elegant expertise, poetry in motion.
Reader Comments (4)
"Poetry Barn" is much more enticing than Pottery Barn-- what a wonderful bleary-eyed mistake!
Lariat is a wonderful word-- comes out of the mouth just like a lariat!
True, Lauren! Now every time I pass Pottery Barn I think of poetry.
I'm very amused by "Poetry Barn;" I make that sort of mistake all the time. I like to attribute it to needing a new prescription, rather than either wishful thinking or age.
One of my favorite silly, children's books is called Sixteen Cows, by Lisa Wheeler. It's about neighbors who, when a tornado takes the fence from in between their properties, fall in love while trying to separate their herds. It's worth a quick peruse on your next trip to the library or bookstore; it will put a smile on your face. ;-)
Thanks, Anna! I'll look it up.