Author R. Tucker Abbott, PhD is listed as Du Pont Chair of Molocology at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. Molocology doesn't appear in any of my dictionaries, but malacology is the study of mollusks, likely the synonym, though I like the look of all the Os in molocology.
A few great shell words from the California Province:
Purple Dwarf Olive, Kelp-weed Scallop, Cooper's Nutmeg, Haliotis Abalone, Chiton, and my favorite: Frilled Dogwinkle. If I find a dogwinkle on the beach, I will post a picture.
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Our neighbor, the extraordinary landscaper Dan, gave us this drought resistant plant yesterday. It's a Pork and Beans Sedum. The name Pork and Beans made me wonder what other sedum varieties are called. Here is a selection:
Crazy Ruffles, Postman's Pride, Sea Lettuce, Burro Tail, Witch's Moneybags, Queen's Crown, Hens and Chickens, Dragon's Blood, and my favorite, Chubby Fingers.
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At the Cooper-Molera adobe there will be historic demonstrations, rope making, leather crafts and fandango.
From Chambers Dictionary:
Fandango an energetic Spanish dance, or music for it, in ¾ time.
]]>DRIFTING SAND
KEEP CHILDREN CLOSE
MOUNTAIN LIONS ARE DRAWN TO THEM
]]>According to various etymology sources, the largest city in New Mexico was named after a person, who was named after a city in Spain, but the word itself means white oak if looking at Latin roots. If traced from Arabic, land of the cork oak or the plum, and from Galician, apricot. Whatever the meaning, Albuquerque is a great looking word and fun to say. Plus, it's the home town of one of my favorite picture book author/illustrators Jill McElmurry.
]]>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.
The little silhouetted pigs traipsing across the yellow signs made me laugh when we first moved here, and I was anxious to spot the real thing. It took eight weeks, but Saturday I finally saw my first wild boar. Here is the family of three that crossed our path in south Monterey County.
The word balloon has been around for nearly 500 years, its origins perhaps from a game played with a leather ball.
Balloons have been refrenced in books as far back as Swiss Family Robinson and Moby Dick.
Before rubber, balloons were made from animal bladders.
Bed rolls were once called balloons, especially among loggers, and to "balloon it" meant to pack up and leave camp.
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I walked at high tide yesterday and the ocean was heaving and rolling, enormous waves crashing against the cliffs. Along the swells, a scattering of dark figures. Sharks? I thought. No, surfers, waiting to hitch a ride. At home, I searched the web for surfing words and came across this surfing dictionary. A sample from a to z (minus x):
ahu, bammerwee, chuf, duckdive, endo, floatwaller, gremmy, hennalu, isobath, jivel, kootzy, lexidex, muku, narb, ollie, paralax, quasimoto, redonculous, shibby, tapioca twizzler, upwelling, velzyland, waldo, yardsale and zimzala.
I'm not ready to pick up a board or put on a wet suit, but I am in favor of any hobby with its own dictionary.
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