#76624
07/21/2002 10:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
OK. The "purling river" has got me thinking. Could we construct here a group of water terms that strictly describe (or even leniently describe) the movement of water, whether terms that are actually in the dictionary (as "purling" is for movement of water) or poetic--newly created or otherwise? (What? Oldly creative? What a thought!) All bodies of water would be perfectly acceptable here, from storm in a teacup to the waters in the Sky.
I'll start by repeating what we learned on the Purling thread and then move (or not, as is the case below) to something different. There must be a lot of terms in between and, also, extended outwardly in opposite directions-three- four- five- six-dimensional---who cares.
1. purling river
2. stagnant water
Boat regards,
WordWater
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#76625
07/22/2002 2:16 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
rippling stream...
"smooth as glass" I know this doesn't describe movement, but it is used to describe a lake or pond...
formerly known as etaoin...
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#76626
07/22/2002 4:36 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
1. gurgling brook
2. crashing surf
3. running tide
4. choppy sea
5. rolling swells
6. racing current
7. surging current
8. storm surge
9. tidal wave
10. tsunami
11. winding rivulet(s)
12. streaming tears
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#76627
07/22/2002 5:01 PM
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
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addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
A babbling brook and a lapping wave.
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#76628
07/22/2002 5:29 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent flooding in, the main.
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#76629
07/22/2002 5:51 PM
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
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addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
Bring me a wheel of oaken wood
A rein of polished leather
A heavy horse and a tumbling sky
brewing heavy weather
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#76630
07/22/2002 5:52 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Oh yes, smooth as glass" I know this doesn't describe movement, but it is used to describe a lake or pond...
and suggest to me, White capped--the normaly placid bay, today was white capped, though the front, and all its storms are still hours off..
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#76631
07/22/2002 6:50 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Sea-Fever
John Masefield
I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
© John Masefield
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#76633
07/22/2002 11:02 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
twice a day, 5 days a week, i ride through a salt water marsh.. every day, it is different. Tuesday, last week, when the moon was half full, the tides were double full, and water creaped up the stony embankent that holds the tracks.. all signs of the old wooden bridge were hidden under the placid water that slowly gently flooded the marsh..
this morning, low tide, the creek out to the bay was not much wider than a stride, and soft mud on edges looked like cuniform, a secret language created by the egrets. a cormarnt sat high, and drying, on the rotted woods of an ancient bridge. the crooked wings, hung like a great shrug, as if he were uncertain of everthing.. far out in the bay, the water was silver pink, still tinged with dawn color, and the mist of morning had not yet been sweeped away by the suns rays.. How white the hulls of boats gleamed.. and their masts reach up, like weary early morning risers, streatching there arms above their heads and yawning ,in wonderous surprize of the light of day.
Little Neck bay is very small, and almost insignifigant. but it is a joyous part of the rhythm of my day.
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#76634
07/22/2002 11:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Dear of troy,
That description is one of the loveliest pieces of writing I've come across here. Thank you for telling us what you get to see in those marshes. You've mentioned them before--several times, I think--but here--ah!--there was a lot of emotion in what you wrote!
Best regards,
WW
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#76635
07/23/2002 11:22 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Helen,
That is a gobsmackingly gorgeous word portrait. I think you should send it to the NYT's "Dear Diary." I'll be happy to proofread it, if you wish
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#76636
07/23/2002 11:24 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
That is beautiful - thank you helen.
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#76637
07/23/2002 12:05 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
A sink brims with water. You pull the plug. The water stirs. A vortex materializes. It blooms into a tiny whirlpool, growing as if it were alive. In a minute the whirl extends from surface to drain, animating the whole basin. An ever changing cascade of water molecules swirls through the tornado, transmuting the whirlpool's being from moment to moment. Yet the whirlpool persists, essentially unchanged, dancing on the edge of collapse.
"We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves," wrote Norbert Wiener.
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#76638
07/23/2002 12:05 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
this morning, low tide, the creek out to the bay was not much wider than a stride, and soft mud on edges looked like cuniform, a secret language created by the egrets. a cormarnt sat high, and drying, on the rotted woods of an ancient bridge. the crooked wings, hung like a great shrug, as if he were uncertain of everthing.. far out in the bay, the water was silver pink, still tinged with dawn color, and the mist of morning had not yet been sweeped away by the suns rays.. How white the hulls of boats gleamed.. and their masts reach up, like weary early morning risers, streatching there arms above their heads and yawning ,in wonderous surprize of the light of day.
[tears in eyes]
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#76639
07/24/2002 10:26 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
a secret language created by the egretsThis whole post was such a joy to read, so beautifully evocative I felt I was there, the secret language created by the egrets reminiscent of the Greek myth of Palamedes and the cranes. http://www.mintmuseum.org/artvu/collie/language.html
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#76640
07/24/2002 11:53 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
you have all been so kind-- i feel my words, as much as they move you, do little to speak of the great beauty of the bay.. here are a few images.. the first is very similar to what i see from the train, the second is an arial view, the next an image for the deep part of the bay, looking east, and finally an image of the western shore. http://www.littleneck.net/udallscove/Ospreys.htmthe site has some winter photos, of the east side of the bay, looking north. these photos were taken close to RR line, southern end of bay, were it is a grassy marsh, and focus on the telephone pole mount that serves as an Osprey nest.(looking North) http://www.hydroqual.com/projects/usa/alleyCrk_imagePg1.htmlin this arial image, the RR line is the faint, darker line, south, were the bay has been reduced to just a creek. the lighter, easy to see grey line is Northern Blvd, the main street in the area. (the bright green blob is a driving range, between the two..., the bottom edge of the photo is I-495.. the Long Island Expressway (top is north, bottom of image, south) http://www.hydroqual.com/projects/usa/alleyCrk_imagePg2.htmlthe east shore of the further out--this is were the boats dock in the summer, but this winter image is bare.-- (looking east.) the dock can just barely be seen, as a white spot, on the eastern shore (which is Douglaston town, Little Neck town is the further eastern side of the Neck, that looks as if it were tilting east..)in image 1. The far north, eastern shore is Great Neck. http://www.skatecity.com/nyc/nyc_pix.cgi?p=littleneck1a bike skate path on the western edge of the bay. the highway in this image seen can be seen clearly in the arial image. (looking North)
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#76641
07/26/2002 10:29 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
"We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves"
Great quote, BY.
But we do (as do whirlpools or tornados) consist of "stuff" as well, specifically "world-stuff" that, but for the pattern, couldn't be separated from what is around us.
I quite liked Alan Watts' line:
"We don't come in to this world - we come out of it"
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#76642
07/26/2002 12:12 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
"They speak a language that burgles and rains from their mouths like water through a pipe."
Barbara Kingsolver: The poisonwood bible (a book oft-mentioned on this board and currently on my bedside table)
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