#96773
02/23/2003 2:23 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
waft: From hidden blossoms high in the tree grateful fragrance wafted to me.
waft
vt.
5back-form. < obs. wafter, convoy < LME waughter < Du wachter, lit., a watcher < wachten, to watch: for IE base see WAKE16
1 a) to carry or propel (objects, sounds, odors, etc.) lightly through the air or over water b) to transport as if in this manner
2 5altered < WAFF16 [Obs.] to beckon or signal to, as by a wave of the hand
vi.
1 to float, as on the wind
2 to blow gently: said of breezes
n.
1 the act or fact of floating or being carried lightly along
2 an odor, sound, etc. carried through the air
3 a breath or gust of wind
4 a wave, waving, or wafting movement
5 [Now Rare] Naut. a signal flag or pennant, or a signal made by a flag or pennant, usually rolled or furled
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#96774
02/24/2003 1:49 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,087 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,087 Likes: 2 |
Speaking of the crocus (well, it_is_ a sign of Spring, isn't it?) is there a better plural than "crocuses"? It's not clear what the correct plural is.
Similar puzzlement attaches to the plural of "asparagus" and of "apparatus", though for different reasons.
Enlightenment, anyone?
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#96775
02/24/2003 12:03 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 |
formerly known as etaoin...
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#96776
02/24/2003 1:44 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
crocus
n.,
pl. cro4cus[es or cro$ci# 73sj#8 5ME < L < Gr krokos, saffron, via Sem (as in Heb karkbm, Ar kurkum, Aram kdrkama, saffron, crocus), ult. < Sans kuEkumam6
1 any of a large genus (Crocus) of spring-blooming plants of the iris family, with fleshy corms and a yellow, purple, or white flower
2 an orange-yellow color; saffron
3 powdered iron oxide used for polishing
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#96777
02/24/2003 1:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
NANKI-POO.
The flowers that bloom in the spring,
Tra la,
Breathe promise of merry sunshine.
As we merrily dance and we sing,
Tra la,
We welcome the hope that they bring,
Tra la,
Of a summer of roses and wine,
Of a summer of roses and wine.
And that's what we mean when we say that a thing
Is welcome as flowers that bloom in the spring.
Tra la la la la,
Tra la la la la,
The flowers that bloom in the spring.
Tra la la la la,
Tra la la la la,
Tra la la la la la!
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#96778
02/24/2003 10:17 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,087 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,087 Likes: 2 |
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#96779
02/27/2003 4:55 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
My favourite springtime scent comes in March and is from the balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) that grows 50 metres from our house. I relish it each time I walk past.
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#96780
02/27/2003 5:08 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 |
Freezing rain--snow last night--no signs of spring yet, though, if you look very close, you can see that the tree buds are growing larger.
However, the snowbirds are not out back pecking away at the seed my father left for the birds this morning. Over a hundred blackbirds are there, but not a single snowbird--so they must have migrated since just last week. Maybe that's a sign of winter's closing.
I don't have any problem with crocuses, little determined cusses that they are.
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#96781
02/27/2003 5:16 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
little determined cusses that they are
Yeahbut®, they don't have to crow about it.
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#96782
02/27/2003 5:21 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 |
They don't crow about it--they croak about it because their little throats are sore from standing about in the cold winds. That's why they're called croakuses. Come to think of it, maybe they are cussing about the cold wind and they're actually called croakcusses.
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#96783
02/27/2003 5:38 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
their little throats are sore from standing about in the cold winds
And they say April is the cruellest month.
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#96784
02/27/2003 6:11 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I still remember seeing crocuses coming up through a couple inches of snow. I wonder if they
got their name because the flower petals were originally yellow, or if that refered to the
bight orange-yellow pollen on the anthers.
crocus
n.,
pl. cro4cus[es or cro$ci# 73sj#8 5ME < L < Gr krokos, saffron, via Sem (as in Heb karkbm, Ar kurkum, Aram kdrkama, saffron, crocus), ult. < Sans kuEkumam6
1 any of a large genus (Crocus) of spring-blooming plants of the iris family, with fleshy corms and a yellow, purple, or white flower
2 an orange-yellow color; saffron
3 powdered iron oxide used for polishing
I didn't know before that they were in the iris family. Here is a URL to pictures of them, with
a lot more variety than I knew they had:
[url]www.picturespictures.com/flwrpost/flwr25.html[/url[
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#96785
02/27/2003 6:39 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 |
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#96786
02/27/2003 8:22 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The way the hooks point does make a difference.
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#96787
02/27/2003 8:36 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Alfred Noyes poem:
Come down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time;
Come down to Kew in lilac-time
(it isn't far from London!),
And you shall wander hand in hand with love in summer's
wonderland;
Come down to Kew in lilac-time
(it isn't far from London!).
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#96788
02/28/2003 3:24 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Also more than a bit premature:
When the Hounds of Spring
by Algernon Charles Swinburne
When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces,
The mother of months in meadow or plain
Fills the shadows and windy places
With lisp of leaves and ripple of rain;
And the brown bright nightingale amorous
Is half assuaged for Itylus,
For the Thracian ships and the foreign faces,
The tongueless vigil, and all the pain.
Come with bows bent and with emptying of quivers,
Maiden most perfect, lady of light,
With a noise of winds and many rivers,
With a clamor of waters, and with might;
Bind on thy sandals, I thou most fleet,
Over the splendor and speed of thy feet;
For the faint east quickens, the wan west shivers,
Round the feet of the day and the feet of the night.
Where shall we find her, how shall we sing to her,
Fold our hands round her knees and cling?
O that man's heart were as fire and could spring to her,
Fire, or the strength of the streams that spring!
For the stars and the winds are unto her
As raiment, as songs of the harp-player;
For the risen stars and the fallen cling to her,
And the southwest-wind and the west-wind sing.
For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins...
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#96789
02/28/2003 1:53 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Dr. Bill, isn't it spring all year round in southern California? Or can you still remember what it's like "back east."
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