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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I never realized until I encountered association in an old word book that it had anything
anything to do with Athens. Etymology below leaves a lot to be desired.
attic by 1855, from Fr. attique. The term Attic order in
classical architecture meant a small, square decorative
column often used in a low storey above a building's main
facade, a feature associated with the region around Athens.
I have fond memories of pleasantly spending rainy days in the attic of the house where I was born.
The roof was high enough that there was a small separate room that had been where my grandfathers
hostler had slept. I got electricity put in, and could sleep up there. I vividly remember the electrician
testing the circuit by putting his finger into a socket for which I had not yet gotten a bulb. I wouldn't to
that for a thousand dollars. It was a great place on rainy days to read old National Geographics, or
my grandfather's obstetrical books. And I could practice my violin without family being tortured.
And there was a ladder up to a cupola, so we could get out after heavy snow storms to shovel off
a flat portion of roof. And at night, with cupola cover off, it was a great place to observe the stars.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
And what do you remember seeing in the stars as you observed in the cupola over Athens? Somehow it seems you went to view the earth's attic up there in your cupola.
Cupola stars makes me think of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," which I recently re-read--the "cup of stars" motif she keeps weaving into the story. What a frightening, disturbing, and somehow realistic tale of a haunting.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
My father's sister taught us about birds, plants,rocks, and stars. She gave us
a planisphere and taught us the names of the constellations. My older brother built a
six inch reflector telescope. Now all I can do is read astronomy articles in magazines
and look at NASA sites on computer.
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