Along about dusk, when calmer heads prevail, I went out to try the tractor one more time. Nothing. Sitting there in the gloaming, trying to think how I was going to get out of this one, it dawned on me that in the frustration of the morning I had not lifted the mower blades when it died. It won't start with the blades down. I knew that. Duh. Once I followed procedure, it fired right up...and then came the thrill of trying to get back up the hill with darkness approaching. Kept hitting soft spots, sliding sideways, getting buried, spinning tires, and finally fighting my way to the top. What didn't get mowed...won't.
I've been getting some razzing about using the two-dollar words. I know it's the vogue to blame one's parents for everything, but this trait truly can be laid directly at my mother's feet. We did a lot of traveling when I was a kid, sometimes by train but mostly by car, and I've been to all but the easternmost states. For entertainment while riding along (when we weren't singing every song each of us knew), Mother would say, "What is that?" "That's a cliff." "How many other words are there for that?" Or, "How many words for green can you think of?" "Give me six different words to describe that tree." Growing up before television and before the plethora of board games were invented, we played a lot of word games in the evening. My parents would try to stump each other with the spelling of a new word. My dad's downfall was asafoetida, and Mother gloated over her victory. She insisted I study the Reader's Digest "A Word a Day" articles, and I always had a book of crossword puzzles to work. We may not have the hundred-plus words to describe snow like the Eskimos, but we have such a rich language it's a shame not to dip into the treasure once in awhile. (And I used up about a week's worth of short ones yesterday when the mower quit!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
And to think...26% of people polled didn't know whom we fought to get our nation's independence. I BET if they were traveling with you guys, they would have known!!! My dad still yells at the television or radio (OK, so do I.) when someone says me instead of I or vice versa. And once I said, "a whole nother," instead of "another whole..." and he said, "spell nother!!" Since I couldn't, he humorously got his point across. And wouldn't you know - the other day on tv, while the closed captioning was on, they did indeed spell "NOTHER!" I say to you, use the biggest words you know - it will do us good to google and expand our horizons.
Oh...and so glad that you and The Little Engine That Could (climb the hill but won't be doing any more mowing in that area), made it out and up safely!!
Post a Comment