July 14, 2011
Last Night
Last night I went on a hike around the sides of High School Butte and I found some kind of hobo shanty complete with soiled pillow and wooden planks. Or maybe it was a place some kids camped out. The town of Jackson gets ready for bed even though there is still light around 10 PM. This was the end of a good day.
I spent some of it paddling a canoe, and that always puts the strangest notions in my head. I started to think about the paddle slicing the water, and the steerer in the back directing his oar like a rudder, and how I would never know these things in Texas... and I thought about the cutthroat trout I saw beneath us, the bowline knot and slipknot I learned at Exum, and how I learned about some new plants just yesterday: the red gillia, the skyrocket, the indian paintbrush, and a few varieties of pine trees, thanks to Joseph.
As I was hiking up this hill in the evening I remembered learning the trail term "switchback" from Vanessa, when the trail zig zags to make for less steep hiking; and how in past lives I would have thought a switchback was either some kind of blade or some kind of hog.
I would love to know what facts and concepts my fellows are picking up out wherever you are. Give me some facts! Which side of the mountain is the "leeward?" What is loess? Post things like that up here, names of things and words you had never heard before-- it will be a great benefit to all.
Just yesterday Joseph was talking about the "repeater" for his radio, this and that and various things. Finally, in a humiliated state of ignorance I asked him what he meant by this term "repeater"-- an electronic transmitter that moves radio transmissions over distance and around or through obstructions (e.g. mountains).
I can still remember the first time somebody said there was an animal jam, and I had to listen closely to figure out what they meant. I have always considered it a social grace not to let people know that you are confused in some way, but an unfamiliar word will always come back to get you by the end of the conversation.
See, I listen to NPR; so I learned long ago to have a dictionary in my car when the experts interviewed choose words like "animus" and "frisson" to describe U.S. relations with another country...
Last Night
Last night I went on a hike around the sides of High School Butte and I found some kind of hobo shanty complete with soiled pillow and wooden planks. Or maybe it was a place some kids camped out. The town of Jackson gets ready for bed even though there is still light around 10 PM. This was the end of a good day.
I spent some of it paddling a canoe, and that always puts the strangest notions in my head. I started to think about the paddle slicing the water, and the steerer in the back directing his oar like a rudder, and how I would never know these things in Texas... and I thought about the cutthroat trout I saw beneath us, the bowline knot and slipknot I learned at Exum, and how I learned about some new plants just yesterday: the red gillia, the skyrocket, the indian paintbrush, and a few varieties of pine trees, thanks to Joseph.
As I was hiking up this hill in the evening I remembered learning the trail term "switchback" from Vanessa, when the trail zig zags to make for less steep hiking; and how in past lives I would have thought a switchback was either some kind of blade or some kind of hog.
I would love to know what facts and concepts my fellows are picking up out wherever you are. Give me some facts! Which side of the mountain is the "leeward?" What is loess? Post things like that up here, names of things and words you had never heard before-- it will be a great benefit to all.
Just yesterday Joseph was talking about the "repeater" for his radio, this and that and various things. Finally, in a humiliated state of ignorance I asked him what he meant by this term "repeater"-- an electronic transmitter that moves radio transmissions over distance and around or through obstructions (e.g. mountains).
I can still remember the first time somebody said there was an animal jam, and I had to listen closely to figure out what they meant. I have always considered it a social grace not to let people know that you are confused in some way, but an unfamiliar word will always come back to get you by the end of the conversation.
See, I listen to NPR; so I learned long ago to have a dictionary in my car when the experts interviewed choose words like "animus" and "frisson" to describe U.S. relations with another country...