Word of the Day

I wandered into the kitchen the other night and saw an apple on the counter. It had been sliced into 8 perfect pieces by a stainless steel apple corer. None of it had been eaten and the core stood upright in the middle, browning from neglect. My daughter walked out of her bedroom with her laptop in hand ready to do some research for her homework. I said, "Is that your Apple Cored?" She said, "I've told you a hundred time this is my apple cord." dangling her AC adapter for her computer. "Yours is longer," she said. I pointed toward the fruit on the counter. I think we laughed for ten minutes. Yes, the apple cored.

The techno digitalization language is ganging up on us and stealing our language and our spelling (who has time to type our the word "are" as in "how are you?") It is my job as founding mother of the Definition Protection League to speak up once again in defense of words and meaning. I use a dictionary as my shield.

As we progress into this unpredictable era of political insanity, climate instability I want to be intimate and respectful with words that have mattered to me very deeply. When I call their names they resonate clearly in mind, like a macintosh which is a kind of a tart crisp apple that grows on a tree and is harvested in the fall or a raincoat made of rubberized cloth.

Let's examine the phrase "I touch". At present this is a gadget with fancy screen that can download a bunch of aps and so on. But when I say "I touch" I mean; With my hand I reach out and feel you, pet my dog, embrace my wife, Hold my daughter's hand.

My cell is not the portable wireless phone that I carry.

My cell is the very smallest unit of living matter. All living things including plants and animals are made up of cells. The cell membrane contains cytoplasm and the nucleus. All humans start life with one cell and through mitosis cells divide and create the living organism. That makes the question, "Where's my cell?" much more interesting.

A web is something that is woven, usually by a spider. Or a liar " Oh what a tangled web we weave." A duck may have webbed feet as well. Some Indigenous natives believe the universe was woven by spiderwoman and we are connected through her web.

A net is a tool used to catch fish, butterflies or crazy people. Some people use one to keep their hair in place especially in the food service industry.

Windows are transparent and made of glass. One uses them to look outside. Whether in a house of a car windows allow you to see what's going on in the immediate world around you. Right now I'm looking out my window at the ocean, the Albion River and a whole lot of eucalyptus tress, red wood and conifers.

Safari is a trip that you go on, usually related to hunting for big game. Some just enjoy seeing the Lions, Elephants, giraffe's and so on and choose to shoot only photographs.

Yahoo! is a term that one uses when one is especially excited especially if you ride horses.

Googol spelled googol is a number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros or 10 to the hundredth power.

Twitter and tweet are what birds do to talk lightly and rapidly, especially of trivial matters.

Blog, Skype, and Reddit are nonsense words

So at this time I want to encourage everyone to remain calm, not .com. Stay in touch with each other, reach out not just on face book, but call on a telephone, have lunch in a restaurant face to face. Then go to your library or local booksellers and get a good book to read. not a kindle(which means start a fire), not something that will no longer exist if if the satellite fails, or the government doesn't like you or mother nature unleashes her forces, that you will still be able to hold it in your hand and sit in the sunshine or by fire light and read.

Oh Yes, and the word of the day today, according to my calendar is "Aflattus" a noun A divine imparting of knowledge and inspiration. If you have a word that needs protection and to be put on the endangered definition list leave a comment here.