Wheresomeness

When searching for odd words, such as wheresomeness, one retrieves equally odd results.  Here's a quote from a short poem: "Every morning dawns with an ache, a pang of wheresomeness and shallow water." In terms of definitions, "Ness" is an English suffix  forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state - darkness, goodness, kindness, preparedness. There are places, organizations, people, and myths where "Ness" occurs.  One could be named Ness Ness as it is a given and surname.  And if one were an Irish princess from mythology one could be Ness Ness Ness.   Typically a movie or toy character pops up with names that are unusual.  Ness is a game and a playable character in Super Smash Bros.4.  There's nesstheband and their tag line is "whatever's unclear to you, it's the same for me - ness." And there are many products on Amazon with "Ness" in their names - from Scottish clothing to soup ladles, hats, mirrors, motorcycle handlebars, and cat litter pans.   Today our pictures show the Chrysanthemum display at the Niagara Showcase Greenhouses.  It is a popular festival every year throughout the world.  Longwood Gardens has the thousand flower tree display right now. Japan has Chrysanthemum Day - one of five ancient sacred festivals.  Korea, Germany, China, and more have displays where Chrysanthemums are used in mosaic culture displays. The Niagara Parks display always has a Romantic section with pinks, purples and whites, and a contrasting primary colour display section.

The Precipice of a Year

Happy New Year everyone! Yes - this is one of the great celebrated days of the year.  It is known as Feastday. The Saint of the Day for Thursday, December 31st 2015 is St. Sylvester.  He lived in 312 in Rome. In this same post, it says that Saint Michael the Archangel isn't a saint, but rather he is an angel.   He is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  I don't know how to distinguish between an angel and archangel, though. When the Year 2000 turned over we watched all the celebrations around the world.  Remembering that, I looked up where the other side of the globe is in the countdown.  New Zealand has kicked off the New Year's Eve celebrations. This made me think of  Marshall McLuhan who told us we would be living in a global village. Here's a quote of his that seems to be relevant to this blog: "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." ~March McLuhan

Being British

At this time of year, when many of our traditions trace themselves back to Britain, George Mikes' manual "How to be a Brit" has been republished after 30 years ago.  Here are a few excerpts to start our day.  Once we know how to be British about them, we can rediscover Lost Christmas Traditions. On not knowing anything One thing you must learn in England is that you must never really learn anything. You may hold opinions – as long as you are not too dogmatic about them – but it is just bad form to know something. You may think that two and two make four; you may ‘rather suspect it’; but you must not go further than that. Yes and no are about the two rudest words in the language. Why don’t the British panic? They do, but very quietly. It is impossible for the naked eye to tell their panic from their ecstasy. Why don’t they work harder? They just don’t like hard work. The Germans have a reputation for hard work, so they like to keep it up. The British find it boring. Then, apart from a tiny and despicable minority, the British dislike the idea of taking part in the rat-race. They will give up certain advantages – knowingly and with their eyes open – in order to be able to stick to certain values and a way of life. How would they fight a civil war? Very, very quietly. Our pretty houses decorated for Christmas are at the Niagara Falls Showcase Greenhouse.