In summer the dogs and I head to the beach early. It’s too hot for them by 8 am on a sunny day. Today we saw (photos) one person (a regular) swimming, and a small group with quad bike and trailer using a Kontiki for fishing. The dogs waited patiently while I took photos.
Sounds mysterious
Aha, I knew it!
Well, I didn't or I wouldn't have had to look it up. What I did know was that the speaker's accent had vowels that sounded very 'pure' English, but a 'softness' that sounded Kiwi. Ella Morton is a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised, Brooklyn-based writer
.
That doesn't account for the 'pure' vowels, but I was satisfied about the Kiwi connection.
All my life I've had a fascination with words, with language, the sounds of words and languages. As I listen to podcasts and the like I sometimes hear an 'odd' pronunciation or stress or inflection. It stops me paying attention to the next part as I savour the sound, roll it around in my mind, try hearing the word that way and this way and my way, comparing, contrasting, assessing.
And always, always, I'm amazed at the infinite variety in the ways we humans express ourselves with language, the myriad distinct ways of pronouncing the 'same' sound, or the difficulty of certain sounds made adjacent, or at the start of a word rather than the middle or end.
Today I heard someone pronounce the word athlete
as ath-e-lete. I guess the 'thl' combination is tricky for them. In English I have no trouble pronouncing the 'ng' in the middle of the word 'singer'. Put it at the start of a Māori word such as ngā
though and I stumble.
The sounds of language are endlessly interesting!
The 200 funniest words in English: That sounds funny — the science behind why certain words make us laugh. Not a family-friendly list. The surprise item: “how’d”. Apparently we do complex maths while reading / listening and that’s the basis for if something’s funny.
Driving past the lake this morning I caught a quick glimpse of a baby pūkeko: a tiny ball of fluff on legs. No photo, I’m afraid, but here are 2 adult pūkeko in that same spot from last year.
What a great story, and with a surprising New Zealand connection: The Hopeful Story of a Doomed Fox, a 7 minute video from NPR’s Skunk Bear. The Island Fox in the US Channel Islands off the California coast was brought back from the brink of extinction.
I had an hour today with Karen, a Clinical Massage Practitioner. It turns out all the time I’ve spent using a weedeater recently (darn this warm wet ‘growing’ weather) has really taken a toll on me. She unlocked a bunch of muscles in my back, neck and arm.
$95 worth of high-quality beef mince, stir-fry and steak from my favourite Green Meadows Beef. A pleasing gift was the unexpected free pack of venison sausages.
Oshi will be 12 next week. He finds 6.45am far too early to be awake. Photo: Oshi the dog yawning while sitting on my lap.
When you glance out the window and spot someone lurking behind the flax bush only a few metres away… Photos: brown and white and black and white steers behind a flax bush.
These beauties are straight from our tunnel house. Photo: 6 red strawberries.
One of my favourite loose-leaf teas is Premium China Snowbuds, a delicate white tea. Today for the first time I actually carefully followed the recommendations for making it — 80C water, steep for 2 minutes. It was stunningly delicious!
Hayfever sounds fairly innocent: oh, you sneeze a lot. In reality it’s like a permanent bad cold: runny nose, sneezing, severely itchy throat, itchy eyes, but worst of all is the head fog and tiredness. For me lupins get past the Beconase that blocks other triggers.
In November lupin bushes are very pretty, loaded with bright yellow flowers … whose pollen flies straight into my eyes, nose and throat, and maybe even directly into my brain, creating itching and fogginess. Steroid shots may help. Today’s has already cleared my brain! 🥳
We had an early start at the beach this morning. Sasha caught today’s moment of sunshine. Photo: small black dog by a driftwood log on the beach, lit by a shaft of sun light.
Geese fly in those gorgeous wedge-shaped skeins… but not this gang of 35 rebels. They were all over the place as they flew past today: clumps, lines, outliers, gaps. Just before landing they nearly had it, but still not really. 13 photos of geese not in a wedge.
The fishing vessel Perseverance 66110 was our companion at the beach this morning. Photo: fishing boat near shore, small waves breaking.
The paddocks next door usually have Friesian (probably) steers. The farmer keeps his dairy herd elsewhere. Today the herd appears to have grown by one Highland cow. Photo: Highland cow with excellent horns, beside a smallish Friesian steer.
Caught this beauty just after coming home from dinner out. Photo: full red-tinged moon rising above paddocks.
I love the hawks that soar around here, hunting. Today, for the first time, and through a window, I managed an OK photo of one.
