my adventures

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very good indeed, but when she was bad, she was horrid.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Friday, June 29, 2012

Cloudy, with a chance of snout dogs...


I’m interested in meteorology, but I’m more interested in gross misappropriations of the authoritative language of science. It feels rife with clarity, and yet you don’t understand what it means. And I think that’s beautiful.   ~Rivka Galchen

Earlier this week, in an attempt to remember the word "prognosticator", I entered the word "meteorologist" on the Thesaurus.com website.  My search netted an interesting list, including, not only, prognosticator but also prophesier, forecaster, tea-leaf reader, soothsayer and haruspex.

Which led me to ask, as I'm sure you are, "What is a 'haruspex'?"  A quick search on Dictionary.com brought me this interesting insight:

haruspex: (in ancient Rome) one of a class of minor priests who practiced divination, especially from the entrails of animals killed in sacrifice
 
 
Which led to the inevitable question, "Wouldn't the weather report be so much more interesting if they replaced Doppler Radar with Examination of the Entrails?"

Which led to this conversation:

  Me: Do you want to go to the Farmers Market with me and the kids tomorrow?
  Nancy: I wish I had a better idea of what the weather was going to be like.
  Me: I could go home and consult the entrails.
  Nancy: Do you have entrails?
  Me: I think there's a package of hot dogs in the freezer.

Which led to this:


3 comments:

  1. Upon examination, it looks to be a partly to mostly day to me.

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    Replies
    1. I wish the entrails had been able to tell me that the tiny, baby donut guy wasn't going to be at the Farmers Market. The day was pretty much ruined. I think Nancy came home and went right to bed. We were devastated.

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  2. Lisa, you are awesome, and your Mom is equally awesome. Write more often!

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