Pandiculation!

 Pandiculation:  the act of stretching oneself, especially on waking.

Every so often I come upon a new, to me, English vocabulary word that strikes my fancy.  Pandiculation is certainly apropos after yesterday's One Poem a Day, in which I was  prompted  to scrutinize a bit of my childhood activities in comparison with an animal, I chose a  domesticated cat.  And, heaven knows, cats are masterful in their ability and success at pandiculation!

A little more on the subject of pandiculation from Eyal Lederman, Therapeutic Stretching:                                           Toward a functional approach, 2014:"There's a shared animal and human behavior of "having a stretch" ad yawning called pandiculation.  It is often a combination of elongating, shortening and stiffening of muscles throughout the body."

And, this from Leon Gilbert, "The Delights of Sneezing," in the Sidney Morning Herald, July 17, 1949:   "I had hoped to deal, here, with two other minor emotional luxuries that have been hitherto hidden in obscurity.  They are oscillation (yawning) and pandiculation (stretching) which may be practiced separately or together.

Pandiculation, "stretching (as when waking up), comes to us via French pandiculation, from the latin verb pandiculari "to stretch, grimace."  Pandiculari is a derivative of pandere "to spread out, extend."

Pandiculation entered English in the early 17th century.

One moment please . . . while I pandiculate!

Poetry Writing Days Three and Four

 Day Three:

Prompt:  Consider your best quality and choose an animal to symbolize it.  Write a poem celebrating this animal within you.

Hmmm?  Jostled this prompt around in my head off and on during the day; the CAT kept popping into my mind.  

Here goes:

I'm inquisitive and adventurous, a little like a cat.

As a child . . . 

Playing, exploring, adventuring outside

    Four-leaf-clover searching

    Orchard trail-blazing, traipsing, hiding

    Flora and fauna investigating

    Camping and stargazing

And, indoors

 Saturday matinee - fascination, imagination, and Hershey bar enthrallment 

    Post-motion picture fantasies with grooming and costuming

    Utilizing Mom's assortment of fabrics stored in Dad's military trunk

    Mostly brightly patterned and colored chicken-feed sacks

Oh, the exploits I'd have.

Day four prompt:  Describe an everyday object in a way that makes it sound compelling, and make it come alive in your poem.

It lies, just waiting, in a small, white tray in my bathroom drawer

Bristles at the ready, rinsed and dry after faithful duty last eve

Such an insignificant necessity for a twice-daily activity

But, oh my, how irritating and uncomfortable when absent.

That long-awaited trip out of town

Oh, I forgot to pack my toothbrush.

I'm miserable, in an all alone, private manner

Not at all valuable to others, not even noticeable

But, to me and almost all-consuming, physical, intellectual, emotional travesty

    

Poetry Writing, Day Two

From "One Poem a Day," my Day Two prompt reads: Write a rhyming poem about the ocean using any or all of the words provided: tide hide inside sail prevail. Here goes: Life is akin to an ocean tide Ebbing, flowing, to and fro. On my life's ride, I've endeavored to hide Many foibles I've mastered throughout the journey Way deep down . . .in my secret inside.

A New Endeavor

Poetry has always, or at least mostly, baffled me. I enjoy writing,but have found myself wanting when it comes to understanding the author's point when reading a poem. Last week I requested birthday gift ideas for my granddaughter Holland, and my daughter Kari mentioned that Holland's interested in writing poetry and might really make use of a poetry-writing journal. Good suggestion, I thought, so I went online to my trusty friend, Amazon, and ordered one blank-page journal and one daily journal called "One Poem a Day: A Writer's Daily Journal of Words and Inspiration," in which each page is begun with a writing prompt. As I gazed through "Inside this book," I liked what I read "flipping" through the pages. Well, thought I, if this would inspire Holland, why not try a copy out for myself? My copy of "One Poem a Day" arrived yesterday afternoon; I didn't even open it until a few minutes ago, but, when I did, I actually felt excited about trying it out. Here's the first poem I've ever written: The page-one prompt reads: Write a poem about something tha makes you uncomfortable. Leave no emotional stone unturned. Am I a rascist? I think not, or maybe I think so. I see "noticable" physical definitions and differences . . . skin color, curl of hair, width of nostrils, roundness of buttocks, height, weight, head covering, attire. I hear variations and accents in speech . . . foreign (where from?), East Coast, Texas, deep south, "black." I'm frequently mistaken and new acquaintances are relegated, in error, to an erronious nationality, region, religion, socio-economic group. Then, sometimes quickly, sometimes more slowly . . . my consciousness and morality remind me, once again . . . We are ALL children of God.

"The Splendid and the Vile"

I don't consider myself much of of an espionage-genre-reading fanatic, but recently read a book that really captivated me, as it takes place during a period of American history that I remember well. It's "The Splendid and the Vile" by Erik Larson; I'd followed Bill Gates' suggestion to give it a try and found it to be, not only well-written, but really emotionally exciting and intense. I'm in awe of people who were able to function in that in-your-face kind of espionage; our present world is maneuvered more remotely by artificial intelligence and data-hacking, but for centuries espionage and spying took place on a very jpersonal level.

Continuing My 2020 "Books Read" List with JUNE

My New Year's Resolution for 2019 was to read as many books as I could; I ended the year having read 128 tomes:  nonfiction and memoirs, fiction, history, psychology, religion; I don't have a certain genre I'd consider a favorite, just whatever grabs my interest at any given time.

On the first day of 2020 I made a list of several resolutions for this year; amongst them was to again keep track of books that I sometimes devour, sometimes meander through, and sometimes do not enjoy much at all.

Here's the list of books that I completed reading in June (I'm going backwards!):

• Stolen         by Lucy Christopher     320p
• A 16-year-old girl in an airport coffee shop is kidnapped and taken to a remote location somewhere in the Outback of Australia
• Paul Hollywood's Bread     by Paul Hollywood
• Yes, I do read cookbooks, often from cover to cover.  I'm a fan of The Great British Baking Show and am preparing to spend some valuable mother-son time coaching my son, Jeff, in the baking of French baguettes when social distancing decreases and cooler weather ensues!
• Paris        by Edward Rutherfurd      832p
• Another in the library of incredible historical fiction written by a master storyteller.  The history is factual, but the stories wind their way through hundreds of years of the local history and lives of generations of fictional families.
• Running With Sherman:  The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero  352p       by Christopher McDougall
• I'd read "Born To Run" by the same author telling the true story of a tribe of indigenous super-runner-indians in Mexico and loved it.  When I saw this book I was intrigued by McDougall's experience rescuing a broken-down donkey and rehabilitating him.
• The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra (Book One of the Baby Ganesh series)                by Vaseem Khan    320p
• I love all things India, and often warm and fuzzy animal stories.  This gentleman and his 'pet elephant' doesn't disappoint.  A recently-retired police inspector is given a baby elephant as an entering-retirement gift and together they solve various mysteries and crimes.
• Cometh the Hour       by Jeffrey Archer   Book Six of the Clifton Chronicles  416p
• This is the sixth of the seven books in the series.  I love Jeffrey Archer, which, with their great narrator, Alex Jennings, I devour while walking away on my treadmill or driving in the car.  The characters reach out to me and their stories are engrossing; I often extend my workout sessions to listen to more!  I am always anxious to discover how the story turns out, but unhappy to get to the end; however, Archer always gives some incredible reason why I need to continue with the next book in the series!

As I glance through the list, I'm noticing that, because I read more than one book at a time, it seems that, generally speaking, about every other month it appears that I consume a larger number of books.  I think that's simply because of my only keeping track of works completed.

 

Books Read List Begun and Other Things!

 Monday August 10, 2020

Well, here we are in the sixth month of this coronavirus pandemic; mu family remains healthy, thank God. As we continue our social distancing I've been thinking about returning to my blog to help keep track of how time flies!  It's been the better part of two years since I entered a post, amazing!

Reading has become even more of a passion in my life: I'll begin this post with a list of the books I completed in:

JULY 2020:

• This Was a Man        Book 7        The Clifton Chronicles        560p
• by Jeffrey Archer  
• Leonardo da Vinci        599p
• by Walter Isaacson
• Kane and Abel        Book 1          Kane and Abel series         658p
• by Jeffrey Archer
• Assignment Bletchley     Book 1         175p
• by Peter J. Azzole
• Blindspot:  Hidden Biases of Good People        254p
• by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
• The Prodigal Daughter        Book 2       Kane and Abel series       564p
• by Jeffrey Archer
• A History of the Popes, Volume I:  Origins to the Middle Ages
• Shall We Tell the President      Book 3     Kane and Abel series     220p
• by Jeffrey Archer
• The Dublin Saga - The Princes of Ireland       776p
• by Edward Rutherfurd
• A Pilgrimage to Eternity:  From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith     384p
• by Timothy Egan
• Death on the Nile
• by Agatha Christie

I am enjoying the opportunity to read several tomes at the same time, on Kindle, on Audible, and in hard-bound or paperback form.  Audible books are great for listening to while working out on the treadmill, walking outside, or driving in the car.  Kindle is a good choice for books that require definitions and notes, pieces from which I intend to learn.  Then, there's the good old paperback for enjoying while sitting or lying down.

The Agatha Christie mystery was read in order to participate in my August book club discussion group. We each chose a different Christie book and gave a short book report, after which we had a general discussion of Mrs. Christie's considerable library of novels written over the course of a long a very productive writing career.

Lots of Jeffrey Archer - I'd read the beginning of the Clifton Chronicles years ago, remembering that his style is very pleasing in my opinion.  I've now listened to all of The Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel series; they're intriguing company for my treadmill workouts, where I find myself adding minutes and miles, just so I can continue to listen, high praise for an author indeed!