Category: Mother Nature

Snollygoster is a Fun Word to Learn

: a shrewd, unprincipled person

“Truman lamented that Dwight Eisenhower had given in to congressional “snollygosters“—unprincipled politicians.—Orme Wilson”

This is a quote I found on the Merriam Webster Dictionary website. I was going to talk about the word “gumption” which is today’s word of the day. I was sidetracked when I saw that snollygoster is the current top word look-up at this website. I did not know what it meant, so I looked it up. I found the above quote. I tried to look up Orme Wilson since I did not recognize this name. I found that there was more than one Orme Wilson, so I searched who was the Orme Wilson that used the word “snollygoster” to describe politicians. I found this:

“President Harry S. Truman. Truman lamented in his personal correspondence and speeches that Dwight D. Eisenhower had surrendered to congressional “snollygosters”—which he defined as unprincipled, shrewd politicians who care more about getting into office than about party, platform, or principles. Because Orme Wilson Jr. was a prominent diplomat during the Truman era, his papers, letters, or related historical records are cited by lexicographers as the source material verifying Truman’s use of the word.” I found this quote from Wikipedia.

According to Merriam Webster, the word can be traced back to the word “snallygaster” which was a mythical creature. Etymology– “probably alteration of snallygaster a mythical creature that preys on poultry and children.”

A dark winged dragon stands among dead chickens beside a rural wooden farmhouse.
Could this be a snallygaster or a snollygoster?

In case you are more interested in the word “gumption”, here is the link: Definition of gumption.

Passing Gas

I was reminded of this post today when one the boys in one of my classes farted. This caused a major class disruption with the other boys holding their noses and moving away from him. Once again I had to remind them that everyone does this, and that it is a natural reaction of our bodies when we digest food. It happened soon after lunch.

Here is my old post about this subject. Check it out here!

Holy Moly!

White flowering plant with exposed roots in an enchanted forest
White blossoms rise from twisted roots in a glowing, mushroom-filled forest.
Batman and Robin driving a Batmobile through a city at night
Batman and Robin speed through a city skyline in their retro Batmobile comic scene.

The word moly does not stand alone as a single word except in myth. There is a magical herb in mythology called moly. In The Odyssey moly is a magical herb given to Odysseus by the god Hermes to protect him from Circe’s magic.

Several years ago I read the book Circe written by Madeline Miller, and moly is a magical plant that is also mentioned in this book. This mention carries forward the mystery of moly. Many botanists have tried to determine if there ever existed such an herb like it is described in these books. Nothing can be established conclusively, and it remains a mystery, though several theories do exist.

I remember watching Batman cartoons when I was a kid, and Robin would frequently use the phrase, “Holy Moly, Batman”, to express his surprise or shock about what was happening around them.

Molybdenum Mo, atomic number 42, electron configuration [Kr] 4d⁵ 5s¹
A futuristic infographic explores molybdenum’s atomic structure, electron configuration, and metallic crystal form.
No. 74 Moly Alloy Racing prototype car cornering on a racetrack
The No. 74 Moly Alloy Racing prototype accelerates through a sunlit circuit corner.

In real life there is the chemical element Molybdenum. It is a silvery white transition metal. It has many industrial uses. One use is to create an alloy called “moly steel”, and this is a high strength alloy that is often used to build race cars.

All the images and their captions were created by the WordPress image generator. I did provide prompts, though nothing as specific as what it creates. I find this fascinating, and I often want to exclaim, Holy Moly!

Are you ready for the race?

Two neon race cars on a rainy street beneath the Capitol
Neon-lit race cars speed through rainy streets beneath the U.S. Capitol.
In real news there will be a race this weekend in "Washington,D.C.,officially the District of Columbia,which is the federal capital of the United States."

It will look nothing like the picture here. This picture was created by an image generator.

The real race will be during the daytime. No neon lights will be needed.
I wonder if the real race will have rain. I have not seen rain predictions.
The noise should be loud like in the audio file above.
Have your earplugs ready. The excitement is building.
The road closures will cause frustration for many.
I hope everyone will stay safe!

Aug. 19th – Hiding in Plain Sight

Hocus Pocus Focus
When I originally blogged Hocus Pocus Focus I did not include a picture. Tonight I went back into my picture folders to find an example of a thing of beauty hiding in plain sight.
When I was taking pictures of these flowers I did not realize the bug was there. It was not until I got inside and got a good look at the picture that I saw it. It had been hiding in plain sight! 🙂 I edited the picture and zoomed in on what I had originally missed.

Goat Ears and a Moon Rock

Goat Ears

Keeping with the theme from my last post, A Look Back and a Look Ahead, I am re-blogging a post from this day, August 8th a few years back. I laugh every time I see these pictures of the goats and their moving ears! My look ahead for the day is a moon rock of sorts; I am preparing for the next full moon. I have been having fun with round ice molds, edible luster dust, and a trip to the Virginia ABC store.

The low ball/rocks glass I picked up long long ago at a thrift store. I bought 8 of them. I cannot remember how much I paid for them, however, they had to be very inexpensive for me to buy them at the time. The only reason I bought them is because my elementary school mascot was the Roadrunner, and back them I had some occasions to use the glasses. I found one suitable to use for my moon rock cocktail experiment. I used two small bottles of HYPNOTIQ because one would not cover the round ice rock. I played around with the edible luster dust. (It comes in six colors.) I used silver and gold. I named the drink a roadrunner babe. 🙂

A Look Back and a Look Ahead

Oh Happy Day!

The post you see above with a new baby robin still in its nest is from August 8th 2023, though I believe the picture was taken before that date. Anyways, WordPress shows me throwback editions when I open my home page and there exists posts from the same day on previous years. I can decide it re-blog it or not. The title is so positive and the picture is so cute that I decided to re-post it.

Currently I am still reading Caribbean by James A. Michener. I am about 20% through the book. It is thick, and I do enjoy it, though, I am often distracted by others, so the going is slow. I am learning a lot of history about this part of the world. This book is a library loaner. I have recently purchased two more of his books that are not available through our library system.

I also purchased and received today an interesting book which I hope to share with others. It is a book for anyone, though the target audience is younger readers since it is a graphic novel. Graphic novels are so popular with the middle school students that I know. The book is The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds.

https://garethhinds.com/

Since a movie has been recently released by the same title and based on the same original story, I was interested in getting my hands on a book that would be easier to read than Homer’s epic poem. I have linked the website for the author/illustrator that takes many classics and adapts the story in a graphic novel for younger students.

Have a Happy Day!