I am concerned that modern man is lazy in his, or her, development of communicative vocabulary. Therefore I am providing a list of collective nouns that will add flavor and excitement to your conversations. Consider these-

colony of ants clutch of chicks

congress of baboons muster of peacocks

colony of beavers covey of quail

flight of bees pod of porpoises

congregation of birds flight of dragons

troop of kangaroos swarm of rats

charm of hummingbirds gang of elk

rabble of butterflies exhaltation of larks

clutter of cats host of sparrows

tribe of monkeys scurry of squirrels

prickle of hedgehogs hover of trout

crash of hippopotomi descent of woodpeckers

Now, this is all predicated on the fact that you my be talking about animals. For a modern conversation of if you are not in a forestry mood you may want to consider;

1. a hassle of errands, 
2. a magnum of hit-men, 
3. a shortage of dwarfs,
4. a quarrel of lawyers, 
5. a minuscule of sub-atomic particles.
6. a treachery of spies. 
7. a mixture of pharmacists.
8. a clutch of mechanics. 
9. a sulk of teenagers.
10. a 404 of lost web pages.
11. an enterprise of trekkies.
12. A pinch of shoplifters.
13. a plunder of goons. 
14. an encroachment of fence-builders. 
15. a thrombosis of heart specialists. 
16. an incantation of witches/wizards/warlocks. 
17. A flight of runaway brides.
18. an assassination of gangsters.
19. a brace of orthodontists.
20. A contingent of understudies.

These are from a blog on the English language, a site which may be able to entice your conversational and writing  skills  http://idiocrasiesoflanguages.blogspot.com/2007/11/collective-nouns-humorous-outlook.htm

Enough prattle for now....

will this come out?

Blogs, the bane of mass communication

You set down to do something and it doesn't do anything you want..

SSSSSSSS

Here comes winter

We have awoke the past couple mornings to a cold wind blowing off the lake, The leaves are all gone and the forest has changed for our walks yet again. We relearn the paths and choose new landmarks. We came across our neighbor, Colleen, today, chopping a tree that had fallen across one of the paths. We helped her dispose of the offending pine and discussed the cross country ski paths to come. Sounds like an interesting experience. We have our skis that we found at a recycle sale, but perhaps I repeat myself.

Ice has formed on the lake but where there are shadows it begins to build. In the sunshine, especially along the Androscoggin River the sun warms the surface enough to keep the waterway pretty clear-so far.

We have winterized the home and Will is working on building up a supply of logs from the downed trees in the woods on our property. We know we are in for something but aren't quite sure what will happen. It is interesting how the weather and the elements are such a topic of conversation. It is logically considering how affected everyone is by the weather.

I finished up my first carving class-look what I did.

I am fairly pleased with it. It has a really nice finish, so smooth. I am working on another piece now for a Christmas present so I can't post it until it is received but as the gull made me a bit more humble to try harder I will be more patient with the next attempt.

I am trying to get rid of the bad pictures and put in something you can see. It is very frustrating.

Here, hopefully is a better shot of The Gull.

More soon.

Rainbow to the Eagles Nest-November 10

This week's ten best

Ten best things this week about living in Maine

It is very beautiful.

The people are friendly and welcoming.

Hearing the ducks talking at night on the bay is delightful.

Lobster is 3.99 a pound!

There are a raffle (flock) of wild turkeys that visit our yard.

A whole set of cross country skis with shoes was $40 at the recycle sale.

There is a lot of live entertainment nearby and things to do.

The dogs get to go swimming daily and I get exercise.

The air smells good, even when it’s foggy.

There is artwork everywhere. 

Barack Obama as President

I will say this about that.

In Croatia, in a little mountain town close to the Italian border but not much else, my mom and I stopped for coffee. When I mistakenly began to pay for our coffees with Euros instead of Kuna, the Croatian exchange, the man behind the bar had a chat with me about the economy. He ended it with the hope that he had for Barack Obama to be our next President. My mom and I said we hoped so. From behind us some German tourists piped up that they hoped so too. I was struck, and still contemplate, how that little vignette is such a clear indication that the world was watching to see what America would do next.

The United States that I knew from being overseas was always a place of hope and possibility. Following 9/11 the world mourned with us as a family. Following our actions on 9/11 the world began to grow more distant, pulling away from us in sadness and despair on our many actions that were not conducive to anyone’s best interests. But out in the mountains, and probably in cities and towns all across the world we were being watched with the hope that America is still the America that is special to the world. Last night I think was a comet of hope for things to come.

I am so proud of my country. For the first time in a long time I think we have done something good and true. Making Barack Obama our next president was a smart move on many fronts, not the least of which is I believe that here is a man who has a real strength of conviction, the energy to pursue his convictions and the social skills to ensure that those convictions will come true.

For so long we have lived and been nurtured in a climate of fear, motivating our actions in the name of hording and the potential to lose our possessions. Our decisions have been driven by the interests of a few without the consideration of impact on the many. Now I really believe things will be different, but only if we ourselves can put our money where our mouth is, stepping up to the plate to do what needs to be done. This would involve difficult but realistic decisions about the war in Iraq, healthcare, the economy, education and the environment. There are many approaches to all these problems but very few of those solutions will actually be successful.

The ones that are successful will require a bit of effort and sacrifice from the American people- something we do not necessarily do well. I don’t think it will kill us and I don’t think I am alone in wanting a little discipline and a little effort from the people who are so fortunate as to be American citizens. We are still, and again, a great country. 

Give Obama a chance to lead us well, no matter who you voted for. We have a great country but it's made of all of us.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/11/05/barack-obamas-victory-speech/

The Cusp of Winter

The rind of winter has a thin veneer. We wait on the edge for the winter to come. The stories are alternately fascinating and horrifying. We'll see what the winter of '08 brings. Now many leaves are almost gone although many of the oaks are a rich brown and there are yellow leaves from the maples that still light up the forest floor in the sun.

The ducks have come to eat closer to shore now that hunting season is done and I still sit mesmerized at the kitchen window with my coffee in the morning watching the herons, birds and chipmunks fattening up for the season to come.

When we walked thought the woods the other day Cassie startled a flock of turkeys that filled the air with big flappy whooshes as they tried to escape the happy dog. Quite a sight. There were probably a dozen or more. Big fat ones that really had a struggle getting off the ground. There are a couple of large raffles in the area

The nights and mornings are chilly, in the thirties and yesterday the wind was blowing a cold air from the northwest but the sky was an electric blue. Funny how beautiful things can allow one to overlook discomfort. I took these pictures on my woods walk. Actually it ended up being a surf and turf, part woods and then it was so enjoyable we walked out towards the point.

The farmers markets are moving to their indoor locations. Last week was pretty much the last of the full-scale outdoor markets.  No matter, we will see them in the spring and through the winter. I heard Bath has a particularly good indoor one I must check out.

We went down to Portland the other day to explore and found a really great gourmet shop down at the harbor, Browne Trading Company (http://www.brownetrading.com/). Apparently very well known to those who love really fresh fish and caviar. Elegant and yet very approachable, we bought wine for our Saturday dinner and then meandered down to the great bakery, Standard Baking for breads and a little breakfast croissant for me. Yum. Not only were they full of their regular goodies but we also got involved in a discussion with the girl behind the counter about heritage grain and other natural bakeries. Gotta love Portland. A foodies delight.

I am taking a carving class. I have begun a seagull but have many ideas of things to come. It is over in Bath which is about 20 minutes away. The class is given by a guy named Wayne Robbins who does nice work. Check this out http://www.waynerobbins.com/. I came across him in my wandering and it seems a perfect sort of indoor thing to do during the winter, transportable and fun. We’ll see how it goes. I will post my work as it is completed.

Better get my exercise regime going or I will lose interest. I am making progress in regaining my health.

Ciao.