The exercise:
Our writing today shall revolve around the word: skittish.
Summer has apparently arrived in Osoyoos. It was supposedly 32 today (felt hotter than that) and the forecast is calling for 36 tomorrow.
I do believe I hear the beach calling my name...
Mine:
There are a very small number of things that I can trust without hesitation in this world. Beyond what follows, I view everything with suspicion and doubt. It's not an easy way to live, but it's allowed me to get this far.
Firstly, I know that any wind strong enough to bend a pine tree to the point that it is parallel to the horizon is one that requires shelter be sought immediately.
Secondly, if a man has enough liquor in him he will believe himself invincible.
I make absolutely certain that I never consume to this point, no matter how safe the situation appears. Especially in those moments when all seems well.
And finally, should my trusted horse Crimson become skittish I know, without the smallest shadow of a doubt, that Trouble has saddled up and is on its way to my door.
2 comments:
Heh, your narrator today sounds as skittish as his horse! Crimson is a great name for that horse, by the way :)
32 and 36 sound far too hot for me; I'm already discomforted by the fairly mild 22-26 that we're experiencing over here! I hope you make it to the beach – perhaps after Kat's graduation ceremony? (Congratulation, Kat, by the way!)
Skittish
Skittish, n. O.Ger. Skittish derives from the German Ski Tisch, being a ski table, or a chart that describes when skiing is permitted and when it is prohibited. It made its way into the English language after the Great Avalanche of '42, when an improperly set-up Ski Tisch caused seven hundred skiers to all attempt the Matterhorn's Double-Black run (the one that requires two layers of underwear and a fresh pair waiting at the bottom) at the same time. The nervousness that skiers now have about snowy mountainous descents is referred to as skittishness and the skiers themselves are referred to as skittish.
Ski Tables are presented in the back of this dictionary and probably aren't as out-of-date as you'd dread.
Greg - that is a rather brilliant definition. And I appreciate that the included ski tables are not excessively out of date :D
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