A Bit of Bothersome Blather
(And some photos today taken recently.)
Wednesday brought with it a strange dream. For some reason, I woke just before six and, blundering about the house, saw the Blue Star leaving Yialos. Perhaps I’d been woken by its arrival. Not quite ready for the day ahead, I thought I’d sit for a minute… And woke up an hour later after a dream in which all the children of the island were being taken away on a ship. Very odd, but no doubt inspired by the Blue Star I’d seen in my half-awake state. Anyway, I got on with Wednesday which started cooler and with that cloud cover again, but with the thermometer in the garden reading 20 degrees by ten.
I’ve also been watching the day boats coming in and out, and each time they arrive, they seem to be bringing more visitors with them. That can only be a good thing. It feels like we’re in that lull between Easter and the start of the season, and I suppose we are, seeing as how Easter was several days ago now. We have already had visitors coming, staying for a holiday and leaving, but have not yet seen the numbers that we expect to see in the summer, and that’s probably because it’s not quite summer season yet. I’m just blathering on here.
Now there’s a thing. Where does the word Blather come from? I know it as a Scottish word, or rather, being more used in Scotland. I just went and had a look and, no surprise, it is. It comes from the Old Norse word, blathra, meaning ‘talk nonsense’ which is based on the Old Norse word blathr, meaning ‘nonsense.’ So, how about getting yourself a copy of ‘Symi, Stuff & Blathr’? (That link leads to the real book, Symi, Stuff & Nonsense.) The word came from Old Norse to Scottish and Northern English via the Vikings, I imagine. As a bonus, you also have this from an etymology site:
1520s, blether, Scottish, probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse blaðra “mutter, wag the tongue,” perhaps of imitative origin, or from Proto-Germanic *blodram “something inflated” (the source of bladder). Related: Blathered; blathering. https://www.etymonline.com/word/blather
On which note, I need to go before I bother you with my bothersome blather.
