Drift…
We usually get a group together for Sunday breakfast and this last Sunday the conversation took a number of unusual turns, to put it mildly…
It started with a discussion of the miracle on the Hudson (Sully Sullenberger) and what his options were (none). Which morphed into a discussion of altitudes allowed over the rivers in NYC, a discussion of the quality of the Intrepid museum, WHY is there an SR-71 on deck? The lousy signage, lack of specifics on the aircraft displayed, and segued into a discussion of the history of the Hudson River and the dredging of the channel.
Which changed to a discussion of the boroughs of NYC and their quirks, then became a discussion of telephone numbers and area code changes in NYC.
And Peter’s segue into South African 4,5, and 6 number phone numbers…
Which then became a discussion of zip codes… NYC, Chicago, and LA…
There were a couple of other digressions in there and then we were on colors and Homer. How he didn’t use blue among other colors, calling the sky ‘bronze’ and the water ‘wine dark’ and the ‘thoughts’ that people back then couldn’t ‘see’ colors. After the snorts of disbelief, the discussion went to linguistic theories about the evolution of color terms in ancient languages.
That became a discussion of colors our grandparents wore, and different types of cloth in the late 1800s early 1900s.
In other words, kinda a typical Sunday morning discussion among our group, a little more varied than normal, but…
And kudos to Cedar for the home made bearclaws and donuts fried in tallow!!!
Words for colors change and grow over time. The ancient Greeks didn’t have a word for blue. It was just a different sort of green. The modern Russians have two separate words for blue – light and dark. (They also have two separate words for fire – tame and wild.) It’s an interesting field of comparative linguistics.
I have a Rather Old combination tool. A small hammer that has bits that unscrew to reveal screwdrivers of various sizes. It has an advertisement for a local (to that area, back when) company. Phone number: 86.
Calvin and Hobbes
Dad, why old pictures are black and white?
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/e0/19/07e0199b9ccc36436de3b1d38e8f045d.jpg
Thank you. It’s been a while since I saw that.
I have always loved Winslow Homers Caribbean series of watercolors , he really “gets” the brightness of the sun , and all the effects it has on water , sand , shadows and colors . I think there is good collection somewhere . To go see is on my bucket list . I think it may be in South Carolina , not sure , can’t remember .
Weird zip codes – have an old shipmate who lives in Philly , he had a really short zip code that freaked me out .
Intrepid was too crowded for a good look at the exhibits the time we went, three decades ago. We went during Fleet Week to catch the displays the Navy and Marines from an amphibious group were putting on. So did everybody else, alas. The flight deck had crowds like Times Square, and the hangar was nearly as bad.
Unless someone was taking notes, I’m impressed you could work your way back through the conversation to how it started and how it progressed.
Hey, he’s had years of experience at giving AAR’s, and he skipped the side-conversations that we may have broken out into, because linguistic colour theory is far more interesting than Cedar and I talking about the state of our gardens, and plans for next year.
If he tuned out the chatter about that, the goth tomatoes may come as a surprise…
Our little group gathers on Sunday at various VFW or American Legion posts. We like the idea of supporting local vets. The conversations are not intellectual; family, friends, local events and fishing.
All- It’s always ‘interesting’ what else comes up. Yes, Dot, I kinda caught that, but not in enough detail…LOL
Colors have always been fascinating, especially over water.