Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice
When people ask me what my favorite language is, I always reply “FORTRAN”. I know it’s not a human language but I taught it to myself (autodidact here) and it forged a couple of careers for me.. Latin was the language I took in high school, mostly because my MOTHER liked the Latin teacher better than the French teacher and those were the only languages available in Sault Ste. Siberia High.
Mom was right to steer me into Latin. Not only did it clarify a lot of English language stuff for me but the Latin teacher (Mrs. Velde) was indeed very cool. She came to the US as a Latvian WWII refugee who, if I remember accurately, spent time in a concentration camp somewhere and was injured there. She used a cane to help her climb the three flights of stairs to her classroom. I wasn’t bad at Latin (I was a straight-A student except when I tried to get lower grades in an unsuccessful attempt to “fit in” with the in-crowd). But I am not the best with human languages and others were better at Latin than me. I’m probably better at FORTRAN than them but both Latin and FORTRAN are “dead” languages these days. So here I am stuck with English as my first and only language. If my WASPy type blonde self gets deported somewhere I don’t know the language, I’ll be toast.
So if had been faced with the bit of Latin in the title, I would be confounded. I mean “peninsulam” is obviously where “peninsula” comes from and The Great Lake State is made of two BIG peninsulas (and many small ones although we usually call them “points”). And I sorta remember “circumspice” means something about all around. So, “if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” The Great Lake State is a beautiful state (water water everywhere and mostly drinkable) but all states are beautiful in their own way.
The GG sent me this pic from his bridge building endeavors with the North Country Trail Chief Baw Beese chapter today. Or is it an “elevated walkway”? Anyway, he had a good time and this is a GREAT pic and the last time I heard from him he was an hour out from home. He’ll be sweaty and I changed the bed sheets today so a shower is in order…
I started out with a completely different idea of what the heck to blahg about. A different whiff of an idea floated into my head and free association took over into whatever the heck I actually wrote about.
Love y’all, KW.
March 14th, 2026 at 9:24 pm
John went to Catholic school and had to learn Latin. He didn’t like it and didn’t do well. I would have loved the opportunity!
March 15th, 2026 at 8:59 am
Your mention of the Great Lakes reminds me to tell you that I finally read a book, a very short but good book, about the Edmund Fitzgerald. I know less than anybody about boats, but the author had a way of explaining both the construction of the EF and the loading of iron ore into it that made it all quite understandable. It left me in awe of boat engineers, builders, and crew members. (But I’m also left wondering how in the world most boats stay afloat. The author points out that not all do. Even today. A man-made ship has no chance against the full and unpredictable power of Mother Nature.) The details of the EF’s last journey before sinking were thrilling and unsettling.
March 15th, 2026 at 3:47 pm
I don’t personally know anyone whose language elective was Latin. Impressive!