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#175892 - 04/16/08 01:11 AM Spring fling
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah


Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 1730
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
I rode my bike to work this morning and heard the oddest sound. Several blocks later I found a hairy woodpecker showing off for the girls. He would drum a little then stop to look around and see if anyone noticed. I am sure that he wasn't just hungry as he was drumming, not on a tree but on the aluminum flashing that capped a telephone pole. He had chosen a spot where the metal pulled away from the wood to form a hollow drum. No wonder the sound carried so far.
Clever little birdbrain.
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#175894 - 04/16/08 03:17 AM Re: Spring fling [Re: Zed]
BranShea Offline
Pooh-Bah


Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 2082
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
While Vancouver birds still try to seduce mates I hear the soft screaming of young birds in spite of the prolongued cold. Most every morning I feed the blackbird couple some wholewheat bread and peanutbutter for there own good while they come dig for worms for the young. By now they accept that I stand watch to keep the overpowering wood pigeons off.
They understand the meaning of my standing there. I enjoy their getting so near. That's my spring fling.
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#175906 - 04/16/08 10:38 AM Re: Spring fling [Re: BranShea]
Maven Offline
member


Registered: 04/27/07
Posts: 120
Loc: California
Here, the mud swallows are getting frisky. One small flock picked the overhang above the door into where I work. Over the weekend, they started building nests, only to discover on Monday morning that there is way too much activity there. The area is now littered with little dabs of mud, and every now and then a very angry swallow flies by and criticizes some unsuspecting person.
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#176021 - 04/18/08 07:49 PM Re: Spring fling [Re: Maven]
of troy Offline
Carpal Tunnel


Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 5393
Loc: rego park
on sunday, i saw a pair of pigeons "getting it on" in a multi layer parking lot.. they ignored the passers by.. (but it was a quicky. pigeons are just flying rats, and remimded me of a whore and her john. (i guess i am not the having the happiest of springs.)
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#176023 - 04/18/08 09:27 PM Re: Spring fling [Re: of troy]
twosleepy Offline
enthusiast


Registered: 02/28/08
Posts: 326
Loc: western NY
Every spring, out my window at work, I see the squirrels chasing each other like lunatics, up and down the trees, round and round, crosswise, all day long.... :0)
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#176062 - 04/19/08 04:17 PM Re: Spring fling [Re: twosleepy]
BranShea Offline
Pooh-Bah


Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 2082
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
Allright, better ask it here then. Another spring fling thing is putting flower seeds in pots that will later on fill the outgrown empty spots in the garden. But as it is still too cold I have to wait. Since a few days I stare at two the little bags with pretty orange flowers saying:
Tropeolum majus nanus. I know what tropeolum means but majus nanum , found as addition to many plant names , will not come out of the online Latin translater.
I saw you handling some Latin in the other thread, twosleepy.
Do you know the magic words? majus nanus jajum?
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above all shadows rides the sun (JRRT)

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#176064 - 04/19/08 05:52 PM Re: Spring fling [Re: BranShea]
The Pook Online happy
old hand


Registered: 02/20/08
Posts: 707
Loc: Tasmania
majus would mean larger wouldn't it?

do you plant bulbs too? you should grow tulips and other bulbs shouldn't you? then you wouldn't have to wait so long to plant them.
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#176067 - 04/19/08 08:00 PM Re: Spring fling [Re: BranShea]
twosleepy Offline
enthusiast


Registered: 02/28/08
Posts: 326
Loc: western NY
Okay, the heat is on! Your seeds are for nasturtiums, yes? And the flowers are small? The "nanus" portion indicates dwarf or small, (in Spanish dwarf is "enano") which is probably (I didn't check) the same origin of "nanites" (from "nanomachines"), a word familiar to all those scifi buffs out there as tiny "robots", if you will, that perform functions alone or in concert with other nanites. A SciFi show called "Jake" was based on the premise of a man who was accidentally "infected" by some nanites through blood exposure. Anyhoo... the "majus" portion comes out of the translator as "magic", interestingly enough, probably where we get "mage" and "magus", and you did mention magic in your post! Not sure where this somes in with the flowers, though! The only thing I could find is that many of the "nanus majus" are snapdragons, and dragons are magical creatures. It's a stretch, but it could be. I doubt it's related to being big, as that would make an oxymoron with "nanus". That's the best I can come up with. If you hold on a bit, zmjezhd may show up and clear it all up for us! :0)
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#176080 - 04/20/08 04:02 AM Re: Spring fling [Re: twosleepy]
The Pook Online happy
old hand


Registered: 02/20/08
Posts: 707
Loc: Tasmania
I'm no Latin scholar, but majus is definitely Latin for greater. And unless I'm mistaken nanus means dwarf. So it's almost an oxymoron, but it appears to be the botanical name for the larger variety of the dwarf Tropeolum.

Majus doesn't mean magic, that comes from the Greek magos.

Edited by The Pook (04/20/08 04:08 AM)
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#176083 - 04/20/08 09:43 AM Re: Spring fling [Re: The Pook]
BranShea Offline
Pooh-Bah


Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 2082
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
Yes, majus nanus when it means "large dwarfish" makes no sense.
I hope zmjehzd will stoop down the great divide to let his light shine on this. I got him a bonus word in "jajum", which is a false Latin word but it is a real word and I'm sure 'he'll know what it means.

As for tulips , I always have them. In pots and in the ground.
My avatar shows the leaves when the flowers are gone.

twosleepy
 Quote:
Your seeds are for nasturtiums, yes? And the flowers are small?

Nasturtium yes and I think small refers to them staying low by the ground. I used to have those giant creepers that went all over the place.

Edited by BranShea (04/20/08 11:03 AM)
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