on•o•mat•o•poe•ia ( än ́ō mät ́ ō pē ́ə )

Perhaps this word is already familiar to anyone who's passed high school English--not news at all.



So, maybe your eyes won't POP when you read this; this post is not going to make a big SPLASH; it won't have the same SIZZLE as some others, maybe, but it's a great way to introduce what I really want to blog about--my Ethel.  She turned 10 yesterday.  Her laughter is the sweet sound of a BABBLING brook, honestly.  I've always thought so, even before I began a blog about interesting words.

My sweet Ethel

The clock is TICKING, so I'd better get busy telling you about her.  I'll use onomatopoetic words--words that, when you say them, sound like the thing they describe.

Her birthday sign--a family tradition

CLUCK, MEOW, BARK--Ethel is our resident zoologist.  At least that's her title.  She's the fifth child, but she's the first to have a real pet requiring real responsibility.  Though Lola did have a fish once, before we moved to the homestead (not a real pet, since there's not much to clean up after) , Ethel had primary responsibility for that animal, too. She has a gift.  She likes the animals and they like her.  Our cat is hers; our chickens are "hers" and Abner complains that his dog likes her better.


GIGGLE, TWITTER, CACKLE, FLUTTER, SNORT--in that order.  Ethel loves to laugh.  And she has quite a memorable laugh.  It sounds like fresh water over mossy mountain rocks as it begins.  As it intensifies, Ethel's laughter becomes silent, signified by the fluttering of her nostrils in and out.  And of course, as we notice her nostrils doing their thing, we laugh and point and she laughs all the harder.  Her nostrils are quite amazing, actually.  Their flexibility is evident not only in moments of hilarity, but also when she needs to carry something, such as two coins!  When she was in kindergarten her nostrils could accommodate two pennies.  Last week she was able to carry quarters in them.  OUCH!

In kindergarten it was pennies. . .

. . . now she's up to quarters!

SMACK, SQUEEZE, THUMP, WHISPER--Ethel is the most affectionate child I know.  Each night before she goes to bed, and each morning before she leaves for school there are multiple expressions of love and tenderness.  Kisses, hugs, "pound-its" and a whispered, "Always love you!"  are her trademark expressions.  She will repeat these expressions until she knows that you know that she means it.  Sometimes Charles and I get a little exasperated at her persistence.  When it's past bedtime and the kids are not close to being asleep, Ethel will worry that she hasn't said good night appropriately, even though we've heard "Always love you!" twice already that evening; so she proceeds to repeat it.  I understand, though, her insistence on taking care of the most important business there is.  She doesn't want to worry that the people she loves don't know it.  And Ethel loves a lot of people.  I've never seen a person make friends so easily and reliably.  She is always, always kind.

DING, CLANG, TWANG, LA LA LA LA, HUM--These are clumsy words to describe Ethel's voice.  She is a gifted singer.  She's currently taking voice lessons and I hope she will learn to master her voice eventually, and make it do what she wants.  As it is now, she seems almost at the mercy of her voice as she sings.  Luckily, it's a gracious master.  Ethel's voice at age 10 has a beautiful vibrato, and a lovely "catch and cry" quality that marks it as special.

She's truly an amazing girl, my Ethel.  She isn't perfect.  Sometimes she WHINEs.  She has been known to CHATTER in primary class, and when she reads it's like the words RATTLE around in her head a little and sometimes she BLURTS out the wrong one.  None of that matters.  I adore her.

Always love you, Eth darling!  SMOOCH!!