We, all of us, have gaps in knowledge.
the coconut.
I’m from the Mid-west, landlocked, save for the outlet of shipping lanes from the Great Lakes. The only time we get palms about is at the botanical gardens, or when the bar on Oak Street Beach in Chicago buys (rents?) them for the summer to stick into the beach sand to wither and yellow in the ever-changing, brisk weather.
And I've seen your movies set on tropical islands, Hollywood. I've, myself, purchased coconuts from the grocery. I am also well aware that coconuts are not nuts, but fruit.
Having never before lived in a tropical clime, and the bulk of my movement being limited to the bushveld… I've now seen plenty of palms. Thousands. Mostly makalani (hyphaene petersiana). The stuff of palm wine and tourist trap key-chains.
Did I realize that coconuts have three layers and that what I’m accustomed to is the de-husked center? Nope. I have now encountered my first coconut-bearing palm.
an even keel.
Keep(ing) an even keel. An occasional idiom in my repertoire.
As I mention above – I hail from land-locked country, but I’m not a complete land-lubber. I’m seaworthy to some extent… I've been aboard ocean and river ferries, canoes (dugout, canvas, and fiberglass), speedboats, yachts, kayaks galore and once, even a random shipping barge.
Sailboats (save catamarans) have a central fin on the bottom of the hull to lower their center of gravity to afford better stability and greater directional control. I've been around them countless times. I've seen models, designs, paintings, descriptions in books. I've never been aboard one though, and I've a minimal working knowledge of nautical terms.
Did I know that the fin was called the keel? Nope.
Am I relieved I've been using the idiom correctly for the past quarter century? You have no idea...
soft drinks. hard liquor.
My childhood was spent in Indiana; the first decade of my adulthood, Chicago. In the Midwest, from where I hail, we don’t say ‘soda,’ or ‘soft drink,’ or ‘fountain drink…’ Or the Southern African ‘cool drink…’ We say ‘pop.’
And we have issues with liquor. Some Mid-western states don’t sell it on Sundays. They tell me it has to do with Jesus..
Whatever the reason for Sunday closures.. I didn't think a lot about pop, or liquor, growing up. My parents didn't drink much alcohol (partly due to religion and preference), and I didn't much care for pop. (Unless it was made with real sugar versus the toxic-chemical-flavor-version infused with corn syrup.).
I never really put the two together. Until I saw it on a sign in the bush driving toward the lake route in Malawi. “Soft drinks + hard liquor...” Wait… Soft + hard. Non-alcoholic + alcoholic.
That only took me 29 years to master.
the coconut.
I’m from the Mid-west, landlocked, save for the outlet of shipping lanes from the Great Lakes. The only time we get palms about is at the botanical gardens, or when the bar on Oak Street Beach in Chicago buys (rents?) them for the summer to stick into the beach sand to wither and yellow in the ever-changing, brisk weather.
And I've seen your movies set on tropical islands, Hollywood. I've, myself, purchased coconuts from the grocery. I am also well aware that coconuts are not nuts, but fruit.
Having never before lived in a tropical clime, and the bulk of my movement being limited to the bushveld… I've now seen plenty of palms. Thousands. Mostly makalani (hyphaene petersiana). The stuff of palm wine and tourist trap key-chains.
Did I realize that coconuts have three layers and that what I’m accustomed to is the de-husked center? Nope. I have now encountered my first coconut-bearing palm.
 |
| And those green fruits are... Coconuts? Oh... | Cape Maclear, Lake Nyasa, Malawi |
an even keel.
Keep(ing) an even keel. An occasional idiom in my repertoire.
As I mention above – I hail from land-locked country, but I’m not a complete land-lubber. I’m seaworthy to some extent… I've been aboard ocean and river ferries, canoes (dugout, canvas, and fiberglass), speedboats, yachts, kayaks galore and once, even a random shipping barge.
Sailboats (save catamarans) have a central fin on the bottom of the hull to lower their center of gravity to afford better stability and greater directional control. I've been around them countless times. I've seen models, designs, paintings, descriptions in books. I've never been aboard one though, and I've a minimal working knowledge of nautical terms.
Did I know that the fin was called the keel? Nope.
Am I relieved I've been using the idiom correctly for the past quarter century? You have no idea...
 |
| Ahoy! | Cape Maclear, Lake Nyasa, Malawi |
soft drinks. hard liquor.
My childhood was spent in Indiana; the first decade of my adulthood, Chicago. In the Midwest, from where I hail, we don’t say ‘soda,’ or ‘soft drink,’ or ‘fountain drink…’ Or the Southern African ‘cool drink…’ We say ‘pop.’
And we have issues with liquor. Some Mid-western states don’t sell it on Sundays. They tell me it has to do with Jesus..
Whatever the reason for Sunday closures.. I didn't think a lot about pop, or liquor, growing up. My parents didn't drink much alcohol (partly due to religion and preference), and I didn't much care for pop. (Unless it was made with real sugar versus the toxic-chemical-flavor-version infused with corn syrup.).
I never really put the two together. Until I saw it on a sign in the bush driving toward the lake route in Malawi. “Soft drinks + hard liquor...” Wait… Soft + hard. Non-alcoholic + alcoholic.
That only took me 29 years to master.