Extravaganza

The walls are saturated in creamy light. Sunshine fills the room, exposing the floorboard's uneven shades of ocher. Backlit curtain folds reveal golden tiger stripes poised to leap from their hooks. A stream of light, escaped from the window's veils, reveals a dust particle storm. Locked in a riotous dance on warm air currents, they pirouette upward with the sun's strength.

A passing cloud, unaware of its detrimental effect, masks the sunbeams. The curtains shift color; eager tigers become the very shadows that hide them. The walls fade to gray. Dust fairies who cavorted in the heat now sink to the floor as the room's fever breaks.

With the show over, the floorboards groan in protest. ~~GH

A Bite of Midges

I find language fascinating. Names for groupings of animals is strangely logical. Most people are familiar with certain terms, such as a murder of crows and a congregation of baboons. How about . . . A streak of tigers. A shiver of sharks. A covey of quail. A passle of pigs. A chine of polecats (that's skunk to you non-country folks).

I picture someone sitting on a wrap-around porch one evening, sipping a frosty lemonade, the condensation rolling off the glass, and a scourge of mosquitos assails them. Right there and the, the term is created, applied, and recorded for posterity.

If you'd like to see other animal group names, click here. Enjoy!