...and, oh the stories you could tell. Kind of a rip-off or Dr. Seuss, but it will have to do for right now. I am reading (listening to) the latest David Sedaris book, Calypso. I gave the hard back version to Jody for Christmas, and I decided to listen to it back and forth on my way to work. That is what I do quite often during my daily commutes. To be honest, it is not one of his more subtly humorous books, and in fact, I kind of find it sad and melancholy. Which in turn kind of affects me in the same way. SO...when I was just a few miles from the edge of nowhere this afternoon, I took a bit of a different route, just so I could see a little bit of different scenery. I waited while a couple school buses dropped of their passengers after a day at school, went from a 35 mile zone (those darned Lutherans) to an immediate 65 mile zone (not gradually), and then I passed this rocking horse on the side of the road, next to an also abandoned boom box (I needed one a year ago) and some glass cabinet doors. The driveway to the house (the house is probably a thousand feet off the road) has signs posted; PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING and PROPERTY UNDER VIDEO SURVEILLANCE. Well alright! It makes me sad to think what might have become of the kid that used to think this little rocking horse (spring horse?) was the best thing ever. Of course, I am a REALTOR®, and I am prone to making up things as I go. Let me walk in to a vacant house and I can make up the entire scenario about why the house is on the sales market. It is even better if the house is still occupied. There are tell-tale signs EVERYWHERE! I have been accused of (or complimented as being a) story-teller, and my mind (in its current state of melancholy, is working in overdrive!Gingerly -- Adjective: very cautious or careful. Greg held on tightly to the railing and made the gingerly walk down the icy steps.
Did You Know? Etymologists take a gingerly approach to assigning any particular origins to this word. While it might have come from the name of the spice known as ginger, there's nothing concrete to back up that idea. Another conjecture is that it's related to an Old French word gensor, which meant "delicate." That's because in 16th-century English an earlier sense of gingerly often referred to dancing or walking with dainty steps. Not till the 17th century did it change to apply to movements that were cautious in order to avoid being noisy or causing injury, and to a wary manner in handling or presenting ideas. Not too surprisingly, given its "-ly" ending, gingerly is also quite often correctly used as an adverb. One could thus say, "The paramedic rotated the patient's shoulder gingerly."
...one could thus...DUH!
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