Every now and then, we will go a couple days (maybe even four) without seeing Barney (the Barn Cat). We kind of have a ritual, because even the cat has schedules that must be adhered to. Generally, when I get home from work, I will go and feed the cat. Usually, he is either on the seat of the tractor, on the seat of the Polaris, or on the hood of the truck. I make my presence known to him (no sneaking up on him), and I usually see him go under the truck. Then, I fill his bowl with food and walk back to the garage. As I walk back to the garage, I speak to him, and usually I can see him go from under the truck to the bed of the Polaris, where his food bowl stays. Recently, we have a new routine, in which he peeks out at my from the tail pipe of the truck, and we have a little conversation. Yesterday, he let me take this picture of him, and I think it is a great picture. We have no real idea how old he is, he just appeared one day, and we guesstimate that was about six or seven years ago, maybe not that long, but he has survived well (for an outside cat on the Edge of Nowhere), and we like knowing he trusts us enough to hang around.Whilom -- Adjective. former. I was pleased to find an interview with the whilom president of my alma mater in the local paper.
Did You Know? Whilom shares an ancestor with the word while. Both trace back to the Old English word hwil, meaning "time" or "while." In Old English hwilum was an adverb meaning "at times." This use passed into Middle English (with a variety of spellings, one of which was whilom), and in the 12th century the word acquired the meaning "formerly." The adverb's usage dwindled toward the end of the 19th century, and it has since been labeled archaic. The adjective first appeared on the scene in the 15th century, with the now-obsolete meaning "deceased," and by the 19th century it was being used with the meaning "former."
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