Monday Musings: Is it the thought of dying that really pushes us to live?

This time of year always has me reflecting on life. Maybe it’s the dark half of the year and the shorter days that send my thoughts into deeper places than usual. I’ve been thinking about what it means to be human and mortal. Something that we will probably never truly understand. Here are some things to ponder:

It’s the thought of our fragile mortality that drives us to hurry and get something accomplished before it’s too late. If we were immortal and had all the time in the world, then we wouldn’t be motivated to do anything. What’s the hurry to do something great if you have forever to do it?

The greatest invention wouldn’t have been created by immortal men.

We think death is a punishment for being human, but maybe it’s what makes us truly human.

It tests us.

It dares us…

To feel what we normally wouldn’t. Like passion, inspiration, and motivation. If we didn’t have that feeling of getting old and dying, would we have the urgency to fall in love?

Without death looming, we would be nothing but unfeeling shells. And that’s no way to live. Is it?

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Weird Word Wednesday

dejecta

noun plural  de·jec·ta \di-ˈjek-tə, dē-\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of dejecta

:  feces, excrement

Origin and Etymology of dejecta

New Latin, from Latin, neuter plural of dejectus

First Known Use: circa 1829

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Monday Musings: Arizona double rainbow

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Weird Word Wednesday

deictic

adjective  deic·tic \ˈdīk-tik also ˈdāk-\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of deictic

:  showing or pointing out directly

Origin and Etymology of deictic

Greek deiktikos able to show, from deiktos, verbal of deiknynai to show — more at diction

First Known Use: 1876

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Monday Musings: Moon photos

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Weird Word Wednesday

dehisce

verb  de·hisce \di-ˈhis\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of dehisce

Dehisced dehiscing

intransitive verb

:  to split along a natural line; also :  to discharge contents by so splitting

Origin and Etymology of dehisce

Latin dehiscere to split open, from de- + hiscere to gape; akin to Latin hiare to yawn — more at yawn

First Known Use: 1657

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Monday Musings: My new backyard pets

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Weird Word Wednesday

degauss

verb  de·gauss \(ˌ)dē-ˈgau̇s\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of degauss

transitive verb

:  to remove or neutralize the magnetic field of

degausser noun

Origin and Etymology of degauss

de- + gauss, after Karl F. Gauss

First Known Use: circa 1940

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Arizona Monsoon 2016 Part 2

My photo assistant

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Weird Word Wednesday

defalcate

verb  de·fal·cate \di-ˈfal-ˌkāt, -ˈfȯl-, dē-; ˈde-fəl-\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of defalcate

Defalcated defalcating

archaic

transitive verb

:  deduct, curtail

intransitive verb

:  to engage in embezzlement

defalcator play \-ˌkā-tər\ noun

Origin and Etymology of defalcate

Medieval Latin defalcatus, past participle of defalcare, from Latin de- + falc-, falx sickle

First Known Use: 1541

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Arizona Monsoon 2016 Part 1

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Weird Word Wednesday

dawn horse

noun

Popularity: Bottom 10% of words

Definition of dawn horse

:  eohippus

any of a genus (Hyracotherium syn. Eohippus) of very small primitive horses from the Lower Eocene having 4-toed forefeet and 3-toed hind feet

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.

Monday Musings: Snow on Lake Havasu mountains photograph

We had snow on the Lake Havasu mountains back in March of 2016. I'm posting the picture now because it is so hot here, I thought this might help me cool off. Maybe it will work for other people trying to endure the hot summer. I think it's working. LOL I already feel a little cooler.

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.

Weird Word Wednesday

daw

verb \ˈdȯ, ˈdä\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of daw

chiefly Scottish

intransitive verb

:  dawn

Origin of daw

Middle English, from Old English dagian; akin to Old High German tagēn to dawn, Old English dæg day

First Known Use: 13th century

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.

Weird Word Wednesday

daven

verb  da·ven \ˈdä-vən, ˈdȯ-\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of daven

intransitive verb

:  to recite the prescribed prayers in a Jewish liturgy

Origin of daven

Yiddish davnen

First Known Use: circa 1930

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.

Monday Musings: Arizona Sunset photographs #24

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.

Weird Word Wednesday

daimyo

noun,  dai·myo \ˈdī-mē-ˌō, -(ˌ)myō\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of daimyo

plural daimyo or daimyos also daimio or daimios

:  a Japanese feudal baron

Variants of daimyo

also daimio play \ˈdī-mē-ˌō, -(ˌ)myō\

Origin of daimyo

Japanese daimyō

First Known Use: 1727

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.

Monday Musings: There is life in the desert

Most people think the desert is barren and devoid of any life. I thought that was true until I moved to the desert. The abundance of plant and animal life here astounded me. All you have to do is open your eyes and ears to experience it.

Most mornings I awaken to the odd, rhythmic sound of a quail calling to his family or the shrill calls of the very vocal grackle. I watch humming birds buzz around my feeder, listen to mourning doves cooing. I see rabbits, lizards, roadrunners, owls, bats, even snakes. Mocking birds often fill the air with their “mocking” cries.

We just moved to a house that backs up to a wash and it is full of life. Dozens of chipmunks live in burrows along the wash. They socialize with their neighbors, the rabbits and birds. When a chipmunk senses danger, it sends out a loud trilling noise to warn the other chipmunks.

On quiet nights, the chilling howls from coyotes ring out. When I hear that sound, my skin prickles because it signifies they have caught something.

We don’t have thick, luscious green pine trees here, but there are numerous plants and trees that flourish without the need for much water. My favorite is the palo verde tree. In the spring, its green branches sprout yellow flowers. Its pods also provide food for the various animals.

Many types of cactus grow here in the desert. In spring, beautiful flowers bloom among the sharp, menacing spines. Cactus wrens build their nests in the cactus, probably for protection from predators.

Life is everywhere here. On the stark surface, beneath a sweltering sun, it can be deceiving. But in the early hours of the morning and just before sunset, the animals come out to gather food, rabbits and chipmunks scurry from bush to bush, and the birds fill the air with their excited chatter. It’s so serene and beautiful here in the desert I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Beauty may be the real beast.