There's a rain delay on the Blue Jays game. So suddenly I have time and energy to write - and I can't remember what I was going to write about. Most of my random thoughts during the day are blogworthy (to me) but if I don't scribble a note to myself, they leave me when I need them.

I'll look up a few words for us but I want to pause a moment and wonder at bloggers who go viral. To touch such a universal chord in people is awesome, especially when there are no graphics: no puppy dogs, sunsets, graffiti, food or sex.

Well, there's always the dictionary and always one or two valuable or useful discoveries. Sometimes I cheat a little and put in a word or two that I already know but do not easily use. I remember some writer I can't remember saying "I always have to look up egregious". After reading that, I never did.

kedgeree 1 a European dish consisting chiefly of fish, rice, and hard-boiled eggs. 2 another term for chichi. ORIGIN from Hindi khichṛī

Phanariot noun a Greek official in Constantinople under the Ottoman Empire. ORIGIN modern Greek phanariōtēs, from Phanar, chief Greek quarter of Istanbul, from Greek planarian ‘lighthouse’ (one being situated in this area). [I checked this one before . It's not sticking. No use for it. I don't play Scrabble.]

hubble-bubble noun a hookah. ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: imitative repetition of bubble [Now this surprises me. I expected it to be the origin of the abbreviated hubbub.]

hubbub noun [ in sing. ] a chaotic din caused by a crowd of people: a hubbub of laughter and shouting.• a busy, noisy situation: she fought through the hubbub. ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: perhaps of Irish origin; compare with the Irish exclamations ababú, abú, used in battle cries.

Well, you learn something every day!

"have a letch" used by Rebecca West (I'm still reading that book), followed by to and a verb. [There again ,my assumption was that a letch uses for and a noun.

lech (also letch) informal, derogatory noun a lecher. he was not the booze-swilling lech that he appeared to be.• a lecherous urge or desire: I think he has a kind of lech for you. verb [No obj.] act in a lecherous or lustful manner: businessmen leeching after bimbos. ORIGIN late 18th cent. (denoting a strong desire, particularly sexually): back-formation from lecher.

So where did West come up with letch to? [My Spel-Chek doesn't like that; I've had to reprimand it twice. It may change the spelling before I leave.]

turves plural form of turf. turf noun (pl. turfs or turves) [ mass noun ] 1 grass and the surface layer of earth held together by its roots: they walked across the springy turf.• [ count noun ] a piece of turf cut from the ground.• peat used for fuel. the smell of turf burning on a winter night. [ as modifier ] : a turf fire. [ count noun ] : each turf was cut and stacked. 2 (the turf) horse racing or racecourses generally: he spent his money gambling on the turf. 3 informal an area or sphere of activity regarded as someone's personal territory: he did not like poachers on his turf.verb1 [ with obj. and adverbial ] informal, chiefly Brit.force (someone) to leave somewhere: they were turfed off the bus. 2 [ with obj. ] (often as adj. turfed) cover (a patch of ground) with turf: a turfed lawn. ORIGIN Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch turf and German Torf, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit darbha ‘tuft of grass’.

Now I love words like that..

The rain has stopped and the Jays game has begun (Red Sox again). So that's that, for now.

Identity crisis used to be a popular phrase describing a state people found themselves in when facing a stressful situation - before stress was the in-word, more easily classified and measured . An identity crisis applied to a midlife crisis: move to another city or country, retirement, divorce, and so on - major events that didn't happen too often. Easy to see why it had to be replaced, or proliferated. When I had four young chlldren, the youngest challenged, while I was challenged as the unpaid hostess/cook/chatelaine for my husband's position, all the while trying to reserve some time to write, I used to say I had an identity crisis every week, much more frequently than the accepted norm, if such a state was normal. It is now. Or it is if it hasn't fallen out of favour. As I say stress is much more common these days. Not to me. I didn't have a stressful day today; I had three identity crises.

Oh dear. I've come this far and I don't want to talk about it any more.

So.

Did you have a nice day today? Actually I don't care. I don't want to talk about that, either.

Instead, I'll tap dance a little and tell you that Jack Reacher and Qi Gong have taught me how to fall asleep instantly. I am a great fan of Jack Reacher, the thriller hero created by the writer, Lee Child. Big Jack doesn't carry but he fights. After pumping adrenaline in a hand-to-hand battle, he'll settle for the night, taking three breaths and falling asleep. I was impressed. And then I discovered Qigong, "a holistic system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial arts training." i took a course last winter and among other things I learned its technique of breathing, lower and upper.

Take a big breath in, from your stomach, to a count of four. Hold your breath to a count of four and then exhale slowly, to four. Do the same from your chest, with the magic number.

That's all. Three of those and I fall asleep even in mid-day for my half-hour nap (complete with REM). No stress.