Lord Dufferin left me with more words to look up than I have encountered in several—most--all— this year.

His book, Letters from the High Latitudes, has a lot of geological words plus ice and rocks. We’ll see….

schist noun :Geology a coarse-grained metamorphic rock which consists of layers of different minerals and can be split into thin irregular plates. DERIVATIVES schistous adjective ORIGIN late 18th century: from French schiste, via Latin from Greek skhistos ‘split’, from the base of skhizein ‘cleave’.

si·li·ceous| (also silicious) adjective, containing or consisting of silica: siliceous limestone | siliceous sediments.

a·myg·da·loid adjective technical shaped like an almond. noun Anatomy another term for amygdala.

porphyry noun (plural porphyries): a hard igneous rock containing crystals, usually of feldspar, in a fine-grained, typically reddish groundmass. ORIGINlate Middle English: via medieval Latin from Greek porphuritēs, from porphura ‘purple’.

surturbrand definition is - a variety of lignite in Iceland and the Faeroes occurring in seams between beds of volcanic rock.

More to come…

Some of you know that I gashed my leg last week, bumping it on an open dishwasher door in a kitchen meant for one not two. I besieged the nearby clinic, presenting myself when the doors opened, the staff working but no patients yet. I stated my need and I was told to go home and phone for an appointment.

NO!

I can’t, I said, and sat down.

The doctor came. Infected all right. Got a prescription for antibiotics, and came home.

Now I’m at the beginning of the fourth day (of seven) for the medication and the redness around the wound is starting to shrink. The pain has taken my mind off my usual sciatic pain—remember what I’ve said about distraction focus?

A Pollyanna comfort.

Pain is tiring though. I’ll probably sleep through 3 or 4 innings of the game.

Tomorrow is another day. I hope so.