Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Linnaeus, hedge, lossy

Thanks to Carl Linnaeus, who was born 300 years ago today, there is a simple system by which, whatever language we speak or culture we belong to, we have, in common, short, descriptions of the 10,000 bird species, 400,000 plant species and one million species of insect in the world.

Relaxing while the hedge grows is something I find exceptionally hard. I meant to devote the weekend to trimming it, but having been laid low by a bug, and having asked someone else to take on the job, the prospect of being relieved of it is quickly becoming a delight.

From an unusual version of Hamlet:
Hamlet
How looked he, then, the noble King, my father,
When you espied him on the battlement?

Horatio
Lossy. One moment, there. One moment, not,
Like to the welkin, his very shape awash.

1 comment:

Lucy said...

Oh Joe, you are on a roll!
Best money we ever decided to spend to get a chap to cut the hedges, but wait till the birds have finished nesting.
Better to cut your hedges than cut your lossies.