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Wink, Wink!

This morning, after I had worked on WORDLE, I winkled information about "The Wrinkle in Time."

This is a part of a series of young adult science fantasy books written by American Christian author, Madeleine L'Engle (1918 - 2007).  It concerns a lovable family that travels through the wondrous universe in a customized Whirlybird, fighting evil guys, and showing how family love and goodness conquers all wars.

Disney produced a movie called "A Wrinkle in Time" which slightly relates to L'Engle's stories..

(winkle = (verb) To obtain with great difficulty)

A winkle (noun) can also relate to a mollusk with a spiral shell.

That reminds me of the time when my Portuguese-American friends and I searched the long stretches of New Bedford, Massachusetts beach front looking for periwinkles.  Not the pretty little flowery plant, but the tiny snails that like to attach themselves to the bottoms of boats and on the moist surfaces of large rocks.  My friends called them "peeny winkles."

We would always carry "common pins" with us (they had to be rusty) and used them to pull out the creatures ensconced (so they thought) in their tiny shells.  They would then be devoured with great delight by my friends.

I tried them once, but felt nauseous and never tried them again.  I just liked to be with my friends on their quests. 

I don't think I would want to try escargot. Yuk!

Incidentally, our food protectors have labeled periwinkle meat "unsafe to eat."  It may destroy your liver in time.

Winkle reminds me of a song sung by "The Simon Sisters (folk singers). "Winkin' Blinkin' and Nod" was based on a poem by Eugene Field (1850 - 1895).

"Wynkin' and Blynkin' and Nod one night

Sailed off on a wooden shoe ...

... Wynkin' and Blynkin' are two little eyes

 And Nod is a little hand

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle bed.

So close your eyes while mother sings

Of the beautiful sights to see

And you will see the wonderful things 

As you rock in your misty sea,"

This is very soothing to me and I'll bet my mother read the poem to me to get me to go to sleep.

That reminds me of the Scottish nursery rhyme: Wee Willie Winkie," written by William Miller in 1841 for the poetry and song anthology "Whistle-binkie."

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,

Upstairs and down stairs in his night-gown.

Tapping at the window, crying at the lock,

Are the  children in their bed, for it's past ten o'clock?"

"Wee Willie Winkie is a ghost who must go to bed by 8 or he will lose his ghostly powers."

 

When I first made contact with some folks in Germany, they asked me about my last name "Vaughan."  I mistakenly said that it was pronounced by their word "von.'

"Ah, so you are from royalty?"

("Von" is pronounced in German like "fon" in English so I changed and said it should be pronounced like "won" in German and then it worked.

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