Today I went into what the San Diegans call the "back country", destination Laguna Mountain, four thousand feet above Bury Lane Haddenham. Stunning scenery, masses of wild flowers everywhere despite the drought, including penstemon; good to see it in its wild state.I also walked the Pacific Crest Trail, which is waymarked all the way from Mexico to Canada, a distance of some 2,500 miles. Well, I walked a mile of it anyway. In search of a difficult vireo called the Gray Vireo, dull song, dull colour, it's only interest being that I have never seen one. I still haven't, but I heard one, which is almost worse.
Butterflies again. Some spectacular ones which my companion told me were "some kinda swallowtail", and lots of specimens of a tiny pretty blue, very much like our common only perhaps purpler and smaller, and with similar underwing. A cinch to id this one, I thought. So, I checked my new acquisition, "Butterflies and Moths of North America", and there it was. Sort of. Silvery Blue? Acmon Blue? Boisduval's Blue? Take your pick. You know how it is with blues. The one illustrated is the Silvery Blue, which is what I am plumping for on the grounds that I am unlikely to remember the names of the alternatives.
Tomorrow I am going to the Famosa Slough, a marsh reserve within city limits. Here's a challenge: how would you pronounce "slough" in this context? Slough as in the town Betjeman wanted the Germans to drop bombs on ("Come friendly bombs and drop on Slough, it is not worth saving now")?; slough as in what snakes do when they discard their skins?; or maybe Slough to rhyme withthe past tense of slay, ie, slew?
3 comments:
Slew.
But you knew that, didn't you. You were just shamelessly angling for comments.
Not really, Chas. It's just that the -ough in English is a nightmare for foreign learners, who were my bread and butter for many years.
When I first visited the Famosa Slough, I assumed is was a sluff, and was amazed to hear that it was a slew. Whatever, it's a good place for wading birds.
Reminds me of the Sherlock Holmes story in which the spelling "plow" versus "plough" is a clue.
In American English, "-ough" has only the two pronunciations, as in rough and (watery) slough. I cannot offhand think of any that work like "Slough" or "plough," can yough?
So here it is not a nightmare, merely a disturbing dream.
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