Tip of the week

Here is another visualization exercise.

My recommendation is you take advantage of it when you are not driving smile. We would prefer you keep your attention where it needs to be - on the road and the drivers around you.

But on a day when you are not driving and before you leave, visualize the route you will take. Consider as many details as you can. While en route, notice how many of the details you recalled, or forgot. Why did you miss them? Are you using your peripheral vision when doing in tasks that require concentration? Are you letting your background processing notice things even while your mind is engaged?

Peripheral vision and awareness of visual back ground cues are important in a visual language such as ASL. They add color, texture and dimension to our story telling techniques. We will always identify ourselves as less than fluent as long as we leave out these details. Remember, storytelling is the consultative register for native ASL users. Details mean everything.

Fun with Idioms: Halcyon Days

I thought I would pull out a golden oldie. When I was in High School, I had a teacher who loved this idiom. She used it to refer to summer vacation, Christmas break, or any opportunity to be away from the day to day grind and off enjoying some rest and relaxation.

According to Greek mythology, Halcyon was the daughter of the Ruler of the Wind. She married King Ceyx of Tachis. By all accounts, it was a true love match. Her husband was a sea-farer and as happens to sailors, he lost his life during a storm. Halcyon learned of his death through a dream, and cast herself upon the waves. In mercy, the gods turned her and her resurrected husband into kingfishers.
A kingfisher as spoken of in the Halcyon myth

A kingfisher.

Great story, right? Well, it does not end there. Zeus was a bit of a jerk. I cannot find what Halcyon and Ceyx did to irritate him, but the King of the Gods would only allow Halcyon to lay her eggs in winter and on the water near the shore where she found her husband's body. After losing several nestings and crying piteously, Zeus relented and asked Poseidon, the God of the Sea, to calm the waves for her. Thus, for a week to tend days every January, the seas calm and the kingfisher's eggs hatch. These days are still celebrated in Greece as "Alkionides Meres" - Halcyon days.

Although not as common as in the past, it is still a phrase one can use to remind others of restful and tranquil times to come, or of the past.

During snow storms where people are housebound for six to ten days, maybe it is a good time for a reminder.