Window @ MindSay

Feels like it has been a while since we've had an installment of Things You Never Knew You Never Knew. Luckily for you, I am a dork and something came up today.

 

The weather here today is gorgeous; 80 degrees, bright and sunny, with a good breeze making it perfectly comfortable. After the humidity of the last couple days, it feels especially sweet. My mother, after finishing work, decided to turn off the air conditioning and open up the house. I was in the kitchen when she walked in and said, "guess I could open all these windies". She was referring to the windows in the kitchen and was just being silly (a pretty natural state for her) but it made me think: if she opens all the windows it will let in all this wind. So I said, "do you think windows are called that because they let in wind?"

 

Mom laughed and said, "I feel another blog coming on..."

 

So here's to mom. The etymology of window does in fact directly come from the word wind. The OED (remember my favorite dictionary...) gives the following etymology.

 

[ME. windo e, a. ON. vindauga, f. vindr WIND n.¹ + auga EYE n.¹ (See also WIND-DOOR, WINDORE, WINDOWN, WINNOCK.)

 

So in Old Norse, vindauga meant wind-eye and through the advent of the Viking Age, this term for a hole in a building that permitted you to look in or out was adopted into the English language and over time, was softened to the term we use today. That is what I took from the complete entry (some 7 pages long....not reprinting that here--you're welcome).

 

Therefore, a window is a hole in a building useful to the eye (allows you to see in or out) and also allows the wind to move in or out of the building. See how much you learn here at Livlife's Emporium of Useless Knowledge?

 

 

Just a few pics of the snow as seen through my windows.  Yes, I said it.  Snow.  It's doing it again.  The snow should be punished.  

Just a peek at what I've been up to the last two days.  Besides shoveling and salting the sidewalk, that is!  I created a bit of Spring to liven up my friend's store windows.  Would you walk in if you saw these lovely bright things in the window?  Here's to inviting the warmth of the sun back...!

Just a few peeks into the stuff I do beyond the borders of a drawing board!  My friend, Dala, owns an import store and every month I volunteer to decorate her windows.  I may complain quite a bit during Valentine's Day because I don't have a lover to give sweet sentiments to, but I do love the pagentry of the Valentine season.

 

Does it show?

 

If you look closely, you'll see my accidental reflection in some of these images.  It's hard to photograph windows...

 

And if it seems like I'm posting a lot of images today, well, I'm doing that for a reason.  There's more deep snow in the forecast and that means the storms will keep me indoors away from a public computer.  If it's too snowy or too cold, I can't breathe well.  I have to stay in.  So after this post, I'm going to the video store to rent a few movies to keep me from getting too bored.  Hope you enjoy the photos!  I'll catch you all later...

 

Stay warm.