Spot the Frippet: puddle.

Here in England we spend a lot of time talking about the weather. It's probably because we have no idea what's going to be happening from one hour to the next.

Last Sunday there was a morning of heavy snow, an afternoon of pelting rain, and by evening the temperature was up to 9 C and the moths were waking up and getting ready to go for a jaunt.

It keeps us humble - well, humbler than otherwise, anyway.

So, to puddles. They're seldom in short supply round here, but even if you live in arid climes there's bound to be a puddle of coffee on a worktop somewhere close by. Bathrooms are puddly places, too.

Few of us are likely to come across a canal under construction, but the mixture of wet clay and sand used to line canals (and some ponds) is, rather charmingly, called puddle.

You can even find puddles in the middle of stretches of water, for a puddle is also the patch of rough water left by an oar at the end of a stroke.

When you find your puddle, stop for a moment to admire its elegant curved edges, the glints and gleam of the liquid, and the glimpse it gives you of the heavens on Earth.


photo by Fourandsixty

You'll go on your way more cheerful, if you do.

Spot the Frippet: puddle. This word is a diminutive of the Old English word pudd, which means ditch.