Words and Stings

I love words and language and the process of putting our spoken language into written words for others to read. I find it ironic that I am also slightly dyslexic. I can't spell very well. In fact, most fifth graders could probably spell better than me. I also can't tell you my right from my left very quickly. Cindy had to learn to teach me horseback riding slightly different for that very reason. There were no last minute directions in our lessons. Mom and Dad just informed that they heard a report about a thing called directional dyslexia. I think I can safely diagnose myself with that. I spent years teaching myself to enjoy reading and books, and to this day, Mom asks me to repeat any number I right down or give to her. Ironically I decided on English as my major in college. And what do you suppose was one of my favorite college courses? Diagramming sentences. Strange huh? I am just one big irony.

This is all going somewhere, I promise. The other night Nathan and I were lying in bed talking. He used the word "paradigm" when he was telling me something. Only, I didn't know what he was saying because he pronounced it wrong. He said "para" and then he pronounced the "digm" part saying the "g" like you would in the word bridge. I started laughing and corrected his pronunciation. He told me I couldn't write this in my blog, or he would erase it. Please don't Nathan, you can comment away though. To his credit, it was very late. And I think under normal circumstance, he would have pronounced it correctly. My point is coming I promise.

Here is my question for all you non-dyslexic people out there. When you say a word, do you see it spelled out in your head? That is the only conclusion I could come to for Nathan's mispronunciation. I don't do that. In fact, if I did, I would have spelled it like I say it. It seems as if most people, at least those who can spell well, must have a running spelling list of words in their head. I hear words, but don't see them spelled out unless I write them out. I guess that could also be why most people can spell words correctly in their head. For the most part, I have to physically write them down and then determine whether or not I have a correct spelling.

And thus ends my questions and observations of language tonight. I hope all have enjoyed this brief lesson.

Now for the "sting" in the title. Sadly Brenna received her first sting on Sunday night. We aren't sure what it was, but we think it was most likely an asp. Nathan was outside with her and came in with a very upset little girl. She was hurting a lot, but we didn't see any sting mark. We did, however, see that her pointer finger was very red. It was very sad. I guess that is just another part of growing up. She was perfectly fine on Monday morning with no sign of pain in her finger. We have survived one sting. My guess is that we will have several more to come. I just hate stings.