Mother’s Day Menu: Wild Onions & Grammar

Good morning from the Tree House where I have just been served my menu du jour by youthful decree.

My selection includes omelet with wild onions, cranberry juice, and berries.  Brunch will be served promptly at 9:30 they inform me.  I particularly like the wax seal with my youngest child’s initial, a royal touch.  The herbs grow wild at the corner of the property.

Indeed, I feel like the Queen herself.  And, my young messengers have done Emerson justice, in “giving a portion of thyself.”  (The Only Gift Is A Portion of Thyself, Emerson)  For my own mother this year, I shared a cherished story.  Recovering from spinal surgery and depressed from the medication and food, she told me several Buddhist folktales.  My retelling is posted under May’s link on the right, “More Than A Vietnamese Folktale.”

Anna Jarvis helped establish Mother’s Day as we know it in 1908 and Woodrow Wilson declared it an official holiday in 1914. But recognizing mothers was a practice going back to classical times when the Romans and Greeks would celebrate mother goddesses during festivals.  “The clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.” (History.com – Mother’s Day)

And the distinction is significant, Mothering Sunday versus Mother’s Day.  A grammatical note about our holiday is the singular form of Mother, or Mother’s not Mothers’.  Anna Jarvis said “Mother’s should be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers of the world.”

So, call your mother.  Or better, write her a letter.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

I love  you dearly.

Three Owl chicks

 Note on back, “Owl Love You Forever”

May 11, 2014

0 Comments

About the Author

Mylinh Shattan is a writer who has lived on three continents, served in the Army, worked in corporate America, and taught in college. She loves adventures, in the world and in the mind. Literature is relevant and learning is a lifelong pursuit, so you might as well have a bit of fun along the way.

Stay Up to Date

Rise above the tedium with the TreeHouseLetter. Always learning with a bit of fun.

Latest Posts

Through the Keyhole

3 Min read On laundry and language 2 Book recs Philosophy and Literature Excerpt: David Wemyss essay on speech and conversation * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * * On the corner of Park and Cherry, I shared my impression of X--- with my husband. Let's say I was less...

The Ever Restless Soul

5 Min read 1 Book rec on creativity 1 Song and artist rec Mother and daughter / parent and child AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * This is for my friends K--- and M--- and for you, dear reader, but I suppose it's for myself more than anything. For the love of my...

Confusables, Contronyms, and Jane’s Potato Salad

2 Min read Word Nerd special Humor and the paraprosdokian Usage manual rec - The authority on grammar, usage, and style Essay rec - DFW on assignment to research the above lexicon and the Usage Wars AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * The limits of my language means the...

The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges

7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan Literature: song and story Perfect memory Music in Prose * AVAILABLE NOW ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * Probably you were expecting a young and handsome Argentine, but then here I am, the...

Beyond Grade-School Sentences: Adding Depth and Texture to Writing

4 Min read Depth and texture in writing Cumulative and suspensive sentences The Music in Prose: Ernest Hemingway, Vivian Gornick, Ralph Waldo Emerson Crayon packs and colors Toolbox, improve writing immediately * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Grade-school...

On Theft, Death, and the Moon

3 Min read Ryokan, Japanese Zen monk René Descartes, Discourse- Part II on Method and Part IV on God and the Human Soul Rest in Peace to a fallen friend 2 book recs Haiku AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes My friend was recently robbed. It made me sad and reminded me...

The Master Sentence and the Centenarian

5 Min Read One book rec Punctuation guide Sentence construction Language Lover and Word Nerd Special Toolbox, ages 9 to 109 * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * A master sentence tends to be long though length is not its sole characteristic, nor is it a sign of a...

Topics

Inoculate yourself against the absurdity of life with a dose of the best ideas and writing. Always learning with a bit of fun.

TreeHouseLetter

Always learning with a bit of fun

 

 

Readers receive one to two letters a week, with 2 to 10 minute read time. Includes regular features:

 

The Music in Prose
Poetry for Emergencies
Toolbox

 

 

Be inspired by the best writing and ideas, and become better readers and writers in the process.

Thank you for joining! Please check your email for a confirmation.