The sound of my keystrokes is accompagnied by the voices of women laughing as they walk home, the distant closing of office doors and a soft drizzle of rain against the constant hum of cars and city. I think summer’s arrived with its quiet opening of time. I have a big pile of essays, websites, MA theses and weblogs to assess by the end of next week but the weekend’ll be full of novels read lazily, sprawled in the sun (or in case of rain, on my colourful new doona cover), of friends over for a dinner of ravioli and rocket, a movie, some beers and a long walk in the mountains. It’s a long weekend too, one of those Christian ones I can never remember what is for. We already did Assumption, so it’s not that. I can’t remember what Pinse is in English, apart from a Monday off work.
Related
Discover more from Jill Walker Rettberg
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Anonymous
Jeg tror pinse p engelsk er “Whit”, alts “Whit Saturday”, “Whit Sunday” og “Whit Monday”. Hvilken etymologi ordet “whit” har, vet jeg derimot ikke.
Jonathan Smith
The first two sentences would make the nice start to a chapter in a novel.
torill
I think it’s pentacost?
i1277
That is one good sentence that first one yes, and novelish.
I stole it and used it in a chatroom conversation, but the immediate reply (“what lyrics is that? cause it really sounds like a song to me at this hour”) suggested it was transparent that those weren’t really my words…
And summer did come sudden this year.
Eirik
The etymology of the word “whitsunday” (from Dictionary.com):
[Middle English whitsonday, from Old English hwta sunnandÊg, White Sunday (from the white ceremonial robes worn on this day) : hwt, white; see white + sunnandÊg, Sunday; see Sunday.]
whitsunday
\Whit”sun*day\, n. [White + Sunday.] 1. (Eccl.) The seventh Sunday, and the fiftieth day, after Easter; a festival of the church in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost; Pentecost; — so called, it is said, because, in the primitive church, those who had been newly baptized appeared at church between Easter and Pentecost in white garments.
—-
The term “whitsun” is also commonly used. 🙂
Eirik
Oh, BTW: have a nice whitsun weekend, Jill!
Jill
Thanks, all 🙂