Thon

Some of you are already laughing, I know you are.  

I was walking around in the yard this evening and heard that faint, odd sound that I have grown accustom to hearing – singing, like really bad opera.   Could it be the sirens on the rocks in O Brother, Where art Thou?   Could it be some little kid out ‘doing a show” in the yard for mom or dad?  It could be any of those things, but it isn’t.  It is one of our backyard neighbors.  

Several months ago, I discovered that it was the diagonal backyard neighbor one night about 10PM while I was standing on the deck.  When I realized where it was coming from, I went down to the yard to the back fence and then walked along the fence until I was at the corner of our yards, actually I was in theirs.  It was dark, but I was just beyond the reach of their flood lights. So I stood there, listening to this singing - singing into a phone and then hearing someone sing back through the phone - and then realized that this person was also twirling a riffle and alternating with a flag.  I kept watching, the singing, twirling, and flag throwing continued.  As I stood there, I realized that I could not really tell whether this person was a he or a she, really couldn’t.  

Flashback about 15 years to English 102 and having to revise papers that were full of errors using a Harbrace Handbook, version 13.  I was all too familiar with chapter 12 (commas) and chapter 18 (spelling) and got tired of it all and started reading through those later chapters that got into odd things, like androgynous pronouns, like Thon.  The intent of these androgynous pronouns was to give writers / speakers a way to discuss a person w/o distinguishing or implying their (thon’s) gender, less one be considered sexist.  So, to be proper, which I have never been accused of being, I should say “Thon is going to be here around 3 this afternoon” if someone asked me when someone was going to be here.  I know, it is crazy.  Google it, it is there, take the wikipedia link.

Oh yeah, sorry it has been so long since the last post.  Too many irons in too small of a fire.