As a preamble, I’d like to say that my wanton and sometimes fickle use of the “u” in “colour” and other such words may annoy some people. They may find it pretentious; at the very least it is probably confusing. But here’s the bottom line: I do not really care. It’s not affect or snobbery; I just like it. And this may sound absolutely ridiculous, but somehow I feel with each little superfluous “u” I am a little closer to a portion of my Euro-Mutt ancestry (a large portion, if you add up all the British Isles people and their predecessors and derivatives from both sides of the family – all of them from delightfully contrasting stations in life – I have no doubt that some of my ancestors oppressed the others and then those ancestors, perhaps, revolted against the the tyrannical ones – it’s festive!!). Oh – and I have a great fondness for Canada, Eh?

Speaking of favourites, today my Mom and Leif were colouring. He turned to her and said, “You can use the nincompoop green.” She asked him which crayon that might be, and he carefully looked through the pile until he found a sagey-green one. This, evidently, is “Nincompoop Green.” And what do you know – it is one of my most FAVOURITE colours (anyone who’s ever lived with me will attest to the preponderance of this colour in my decorating). I’ve used varying terms for this colour over the years, but I am thrilled to know that it its true name is “Nincompoop Green.” Oh – and in case you were wondering – “Nincompoop” is not a phrase that Janet and Erik use in their household. As a matter of fact, Janet wondered at first if there really WAS a crayon labeled “Nincompoop Green” and how Leif had managed to read or know that. In other words, it’s not a part of their vernacular. It shall be, however, forever more the proper and accepted name of one of my very favourite colours. LONG LIVE NINCOMPOOP GREEN!