Animal references, remembering Africa

I called Mama yesterday morning before I got tied up in meetings. I usually make the call between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Mama was just getting out to tend to the animals and some of them were complaining. After all, the sun had been up for several hours by that time. The horse was stationed by her feed box, nickering. The chickens were clucking and crowing because they had heard her voice and were anxious to be let out. The calves were bawling in protest of the lack of sweet feed in their feeding box. All this going on and the first words out of her mouth to me were, “We have a horse calf…and it sounds like a chicken.”

For those not used to conversing with Mama that particular statement would be difficult to digest, but I have grown adept in “Mama speak”. I just smiled. ‘A horse calf?” I asked. “Well, you know what I mean. Speckles is hoarse this morning and his bawl sounds like one of the young roosters trying to crow. I just thought it was funny.” She was right. It was funny.

In other animal news Mama sent a bag of plastic turtles to each of the grandsons. At least that is my understanding. I never got to see them. Anyway, the boys were both thrilled to get them, especially Grant who has a large collection of animals of every sort. They were immediately set out in order – in a circle. “Turtles,” he explained “always get in a circle.” A circle of turtles sounded good but I took the time to look up the proper definition of a group of turtles. It is a bale or a nest of turtles. Since nests are generally round, he is quite correct in encircling them.

It put me in mind of the words we use to address a gathering of animals, etc. We know many of the common references like a bevy of quail or a flock of geese, but there are some really good references: an army of frogs, a murder of crows, a bed of clams, an intrusion of cockroaches, a business of flies, a clutch of chicks, a brace of ducks, a cast of hawks, a convocation of eagles, etc.

Several on the more interesting side are a wake of buzzards, (It may take a minute to get that one.), a charm of finches, a scold of jays, a tiding of magpies, a bask of crocodiles, and a plague of locusts. I am not entirely sure if the naming references above are generally accepted but the list I found seemed pretty complete. It was fun to reacquaint the associations of words and creatures.

At church last night we had a missionary from Uganda. His visit brought the remembrance the many memories of people I was introduced to in my youth because of my father’s interest in world missions. Many of those memories are of two particular gentlemen from Uganda, Gus Marway and Phillip Pagibo. Both are long ago gone home to be with the Lord.

Their memory still stirs my heart for the people of Africa.