Pronounce This

There is a lake in the town of Webster, Massachusetts. It is located near the Connecticut border, is 3-miles long, 1-mile wide, and has a surface area of 1,442 acres.

Although commonly called Webster Lake, the name recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior is Lake Chaubunagungamaug. The Algonquian-speaking peoples who are the first known residents of the area had several different names for the lake - such as "Chabanaguncamogue" and "Chaubanagogum" - as recorded on old maps and historical records. However, all of these were similar in part and had almost the same translation: "fishing place at the boundary".

But there is another name, meaning approximately "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary". This delightful moniker was applied in the 19th century when White people built factories in the area.

The most common spelling of this is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Spelled with 45 letters, it is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world.

An even longer, 49-letter version of the name, "Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" has been used, but is basicaly just showing off. Also, the tongue-in-cheek translation "You Fish on Your Side, I Fish on My Side, Nobody Fish in the Middle" is totally spurious - coming as it does from a humorous article Larry Daly, editor of The Webster Times, wrote around 1916. Equally farcical is the tale of the half-drowned Indian.

So, give a try pronouncing Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and then enjoy a clip of these locals trying it.

Richard D. Cazeault, president of the nonprofit Webster Lake Association, is first, and I would swear he gets it wrong, but that may just be the wind in the mic.

And if you think it is hard to pronounce, you should try to spell it.

But DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK unless you want the Lake Song stuck in your head.

Trek Yourself

Guessing Game

Can you guess what this machine does?

Post your thoughts in the comments.

One Froggy Evening

"not half as beautiful"

On this day in 1493, explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, saw three "mermaids" like the ones pictured. He described them as "not half as beautiful as they are painted."

Kite Flying in December?

Yes, on December 13th, it was a very, very windy day, but not very cold. We decided to get out our old kite and try flying it. The boys can't even remember the last time we flew the kite, so it has been a long, long time. I was afraid the kite string would be frayed and would snap in the wind, but that wasn't what we should have been worried about.

Instead, shortly after we got the kite flying, the stick bracing the back open snapped in half. We tried substituting sticks we found at the park, but they were too flexible and just popped out. So we walked home and found a thicker dowel rod we had from something else. Christopher cut it down to size, and we took the kite back to the park to try to fly it again.

It worked great, until the kite took a nose-dive and landed right on its tip. This snapped the stick that is the spine of the kite. However, we were able to still fly the kite for short periods of time with its tip folded down. We got some good pictures too. Here you can see our kite with the tip folded down. Now the boys want us to go buy a new kite, but it's the wrong season to find them in the stores. Maybe next spring.

frustratingly simple when you figure it out

Manifold - Create gravity wells and get to the exit

There Is No I in G-R-A-H-A-M

Earnest Graham could be complaining about not getting the ball enough. Instead, he asked to get it less and earned a win for the team.

School

I just started school,and now I am convinced that I have one of the best teachers... Mrs. Stealey!
She has the best board games, a lot of them too! A very fun teacher. She has the best room in the school.