in search of caustics

taken at my very own Cathedral Park river dock, just down the street from my house

Today I learned that the optics term for light sparkling on water is "caustics". A more casual term I've heard for it is "sun glitter", or "coruscating" if you want to be fancy. The Latin word for it is marmoris, which is also a word used for marble. High praise from the Romans, given how they prized marble. The Greeks believed the "glitter path" on the ocean was a physical bridge for souls to the afterlife because it appeared to lead directly to the horizon where the sun sets. High praise from the Greeks, given how they prized drama.

In other languages, the word is yunseul (Korean), al Loujayn (Arabic), kirameki (Japanese), kōrakorako (Māori), glansin (Shetland dialect), sonnenglanz (German), brillitos (Spanish), hulali (Hawaiian). The Irish word for it is loinner, and beyond its literal meaning, loinner is used to describe small, joyful moments of serenity, light, or contentment in life, similar to the concept of finding sparkle or magic in the everyday.

As it happens, today is my 9th "Happy To Be Alive" Anniversary. I'll spare you the specifcs of what prompted this anniversary, but trust that it was a close enough call to warrant an annual celebration. (Well that, and the fact that I love any excuse for making a new holiday.) This holiday's traditions are loosey-goosey -- we try to keep our made-up holidays chill and flexible here at Hall House -- but the root is always about joy.

How fitting, then, that today of all days is when I learned all of this lovely information about how the joy from the sparkle of light on water is so universal that humanity has so many words for it.

Seems like a good time to add a new tradition to this holiday: the loinner, the designated sparkle of light for the day.