Bird
experts and sports people: I read in KQK ( once referred to in KQK as
KKQ, a clever move?): " ...said Dreyer, trying to do as Franz was doing
- to flatten his oars over the water, swallow-like
on the backstroke... trying again to feather his oars,
and again failing" (CCC pages 910,911).
What
does this mean and what kind of movement is described here?
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EDNote: as a sometime rower (not what Dreyer was doing, but the
terminology is the same), I'll try to describe: "feathering" is
twisting the oar-handle(s) toward oneself, so that the flat part of the
oar-blade is parallel to the water, rather than perpendicular (the
position needed to grip and drive through). The main goal of
feathering is to reduce wind resistance, although if rowing downwind,
one might prefer to keep the blades unfeathered. The "swallow-like"
refers to the way the flattened blades mimic the low, swift passes of a
swallow over water--a remarkable sight worth pursuing, for those who've
never seen it.
Speaking of rowing, and unknown terminology, I was out on the river
with a friend this past Saturday, in slightly sub-freezing
temperatures; there was a blanket of smoky mist on the water. At a
certain moment, as the sun warmed everything gradually, the mist mostly
disappeared and all that was left was a broad field of what looked like
tall spindles of fog--thin, like dancing, slightly crooked or bent
broomsticks. The phenomenon lasted only a few minutes, but while it
did there were probably over a hundred of these within view, spaced one
per two square meters or so. I had never seen anything like it, and
wondered whether these spindles have a name. It was such a rare
moment, I tried to imagine how VN might have put it into words--but
failed, of course. ~SB