Dear Reader,

Last week I mentioned that I wasn't going to write any poems, talk about the weather, nor was I going to begin the newsletter with any anecdote. Just a plain ol' fashioned newsletter without all the "hullabaloo" in it. But really now, I was only joking.

But the joke was on me, since not many people "got" it. I received many many emails from concerned readers thinking I was changing my ways! I guess my joke fell flat on its face. But you should know better, old dogs don't change their ways, and they are useless at changing old habits.

So let's start with a tidbit of knowledge. "Hullabaloo" a lot of us use this term, but have no idea of its meaning, its real meaning I mean. Well it means to make a lot of excitement, to make a lot of noise. It's a derivative from "hollo-ballo". And this is just a funny way to say "halloo". "Halloo!!" was the way ancient European hunters used to call their hunting hounds. And it's "imitative". In other words, it a word that sounds like the action it's describing; "ding-dong" describes the ringing of a bell, "bang" describes something that goes bang. Well, "halloo" is imitative of the baying of a hunting dog. These ancient hunters also used this term to get people's attention besides their dogs. And this is why several European languages use a derivative of "halloo" to say hello. So when you are greeting your friends and loved ones with a cheery "hello", you are using a derivative of an ancient dog call.

Woof, woof.

Doggingly yours,

Bryan