Wednesday, April 13, 2011

K is for Knoll


My Theme for the A to Z Challenge: Desert Canyon Living

When English is your second language, you sometimes have to look up a word in the dictionary. Usually, it's a word of many letters of Greek origin (I learned some Latin in school, which has been very helpful) but sometimes a simple one, like knoll. I thought I knew what a knoll was, but my very large unabridged Webster's Third New International Dictionary had so many definitions (and why does the text keep getting smaller and smaller as we get older and older, I could barely read it) that I will just hang on to the last and very simple one: Hillock! Don't you love it? My small and much beat up paperback Webster's New World Dictionary had more of what I thought it meant: A little rounded hill; mound.

I don't know if the rounded hills in the canyon qualify as knolls, but I will use them here anyway. They are probably too big, more hills than hillocks, but I think worth a second look.


On top of this knoll there is a ring of rocks that looks like an old castle wall or rampart. This is the knoll that Soldier and I were supposed to hike to the top of this winter. Now that I remember, we will try again.


This knoll is at the end of the shorter hike that we usually walk with the dogs. You can see our house and the fields from the top. We walk/slide downhill here. It is very rocky at the top, something I don't much like, but after that it's smooth, soft, soil. You can also see junipers here and the green grass that grows underneath many of them in spring.



As I went through my photos, looking for knolls, I came upon this one of the doorway to one of the old ruins at the sandstone quarry. If the hill in the background is indeed a knoll, then I think I lucked out with this composition. 


This knoll is in our backyard.


Here is Princess looking at our house and the fields from the top of that knoll. As you can see, it is a big hill, not a hillock, exactly. Princess passed away last summer and I spread her ashes in the snow on this hill. She loved the snow and would dive head first into it and roll and roll around. I miss her so much, she was my country dog and constant companion. But that's another story, already written somewhere in this blog. I hope you enjoyed finding these knolls with me.


Finally, a thank you to Deirdra of http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com who gave me a Powerful Woman Writer Award yesterday. I put it at the top of my sidebar for today. Check out her fairyland blog, it's lovely. I am honored to receive this award, a boost to my confidence as a writer, for sure.


P. S. Thank you so much for all your comments on my last two posts and for deciding to follow my blog. (Samson says: Our blog Mommy!) My husband is back and we have go to town and run errands today, so I may not have a chance to visit everyone, but I will catch up on your posts later. Have a great day.

21 comments:

  1. Congrats on the award!!! That's wonderful!!!

    I love the word hillock! So westerny. :) And I love that one shot of the doorway with the knoll in the background. Just gorgeous. :)

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  2. Hehe ... well I've heard the word 'knoll' but have never used it - I guess it means the same as the Afrikaans word we use here for a small hill - 'koppie' or 'kopje' ...

    Talk about failing eyesight - that's the reason I don't read books that often anymore ... luckily there's an 'enlarge text' function on my laptop ...

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  3. Is it a hillock or a knoll? Who knolls? Here in Dallas, when the word "knoll" is used---as in "grassy knoll", we cringe.

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  4. your photos are awesome and I learned a new word...

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  5. Yes, OK. The word for the day is knoll. I like that word and will use it whenever I can today. Will let you know if I am looked a strangely!

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  6. Knolls, or hills, whatever they are, they are beautiful.

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  7. You take such lovely photos, Inger. And congratulations on your award!! Be sure to tell us more about it later. (I think many of us are powerful women--we just don't realize it.)

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  8. I love that word! Not sure how large or small the rise must be to qualify. I smiled at your comment on the diminishing size of print, we have little magnifying glasses all over the house. Enjoyed the visual stroll among the knolls.

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  9. I have to admit that the word "knoll" always reminds me of Little Big Horn. Strange how the mind works.

    Love your knolls and the stories about them. :)

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  10. English is my first language and I live in a dictionary.
    Like Clint, knoll makes me think of JFK.
    Hillock is new to me and I really like it. Can't wait to find a reason to use it.

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  11. Enjoyed the stroll with you, Inger. Lovely pics! Like Patti, English is my first language and I constantly need a dictionary...with a magnifying glass!

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  12. I love the photo with Princess and your property in the background. It gives a great perspective on the wide open country.

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  13. Yes, like some of the others, "knoll" is usually following "grassy". I think quite frankly, it is something variable, knoll, hillock, hill... Considering I insulted my MIL when I didn't realize I was on top of a local mountain where she lived (Mountain, Oregon, several thousand feet. Mountain, Missouri, not as big, and no snow in May), so just call it a knoll, and impress people with your vocablulary!

    :D

    Cat

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  14. I am in love, reminds me of so much.

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  15. There was a street named "Dogwood Knolls" or even developements like "Mountainview knolls Apartments" I always wondered what it meant.
    that doorway into those ruins looks like it belongs in a mystery movie. So cool.

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  16. Congrats on the award. You are a power woman.
    English is my one and only language and I always have to look in the dictionary. I can't spell. I know use spellchecker. I often do that, too.
    That doorway to nowhere makes a wonderful photo. You are so clever.
    Love and peace.

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  17. enjoyed the journey through the k word! as always, very beautiful. congratulations on the award! well deserved.

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  18. Thanks for all your comments. I hardly ever use a dictionary maybe that's why the letters seemed to have shrunk since last time. I'm glad you enjoyed my knolls that probably are larger than they should be, but pretty still.

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  19. I hear Gerry using the word 'knoll' every now and then, I've never used it myself. Every now and then I look up words, but nowadays only online.

    Now there's also the most excellent English/Swedish online dictionary: http://tyda.se

    There's even a forum where you can discuss expressions and idioms.

    A word that I had problems with was «awry». I'd seen it written so many times, but never heard it pronounced. Luckily I'd never been in a situation where I had to use it, before I eventually found out. The pronunciation was entirely different from what I had thought LOL.

    I didn't get the part about JFK and knoll.

    Awesome photos here...

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  20. Congrats on the award Inger. You deserve it!

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Thanks for leaving a comment.. ~~ Inger

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