Fishing Lines

The motto of the Flyfishers' Club (London) swam into view in today's Halifax Chronicle-Herald: Piscator non solum piscatur. Loosely translated in the newspaper: Fishing isn't just about fishing. More literally translated: A fisherman does not only fish. Most assuredly fishing is all about spending time in nature; I almost wrote "real world," a retronym made possible by the arrival of virtual reality or the cyberworld that takes us in daily. Nature in all its magnificence and beauty is a wonderful place to visit, whether one is casting flies in a stream, brook, or river, or sitting on a bank or a boat with a line in the water.

The Latin motto plays on two words, piscator and piscatur. As often one letter makes the difference; the noun piscator is a person who fishes. The verb piscatur is a form of the deponent verb piscor, piscari, piscatus sum I fish, to fish, I fished.  Blogwriters have a Latin motto, nulla dies sine linea (no day without a line), but perhaps those who fish feel the same way. It's harder to drop a line in winter or wild weather, but reading about fishing gives fishers other lines to haul in. Here in Nova Scotia the haddock is in short supply, but tomorrow the smoked salmon will appear as a Christmas starter. Vivant piscatores (Long live fishermen)!

Eyes to See

Virtual reality (VR) is a trend going into 2015, at least according to an article in the Halifax Chronicle Herald (12/23/2014). Facebook spent two billion dollars to acquire Oculus VR, and Sony is working on a VR headset with the name Project Morpheus. I find VR boring, but I have not attempted any experience with a headset or game that puts me in full VR. I find reality beautiful and awesome, infinitely varied and overwhelming. Oculus VR is a fantastic name, as the Latin oculus, oculi m. means "eye." Brilliant, to name a VR product for the organ that enables one to see. Project Morpheus is another compelling name for a VR project, as Morpheus is the Latin name for the god of dreams. The Greek root of his name is morphe, which means "form, shape." The god of dreams brings many shapes and forms to our minds as we sleep. Is VR a kind of dreaming while awake? If so, Sony has chosen an excellent name for its VR product.

I also came across another Project Morpheus launched (literally) by NASA. I do not see a link between this spacecraft and the god of dreams, but the logo looks like a vertical take-off craft, and humans have long dreamed of landing on other planets; perhaps Project Morpheus brings us closer to fulfilling this dream.