Of names, etc.
Karin’s colleague: “What’ll you name your baby?”
Karin: “It’s a secret.”
“Another biblical name?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“A name from the Gospels?”
“No, from the Old Testament.”
“Noah?”
“No.”
“Ishmael?”
“No.”
“LOL Cain and Abel ha ha ha ha ha ha …” (leaves).
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Our son was born this afternoon. His name is Abel Barnaby.
Likely nicknames: Abe, Abey, Abey Baby, Abey Barney. His pre-natal name, “Pip,” might stick for a while. His cousin, Ada, is fond of that name.
Anyway, there’s no reversing the decision. The paperwork has been submitted.
Samuel was adamant: His little brother was to be called Abel; he was to be born in December, not in late November as his parents hoped. Oh, how glad Sammy was on Dec. 1 when I told him “Pip” definitely wouldn’t be born in November!
Daniel’s feelings are unknown. He’s a cheerful little boy, though, so I am hopeful.
The two big brothers are at home with their grandparents. Abel is with Karin & me in the hospital. The three brothers will meet tomorrow or the next day.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
“Abel” is spelled the same in English and Spanish. It’s a simple and recognizable name, if not a common one.
The namesake came to grief, but he is honored in the Old and New Testaments.
As for “Barnaby” … well, there’s the biblical Barnabas, another fine person; there’s D.C.I. Tom Barnaby of Midsomer Murders; and there’s Dickens’s Barnaby Rudge, which opens with this sentence:
It’s late and I’m exhausted. Details and pics will follow. Just know that Karin is well; Abel is well; I love him; and he sleeps peacefully and preciously, wrapped up like a burrito.
Karin: “It’s a secret.”
“Another biblical name?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“A name from the Gospels?”
“No, from the Old Testament.”
“Noah?”
“No.”
“Ishmael?”
“No.”
“LOL Cain and Abel ha ha ha ha ha ha …” (leaves).
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Our son was born this afternoon. His name is Abel Barnaby.
Likely nicknames: Abe, Abey, Abey Baby, Abey Barney. His pre-natal name, “Pip,” might stick for a while. His cousin, Ada, is fond of that name.
Anyway, there’s no reversing the decision. The paperwork has been submitted.
Samuel was adamant: His little brother was to be called Abel; he was to be born in December, not in late November as his parents hoped. Oh, how glad Sammy was on Dec. 1 when I told him “Pip” definitely wouldn’t be born in November!
Daniel’s feelings are unknown. He’s a cheerful little boy, though, so I am hopeful.
The two big brothers are at home with their grandparents. Abel is with Karin & me in the hospital. The three brothers will meet tomorrow or the next day.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
“Abel” is spelled the same in English and Spanish. It’s a simple and recognizable name, if not a common one.
The namesake came to grief, but he is honored in the Old and New Testaments.
As for “Barnaby” … well, there’s the biblical Barnabas, another fine person; there’s D.C.I. Tom Barnaby of Midsomer Murders; and there’s Dickens’s Barnaby Rudge, which opens with this sentence:
In the year 1775, there stood upon the borders of Epping Forest, at a distance of about twelve miles from London – measuring from the Standard in Cornhill, or rather from the spot on or near to which the Standard used to be in days of yore – a house of public entertainment called the Maypole; which fact was demonstrated to all such travellers as could neither read nor write (and at that time a vast number both of travellers and stay-at-homes were in this condition) by the emblem reared on the roadside over against the house, which, if not of those goodly proportions that Maypoles were wont to present in olden times, was a fair young ash, thirty feet in height, and straight as any arrow that ever English yeoman drew.Of the titular character, I know nothing; but the sentence is worthy of commemoration.
It’s late and I’m exhausted. Details and pics will follow. Just know that Karin is well; Abel is well; I love him; and he sleeps peacefully and preciously, wrapped up like a burrito.