Tine-a prong or sharp point, such as that on a fork or antler Nominative Determinism-the idea that people are drawn to jobs or activities that match their names…
On this day Darlene was taking pictures for the Polo social media account. She was standing in the bleachers when she overheard a grandmother and a granddaughter. “Look for Valent….” the grandmother had started to say, when she was interrupted by a small child talking excitedly. “Are we going to make Valentime cookies, Gram?” The grandmother assured her granddaughter that “yes-of course we are going to be making Valentine cookies.” The grandmother looked at Darlene and smiled with a twinkle in her eyes. A silent communication acknowledging that the child had said “Valentime”. Darlene looked out to the pitch. She could see that Trent’s team was behind, with a score of 4-3. She noticed that Trent seemed to be riding a new Polo pony. It was a golden Palomino with bright pink wraps, saddle pad and bands on her plaited tail.
Wow, Darlene thought, wondering if this might be the pony’s first time on the competitive pitch. Training polo ponies can take up to two years-an intensive endeavor that yields stunning athletes, ready for full on competition. The teams galloped by right as Darlene caught another piece of the conversation between the grandmother and granddaughter. “Gram-can we make icing that is hot pink…like on that pony…for our Valentime cookies?” She pointed to Trent’s pony. The grandmother, with eyes on the pitch, said “that’s a perfect color for Valentine cookies….and that is the pony we were watching for!!”
Upon hearing the child’s mispronunciation of Valentine again, Darlene let her mind drift back to a time when she, too, used the word “Valentime”. It was in her 2nd grade lexical line up-as it is for many children. Darlene, even at age 8, was walking around the world with an advanced vocabulary, largely, in part, due to her long winding drives to see farmland, with her Grandpa Deane. Grandpa Deane collected words like rocks and on these magical drives he tried his best to share the shiniest of words with his granddaughter. This gave Darlene a sense of language confidence…. So, when Darlene was in second grade and joyfully used the word “Valentime” she was taken aback when Thomas Byrdstone called her out for her mispronunciation. “It’s Valentine, Darlene Davenport, not Valentime….it’s tine not time DD….”
As a second-grade citizen in good standing, Darlene extended self-control over the Thomas Byrdstone correction, but “DD” put a bee in her bonnet. She wanted to immediately tell him that his initials stand for a disease, but she thought she would probably get into a lot of trouble for THAT….so she folded it away. Instead, she said, “Well Thomas Byrdstone, since you are so smarty pants, do you even know what a ‘tine’ is?”
TB rolled his eyes at Darlene and said, with confidence, “That’s not a word, DD….and even though ‘time’ is actually a word, it is not hooked to the end of Valen….unless you are a baby…”
There was an uptick of bees in Darlene’s bonnet……
Darlene held up four fingers and proceeded to educate Thomas. “1-2-3-4 sharp points on a fork…those are called tines, Thomas, and so are the sharp points of a deer antler.….”
Grandpa Deane for the win. Darlene remembered him saying, “Someday, Darlene, you will know some of these words that we study…and you will feel smart.” Darlene made a withdrawal from those many deposits in this moment…
Thomas Byrdstone had only one option. He rolled his eyes with a larger circumference….
More bees…
“You better watch out Thomas Byrdstone…or you’re gonna have a bad nominative determinism.”
In Darlene’s 8-year-old mind she was a little to the left of true comprehension of the term. She understood that a person could have a name that might be about their life. Her dentist, Dr. Drill humorously explained this to all of his patients. So, she thought Thomas might be in trouble with that last name….and she enjoyed casting a looming warning to him.
A roar of cheers jolted Darlene back to the pitch. Trent’s team taking the lead in the final seconds. The golden Palomino carrying Trent towards a winning goal maneuver. Darlene snapped some more shots for social media. She lost sight of the grandmother and granddaughter until she looked down the pitch and saw them posing for a picture with Trent and his pony. The pair of them congratulated Trent and swooned over the Palomino. A selfie snapped, they made their way to the car and to the exclusive comradery that befalls a grandparent and grandchild…….. after all they have a common enemy… Getting to say “ I’m going to my gramma’s to bake Valentime cookies” was the good life….
Darlene caught up to Trent to congratulate the team victory and ask about the new Palomino Polo Pony. Palomino polo pony another string of ‘P’ words for Darlene’s P word collection.
Trent, seeing Darlene approaching, held short until she caught up. “Congratulations Trentcoat-nail biter game today! Is this a new player?” Darlene asked as she reached to stroke the pony’s white blaze.
“She is…this was her first time in real time…and she’s a pro already” he patted the horse’s neck with affection.
“She’s beautiful…just stunning…awww and so sweet…”the horse nuzzled Darlene’s cheek….. “What’s her name?”
“Valentine Gold….cause she’s a true sweetheart….she loves everyone…even the dogs….In fact, she already has a fan base! She had her first selfie request from a grandmother and her granddaughter!” Trent was beaming with love for the pony.
Darlene stopped stroking the white blaze and looked up at Trent in disbelief.
“Yeah, I actually saw them!” Darlene thought about the coincidence of it all...a full circle of story around the word Valentine-amazing. Looking back up at Trent she asked, “Do you know what ‘nominative determinism’ is, by chance?”
Trent smiled a knowing smile “Affirmative. Had a math teacher named Mr. Tally…he taught us all about the power of positive numbers, positive thinking, and the possible impact of nominative determinism. It’s the only way to name a Polo Pony!”
Darlene stroked Valentine Gold’s neck as she concurred, “Roger that, Valentine Gold, Roger that…”
Coda: Thomas Byrdstone did not turn into a stone bird, despite Darlene’s warning back in second grade. He did, however, grow up to become a sculptor…specializing in fowl…
Funny to think of little DD with "an uptick of bees" in her bonnet! Sounds like she has always been a little fiery! Also love the mallet script! It looks so beautiful in white on hot pink.
I see a pink heart video