Q is for Quidditch

I have had a fondness for the letter Q since the days I first learned cursive writing. I think it stems from two sources: that my grandmother's maiden name was Quigley and when my mother inherited her full set of sterling flatware there was a script Q on the handle of each piece; and secondly, that I loved writing the upper case Q in cursive, which looks something like a curly number 2. Most of the time I still write it like that. The font, Edwardian, has its capital Q that way, but most fonts have it as the printed "Q."

I remember in the alphabet above our grade school blackboard that the Q was accompanied by the picture of a queen. Nowadays teachers would gain much more attention if they designated Q for quidditch and had a picture of Harry Potter on a broomstick. (What would you choose for Q?)

Quidditch is the fictional sport in the Harry Potter series. It is played throughout the wizard world, similar to soccer in ours. Matches are played between two teams with all players riding flying broomsticks. The golden snitch is also flying about and if it's caught the game is over. Harry, of course, becomes an excellent quidditch player.

Here's my only Harry Potter memorabilia, an ornament of Harry on his quidditch stick, a Nimbus 2000.

Look what popped up in our inner courtyard this week: the year's first primrose. "Hope springs eternal"....spring is on its way!