All creatures (kri-ey-churs) great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all."
(excerpt from poem by Cecil Frances Alexander)
Since I had Andrea, I had been racking my brain... dredging up old memories of nursery rhymes that I can recite to her (and I discovered that I know so few!). This morning, dizzy from lack of sleep, a section of this poem started floating around in my head while I was taking a shower. A memory from so many years ago (ouch!) of kids sitting in a classroom while reciting this poem.
"...All kri-ey-churs great and small...''
Pause.
Kri-ey-churs??? (if anyone out there uses this pronunciation, sorry!!
It just strikes a wrong chord with me).Yep, that's what my former English teacher taught us. "Creature" is pronounced "kri-ey-chur" in her world. Back then, the teacher's word was law but even as a young kid (1st grade? 2nd grade?) something in me was rebelling and I told her I believed it was pronounced "kree-cher". She insisted she was right and some of classmates sided with her (mga sipsip! haha!). To keep the peace, I kept quiet and conceded. When it was my turn, I went to the front and recited the poem, wincing as I said "kri-ey-churs" like my teacher wanted. That ruined my teacher's credibility in my eyes.
Maybe that's why I can still recite that poem in my head (and in my head... it's always kri-ey-churs... aarrrrggh!!
). The trauma that came with it ensured that it will forever take up space in my head. I still wince inwardly when I come to that line in the poem.
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