Ostrich Weekly Forecast: Dec 16
In which I learn the word "phragmosis."
Our weatherman used a word I'd never heard before, in describing the forecast for the week: phragmosis. It refers to those adaptations in some animals that help them use their own bodies as a barrier to their burrow. The classic case of phragmosis is, I'm told, the trapdoor spider cyclocosmia, which has a hardened, coin-shaped end to its abdomen, a perfect plug for its narrow hole. How phragmosis plays into the forecast was not well explained to me. Perhaps you'll need to defend your den from solicitors, or, god forbid, carolers. Or maybe the weatherman just learned a new word and shoehorned it into the weather report. That would be very like him.
Regardless, it's worth seeing how completely you can fill your door with your person. Should you face a determined invader, take a page from the trapdoor spider. Bar the door with your bare butt, and I bet they'll go away.
