What’s in a name?

A reader asked why I chose the blog name Dactyls & Drakes. When I was thinking about a name, I wanted something that would encompass both poetry and the mini-ecosystem I’m creating—garden, animals, weird inventions. I first thought poetry and poultry, but that was too clunky.  Larry suggested dactyls and ducks, but that sounded, well, sort of web-footed.  I liked the dactyls part, though, the poetic foot of one long, two short stresses—the common foot for nursery rhymes: hickory, dickory, dock (actually, it would have to be dockery for them all to be dactyls). And here’s a mallard drake, common, but elegant.

Not that I have ducks yet, but they’re in the plan.  Hence dactyls & drakes.  Turns out you can’t have an ampersand in a URL, though. I thought the name obscure enough to signal that I am doing this purely for my own pleasure, and hope it becomes a way to connect with whomever my interests align.