Halcyon

Just means tranquility and peace.Its actually a greek word for the mythological bird halcyon.As a noun it implies this bird of ancient Greece ,that nested on the seas and calming them with their magical powers.

When used as an adjective it means  tranquil, placid, calm or peaceful.

The kingfisher is called the halcyon.Scientific names for the Stork-billed Kingfisher Scientific name - Halcyon capensis and the White-throated Kingfisher's Scientific name - Halcyon smyrnensis etc.

The kingfisher also called the halcyon.

Halcyon Woodlands, a Halcyon summer

Generally the terms like good old halcyon days or the halcyon season is used in literature to imply a peaceful period.

Kettle Basin Brook Burn ...What are these?

During road trips, trails, camping experiences we always come across so many names for water bodies.All the words mentioned in the title are water bodies.I've always wondered the difference between them.Its nice to know what they actually mean and how a creek may be different from a brook etc.Below are some common water bodies with a small description..

• Creek - a usually dry creek bed or gulch that temporarily fills with water after a heavy rain, or seasonally.
• Basin - a region of land where water from rain or snowmelt drains downhill into another body of water, such as a river, lake, or dam.
• Bay - an area of water bordered by land on three sides.
• Billabong - a pond or still body of water created when a river changes course and some water becomes trapped. Australian.
• Brook - a small stream.
• Burn - a small stream.
• Canal - a man-made waterway,
• Channel - the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks. 
• Creek - a small stream.
• Creek (tidal) - an inlet of the sea, narrower than a cove.
• Draw - a usually dry creek bed or gulch that temporarily fills with water after a heavy rain, or seasonally.
• Estuary - a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea
• Glacier - A large collection of ice or a frozen river that moves slowly down a mountain.
• Harbor - a man-made or naturally occurring body of water where ships are stored
• Inlet - a body of water, usually seawater, which has characteristics of one or more of the following: bay, cove, estuary, firth fjord, geo, sea loch, or sound.
• Kettle - a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters.
• Lagoon - a body of comparatively shallow salt or brackish water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed sandbank, coral reef, or similar feature.
• Lake - a body of water or other liquid, but usually freshwater, of considerable size contained on a body of land.
• Loch - a body of water such as a lake, sea inlet, firth, fjord, estuary or bay.
• Mangrove swamp - Saline costal habitat of mangrove trees and shrubs.
• Marsh - a wetland featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. 
• Moat - a deep, broad trench, filled with water, surrounding a structure, installation, or town.
• Ocean - a major body of saline water that, in totality, covers about 71% of the Earth's surface.
• Pool - a small body of water such as a swimming pool, reflecting pool, pond, or puddle.
• Pond - a body of water smaller than a lake, especially those of man-made origin.
• Puddle - a small accumulation of water on a surface, usually the ground.
• Rapid - a fast moving part of a river
• Reservoir - an artificial lake, used to store water for various uses.
• River - a natural waterway usually formed by water derived from either precipitation or glacial meltwater, and flows from higher ground to lower ground.
• Run - a small stream or part thereof, especially a smoothly flowing part of a stream.
• Salt marsh - a type of marsh that is a transitional zone between land and an area, such as a slough, bay, or estuary, with salty or brackish water.
• Sea - a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, or a large, usually saline, lake that lacks a natural outlet such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. In common usage, often synonymous to ocean.
• Spring - a point where groundwater flows out of the ground, and is thus where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface
• Stream - a body of water with a detectable current, confined within a bed and banks.
• Subglacial lake - a lake that is permanently covered by ice and whose water remains liquid by the pressure of the ice sheet and geothermal heating. They often occur under glaciers or ice caps. Lake Vostok in Antarctica is an example.
• Swamp - a wetland that features permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water, generally with a substantial number of hummocks, or dry-land protrusions.
• Tarn - a mountain lake or pool formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier.
• Tide pool - a rocky pool adjacent to an ocean and filled with seawater.
• Wash - a usually dry creek bed or gulch that temporarily fills with water after a heavy rain, or seasonally.

A steaming cup of coffee

What more refreshing than a cup of hot coffee.Coffee is a world famous beverage made from roasted coffee beans.The origins of the beverage is believed to be from Ethiopia.There are plenty of options in a coffee house.I wanted to know what each type actually meant to assist my taste buds in their choice.Thus, the article on the different coffee words and their meaning.

Hot Coffee Types

Espresso : Got by passing hot steam through roasted and ground coffee beans.Very strong. It is served hot in a small cup sometimes with cream. Espresso can be decaffeinated, medium strong or very strong depending on the country and coffee house.

CaffÈ Latte : Espresso with steamed milk forming a small topping of foam. It has less foam than a cappuccino

Cafe Breva :  Espresso with steamed half and half (cream).

Cappuccino : 1/3 Espresso (1 shot) 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 foam. Cinnamon or flaked chocolate is sprinkled on top.

CaffÈ Mocha : A latte or a cappuccino with chocolate syrup or hot cocoa. 

Cafe Macchiato: 4 parts espresso with 1 part steamed milk.

Black coffee: Coffee brew (liquor from passing steam through roasted beans ) with no milk.Strong.Can be had with or without sugar.

Americano: A single shot of espresso with about 7 ounces of hot water added to the mix. Diluted espresso.

Indian (Madras) filter coffee: Coffee brew from the south of India.Made from hot water pressurized through dark roasted beans powder in a traditional filter.Served with 3 parts coffee to 1 part milk or equal depending on region.

Irish coffee: Coffee brew with Irish whiskey and foam. Alcoholic coffee beverage.

Cold Coffee Types 

Frappe : Variation of cold espresso.coffee brew / instant coffee with sugar, water/milk and ice. Cold Beverage.

Iced Cappuccino : is a double shot of espresso over crushed ice with an two ounces of cold milk and milk froth.

Iced espresso :  is a double shot of espresso over crushed ice, with whipped cream.