21 August 2026

 

The There There Letter:
Kalon, Knickknackatory, and Kakidrosis
 

by DAHance

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance.
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After that Schwartzkopf quote about France, which was a bit rude, I thought sharing three cool things about France might balance the scales.

So, what did the other 90 million annual tourists come to France for, if not the Louvre?

First up this week, Kalon … 
Kalon is "the ideal of physical and moral beauty especially as conceived by the philosophers of classical Greece" (Merriam-Webster). My issue with kalon is that my personal ideal of physical and moral beauty (in anyone and anything) is individual and specific to me. I understand that there are some who work to identify general standards of kalon, without calling it such. And there are many who admire and aspire to thos general standards. But I've long been aware that my ideals are not shared by all others. I've learned, in my too-brief time on earth, that I prefer those like me, who have their own ideals. And I'm delighted when I find some few whose ideals are similar to mine. Also, I'm delighted when others introduce me to their ideals of physical and moral beauty, so I can learn from them and adopt some as my own. 

Second up this week, Knickknackatory … 
A knickknackatory is an archaic notion of "a repository or collection of knickknacks" (Merriam-Webster). This seems to me something more than a junk drawer, garage, or storage unit. I'd like a proper knickknackatory, where my collection can exist to be enjoyed, with perhaps some rudimentary organization, but mostly with some pleasant nods to human comfort. And I want to actually have access to the knickknacks. They're not much fun if boxed and stacked. I want to see and touch them, to revel in their knickknackiness. For in them are hints about my personal sense(s) of kalon. Were I in someone else's knickknackatory, I'd be looking for keys to their kalon, too. Things we love and collect, if shared, can say a lot about what we are. My current problem is the stacks of boxes in a very-hot-in-summer garage. 

Third up this week, Kakidrosis … 
Because the very-hot-in-summer garage inspires something that makes sharing less pleasant. Kakidrosis is the "secretion of sweat of a disagreeable odor" (Merriam-Webster). That sounds really stinky. I'd prefer "an intriguing aroma of perspiration" but I'm not always getting that. Anti-perspirants and deodorants can help, as can good air circulation (and better temperature control). But I'm not always getting those things, either. And I'm afraid that kakidrosis could run counter to finding fine kalon in my knickknackatory. Thus, one key to kakidrosis-free kalon is a comfortable, temperate knickknackatory. That's something I've never seen promoted in any real estate advertisement. Yet, for me, that would be such a compelling new home feature. Perhaps I'm missing the realtor-writer's euphemisms for knickknackatory. 

Big Bad Wool
by Leonie Swann

Translated from German by Amy Bojang

(Read digitally. 384 pages in hardcover. Published in 2025 by Soho Crime.) 

A couple of weeks ago we watched a rather nice movie on Netflix: The Sheep Detectives. It's a 2026 film, but as we watched I found the story oddly familiar. "But I know I can't have seen this movie before," I thought. 

So, I looked it up online (pausing the streaming movie for a moment). I found that it was based upon the book Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, first published in 2005. Well, I knew I'd read that book. Familiarity explained! I also learned that there was a sequel (to the book). 

That's how I found my way to Big Bad Wool. This sequel moves the setting to France and brings back most of the sheep characters from the first book (some names were changed from the first book to the movie). Only one of the human characters makes the transition. Added is a threat of Garou (a total sheep frightener). Garou is French for werewolf. 

Which is fine. Because while the meta-stories in both books are about human mysteries, all the fun comes from how the sheep (and their rivals, the goats) try to figure out what's going on. They have confidence in one another, and in their woolpower. 

They distrust "things" (anything not to do with sheep). They think a lot about eating. They understand some English but no French (sounds like honking to the sheep). There are clever sheep (like Miss Maple) and brave sheep (like Othello) and sheep with good memories and great hunger (like Mopple the Whale). 

I recommend the movie (which makes a lot of changes to the original book) and both books (there are only two, that I'm aware of). I don't think reading them as regular mystery novels makes much sense. But, if you're charmed by the sheep approach to the world (as I am) I think you'll have fun with Big Bad Wool (and Three Bags Full). 

"Big Bad Wool is more of a quirky thriller than cozy mystery; kooky, strange and altogether immensely entertaining." (reviewed by Linda Hitchcock at booktrib.com on 12 June 2025).

And a bit more … 
 
"Sheep" by Carl Sandburg 

Thousands of sheep, soft-footed, black-nosed sheep--

one by one going up the hill and over the fence--one by

one four-footed pattering up and over--one by one wiggling

their stub tails as they take the short jump and go

over--one by one silently unless for the multitudinous

drumming of their hoofs as they move on and go over--

thousands and thousands of them in the grey haze of

evening just after sundown--one by one slanting in a

long line to pass over the hill-- 

I am the slow, long-legged Sleepyman and I love you

sheep in Persia, California, Argentine, Australia, or

Spain--you are the thoughts that help me when I, the

Sleepyman, lay my hands on the eyelids of the children

of the world at eight o'clock every night--you thousands

and thousands of sheep in a procession of dusk making

an endless multitudinous drumming on the hills with

your hoofs. 

 
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"
 

Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

 

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