DOMS

Who uses it: Trainers and physical therapists
What it means: Delayed-onset muscle soreness; the aches you feel a day or two after unusual physical exertion. It may be caused by tiny tears in the muscle; stretching before and after exercise helps.
How you can use it: To make your weekend-warrior aches sound like something official.

Thursday was my first time back to field hockey in almost two months, but I feel just fine after it. We didn't have much time to play before the sun set, though, and it was cold enough that I had a hard time peeling my fingers off my stick by the end of practice. Tomorrow I'll remember my gloves.

"It could snow any time now," the clerk at the drugstore said yesterday. I was speechless; it's absolutely true. We had our first frost on Thursday night, and I think it was even colder last night. Dizzy went to graze this morning, and got a mouthful of grass-flavored icicles. He was momentarily startled, but kept chewing.

Today is the Hallowell Harvest Festival, with a big scarecrow contest. I'll go over this afternoon -- I may even walk, since the weather's so gorgeous -- but I'll leave Dizzy at home. He is afraid of clowns and people in costumes, so exposing him to scarecrows probably isn't a good idea.