Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Jorja Rail

Yes, my daughter’s middle name is Rail. As in railroad.

Because P.Pie’s mother had twins, the idea of multiples has always sort of loomed over us – well her, really.

I mean, c’mon… we’re all adults here, science has made great strides in discovering the cause of babies.

So, back in the late ‘90s – before the dotbombs, before you had to take your shoes off to board an airplane, before I turned 30 – when P.Pie and I were getting serious, I often joked that if we had triplets we would have to name them Cattle, Land, and Railroad (Barron…baron, get it?).

As we built our list of potential baby girl names, I again brought up the baron name trifecta… it was immediately shot down. And truthfully, who could blame her? Would you want your daughter named Cattle?

So I shelved the baron names.

Once we had picked her first name – a loving tribute to P.Pie’s father – I began rolling middle names into and out of the sequence to see how they rolled off the tongue.

Unfortunately, nothing seemed to fit.

While I was surfing the net for baby names, I came across an interesting piece on the history of times zones in the US (would you believe railroad accidents was a huge reason time zones?). And no, I don't know what odd combinations of kewords I used to bring that search result up.

Anyway, then it struck me - Rail. There was a name that was original and had flavor.

When I think of the name Jorja Rail, I think bayous and gumbo, iron and steam.

I realize that descriptor doesn’t do it justice, but haven't the time to change it.

I must go now - the conductor is calling; she must be fed.