YARDARM

This was a difficult letter of the alphabet for me to settle on a topic.

I like:
--the color YELLOW, especially the shades of saffron rice, fresh lemons, and golden peppers.
--cooked YAMS mashed into brown sugar and gooey, melted butter.
--deviled eggs made with the YOLK of hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, a dab of mustard, and a sprinkling of Hungarian paprika.

But I finally settled on the unlikely word YARDARM, and here’s why.

When I saw the word yardarm, I pictured a ship (naturally.) Then images of pirates popped into my head, which led to specific scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean. That got me thinking about Johnny Depp. (Talk about being in my happy place!)

I’ll admit there are probably only three words in my well-worn New Merriam-Webster pocket dictionary that wouldn't lead me to thoughts about JD, but YARDARM did the trick, so I ran with it. A yardarm, by the way, is either end of the yard of a square-rigged ship. In case you were wondering.

Quiz: What is the last sentence Johnny Depp utters to his crew in Pirates of the Caribbean-The Curse of the Black Pearl, as his ship sails toward the sunset?
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Now, bring me that horizon.