It’s the little things that mean a lot to us — life’s little, simple pleasures.

An undiscovered, spotted bird feather, a lonely white cabbage butterfly, dancing along unnoticed against the dark jade cedar tree. Found objects or misplaced things, never to be seen again.

If you held all the feathers you could possibly hold, could you hold just one more?

In the trusty dictionary, little is “a more absolute in implication, often carrying the idea of petiteness, pettiness, in significance or immaturity.” We all know a few small-minded people. Some are Yankees.

Diminutive implies abnormal smallness.

There is nothing we can do about that on a committee. Miniature applies to an exactly proportional reproduction on a very small scale. People who collect miniatures are in their own little world and most are afraid to come out. Little old people don’t eat much and don’t take up much space, but they would enjoy a little visit or a little gift.

Of course, kids don’t even own a dictionary and sadly rely on Wikipedia.

“But refuse profane and old wires fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness,” states I Tim 4:7.

A lot of four-letter words you overhear are not even in the dictionary and some are that shouldn’t be.

Does that mean we can’t use them?

The saying “a little kindness goes a long way” goes both ways. “Be kind to your web-footed friend, because a duck may be somebody’s mother.”

Little kids say the darnedest things.  Small folk or little people have very big hearts and very big ideas. Some of them drive big trucks. That’s no big deal for Archie, kinda like Iota, the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.

Who invented the dot over the i? Send your suggestions to the editor. It’s a “tittle” known fact.

Size matters in blue jeans. Some people need to look in a rearview mirror. Why do mermaids wear sea shells? They tried the B and the D, but the “C” shells fit better.

Cursive medieval writings in 1705  were called minuscule from the Latin minisculus, rather small. Minutia is plural for minutiae from Latin, too. And, where do you think we got a minute to waste?

A measly widows mite is not much. A small copper coin worth only 1/128 of a denarius that you can still buy from a coin dealer, Steve, today for $40.

Or, you can get real mites in your animals, plants or stored foods and include important disease vectors. They are very minute arachnids. Too many know what one tiny tick or one mosquito can do.

In our very tiny terrarium, we might not be the prettiest flower without being labeled cleistogamus — “being characterized by or being small inconspicuous, closed, self-pollinating flowers additional to and often more fruitful than showier ones on the same plant.” Who needed a word for that in 1877?

In 1966, the small screen was invented and, now, there is no limit to the flat screen.

Larger than life is not necessary in the real world.

The smallest sound can turn into the worst nightmare with a little bit of imagination.

Look at the big picture on the big screens in City Tavern. Father Black says you can watch church on simulcast internet, but you would miss communion.

Don’t let the little ol’ ladies wear you down. Just let them think they run the town.

How trivial does something have to be before you let it get to you? How does it feel to be the little fish in the big pond?

Are you a little itsy-bitsy, teeny, tiny, bit scared? Maybe a little?

Clyde lives in Salisbury.