The Bactrian Camel Blunder

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ovel.</p><p id="3b98">But I was wrong. It was not until after the book was published that I learned that the term <i>dromedary</i> only applies to Arabian one-humped camels, not to Bactrian two-humped camels.</p><p id="5537">I could have unpublished the book, changed that one word, then republish the book. But I didn’t. I left the blunder in.</p><p id="3ad7">I remembered reading about Amish women — or were they Quakers? — who make beautiful quilts. In making those wonderful quilts the women always purposefully put in one incorrect irregular segment of stitching so that the quilt is not perfect. This way they are not showing up God, who they consider to be perfect. So every quilt they make has an intentional blunder in it.</p><p id="207b">So I decided to be Amish (or Quaker?) about my blunder and I left it in the book, where it remains to this day. Of course my blunder was not intentional. It came about through my zoological ignorance.</p><p id="14c2">Perhaps there are some lessons to be learned from my blunder. When creating our art it is a good idea not to show up God. And it’s also a good idea to ackn

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owledge and allow our imperfections.</p><p id="4cd5">More importantly, if we do make a blunder it’s best if the blunder is so tiny and insignificant that no one notices.</p><p id="54f8">It might also be a good idea not to write an article that points out the blunder.</p><p id="cbb8"><i>Copyright by <a href="https://readmedium.com/white-feather-archive-index-c95167f7dbaf"><b>White Feather</b></a>. All Rights Reserved.</i> <a href="https://medium.com/@WhiteFeather9"><b>See More of My Blunders Here</b></a></p><div id="2894" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/talking-to-the-universe-on-the-internet-2f2aab1aab8f"> <div> <div> <h2>Talking to the Universe on the Internet</h2> <div><h3>Connections to land and people</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*TamWDP37HmM3RK2BtteY8A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Everyone makes mistakes, right?

No one is perfect. I certainly am not. I once made a significant blunder in my writing.

It happened with one of my early novels. The story took place in ancient times in Central Asia in a place once known as Bactria. The story involves a journey taken by a local leader. Back then in Bactria there were three modes of travel; by foot, by horse and by bactrian camel. This ancient land is where bactrian camels got their names from.

So I simply could not write a story about a journey in ancient Bactria without involving bactrian camels in the story. My blunder occurred in only one sentence of the book. In that sentence I referred to a bactrian camel as a dromedary. At the time I thought the term dromedary was used in reference to all camels so I did not catch the blunder while editing the novel.

But I was wrong. It was not until after the book was published that I learned that the term dromedary only applies to Arabian one-humped camels, not to Bactrian two-humped camels.

I could have unpublished the book, changed that one word, then republish the book. But I didn’t. I left the blunder in.

I remembered reading about Amish women — or were they Quakers? — who make beautiful quilts. In making those wonderful quilts the women always purposefully put in one incorrect irregular segment of stitching so that the quilt is not perfect. This way they are not showing up God, who they consider to be perfect. So every quilt they make has an intentional blunder in it.

So I decided to be Amish (or Quaker?) about my blunder and I left it in the book, where it remains to this day. Of course my blunder was not intentional. It came about through my zoological ignorance.

Perhaps there are some lessons to be learned from my blunder. When creating our art it is a good idea not to show up God. And it’s also a good idea to acknowledge and allow our imperfections.

More importantly, if we do make a blunder it’s best if the blunder is so tiny and insignificant that no one notices.

It might also be a good idea not to write an article that points out the blunder.