Owls stay here with cactuses, haboobs during summer

Today’s question:

I seem to get fairly regular questions about the Valley’s great horned owls.

I think this is unusual because I have lived here for years and years and never seen a great horned owl. I guess I don’t live in an owly sort of neighborhood.

Did you know a great horned owl’s night vision is at least 35 times better than ours? That’s something, don’t you think?

Anyway, as far as I can tell, great horned owls gut it out here during our hot summers just like most of us.

In very cold parts of the country, these owls may move south until it warms up again, but for the most part, they sit tight. don’t see why usage of the plural definition on two subjects by your masters at The Republic has changed during the past couple of years. Why are dust storms now called “haboobs” and the plural of cactus is now “cactuses” rather than “cacti”?

First of all, congratulations on living here 52 years. That must take a lot out of you, but I guess you get used to it.

Next, haboob — meaning a dust storm — is an Arabic word just like monsoon. It’s a perfectly good word, like so many words of foreign languages that have moved into English over the years.

As for cactuses, English is a very flexible language, so usage can easily change as time goes by. If you’d rather say “cacti,” suit yourself. It’s a free country.