Seiche

The movement that remains after the disturbance has passed.

Pronounced saysh, seiche comes from a Swiss French dialect word used for generations along the shores of Lake Geneva. In limnology - the science of inland waters - it describes a standing wave that forms in an enclosed or partially sheltered lake, harbour, or bay.

The physics of it are surprisingly simple. A sudden gust of wind, a sharp drop in atmospheric pressure, or even a tremor deep in the earth pushes the water toward one shore. When the original force subsides, the lake does not fall immediately still. It continues to rock back and forth, sometimes for hours. The word is often linked to the Latin siccus, meaning “dry,” because as water gathers on one side, the opposite shore may be left briefly exposed.

We know this kind of resonance as well. A remark continues to echo after the conversation ends. Grief keeps moving after the worst of it has passed. Joy, too, can return in gentle waves.

Seiche names what continues to move after the cause is gone.

A rocking; a returning; a movement that remembers.

- the word collector, behind the counter