Last week, I rightly found myself in trouble with a reader because I referred to certain foreign surnames as "unlikely" - merely because, to a parochial Irishman like me, they did not sound familiar.
Today, let me risk the public wrath again by admitting that a whit of whimsy attends my subliminal image of the Society of Irish Foresters.
For some reason, the name conjures up the truly "unlikely" vision in my mind of morris dancers dressed incongruously in very ample lederhosen, jingle belled and prancing around with sturdy, clashing staffs.
But, of course, the Foresters are no such thing. The Society of Irish Foresters is the highly-respected representative body for the forestry profession here in Ireland. It has over 700 dedicated members and is admirably proactive in its task of promoting a greater public awareness of the benefits of trees to our society.
Tomorrow, they turn their eye upon the weather at their annual symposium in Tullamore - their theme is "The Impact of Climate Change on Tree Growth".
As everybody now knows, there are fears that the increasing amounts of carbon-dioxide and other "greenhouse" gases in our atmosphere may cause the planet's average temperature to rise. If this were to happen - and many believe that it is happening even now - it could have both positive and negative effects on Irish trees.
In the first place, growth in general is enhanced as average temperature increases - so a warmer climate should increase the timber yield from Irish forests. Indeed, the extra carbon-dioxide on its own, even if it had no impact on average temperature, could result in better yields; more carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere increases the efficiency of photosynthesis which, in turn, improves the rate of growth.
But there are also risks. Many species of trees, for example, need a "kick-start" from the weather to wake them up after the dormant winter season - a brief interlude of low temperature which induces "chilling" and prompts the tree to bud normally with the coming of the spring.
This requirement might not be met in a warmer, "greenhouse" world and some of our familiar species might, therefore, cease to thrive.
Tomorrow's speakers at the symposium in the Tullamore Court Hotel include many of the best-known names in Irish forestry. It begins at 9.30 a.m. and anyone who might like to go along is welcome.
And, of course, the fact that it is May Day, when it was once the custom to dance and frolic round the festive Maypole, is quite coincidental . . .