Word Of The Day

The Word of the Day for February 25 is:

scintilla • \sin-TILL-uh\ • noun • Latin

• A minute amount; an iota or trace.
• A spark; a flash.

Example sentence:
After the witness's frank and bruising testimony, neither my brother nor I was left with a scintilla of doubt that the defendant was guilty.

Did you know?
"Scintilla" comes directly from Latin, where it carries the meaning of "spark" — that is, a bright flash such as you might see from a burning ember. In English, however, our use of "scintilla" is restricted to the figurative sense of "spark" — a hint or trace of something that barely suggests its presence. The Latin "scintilla" is related to the verb "scintillare," which means "to sparkle" and is responsible for our verb "scintillate" ("to sparkle or gleam," literally or figuratively). In an odd twist, "scintilla" underwent a transposition of the "c" and the "t" (a linguistic phenomenon known as metathesis) to create the Vulgar Latin form "stincilla," which is believed to be an ancestor of our word "stencil."

Catching up

It's been a while since I've posted anything, because, well, life got interesting.

For those that don't know I've been plowing snow this winter. We just got hit with a doozy of a storm. I finally got some sleep last night. We got 32 inches of snow in a 24 hour period. I have been doing snow removal for the last three days with about 5 hours sleep total. Oh boy, I never new how much fun sleep deprivation could be. Just about everything from the last three days feels dream like and very surreal.

Including, I've met a new friend...
Well, we haven't actually met yet, just talk a lot online. Maybe we will never meet, but I'd like to. There is some kind of pull, her words, between us. I couldn't figure out how to put it into words. I was even inspired to write a poem about it. I haven't been inspired to write poetry in over 15 years. She knows I'm only looking for friendship right now. I've told her that I'm not ready for anything more than that and that I don't know when I will be ready. She makes me wonder what the future might be. Thinking about her always puts a smile on my face. It feels really good to smile again. It may never go beyond friendship and the nice thing is I'm ok with that. At least I know I will have another really good friend.

What else is up, the temps here have been hovering between zero and 20 degrees f for well over a month now and the water lines in my cabin keep freezing up on me. Luckily all the lines now are made of materials that won't burst from freezing. I had to replace the last one that wasn't flexible enough last month when it burst on me. Life in a small cabin deep in the woods is interesting to say the least.

I think I finally broke out of hermit mode, or rather life forced me to when I was having vehicle trouble last month. So far I'm managing to stay out of it too. I might even get to visit with my chosen brother soon, I can't wait to see him, it's been far too long. He lives over 350 miles from me. He's got a girl friend that lives about an hour drive from me though and he will have some free time for us to get together soon.

I guess that's about it for now.

I'll get back to putting up a word of the day too, I hope.
Peace

I have a new friend

Is it a dream...
Do I dare still wish...
What if, ah what if...

Thoughts come again...
It gives me a fright...
Could it be, will it be right...

I long for a touch...
I long for embrace...
I'm in a strange place...

What to do, do I do...
Where will it go...
I don't know, I don't know...

What does life really mean...
It feels, oh god, so good again...
Can it possibly, will it possibly begin

Only time really knows...
For now just let it be...
I will have to wait and see...

What the future will be...

~ Smulch

On The Edge

Standing
on the edge
of the mind

looking
thinking
wondering

looking
at the craters
of disillusionment

thinking
of the losses
that were endured

wondering
how long it will
take to break free

hearing
touching
feeling

hearing
the echoes
of friends gone

touching
the memories
buried deep within

feelings
replaced by
blessed numbness

bliss
in ignorance
by and of so many

looking away
not really wanting
to see anything any longer

and welcomed
is the new partner
or rather... a welcome back

'aloneliness'
we walked before
alone ... yet together

~ GoddessOfTheDawn

Word Of The Day

The Word of the Day for February 07 is:

parsimonious \par-suh-MOH-nee-us\ adjective

1 : frugal to the point of stinginess
: sparing, restrained
: Ungenerously or pettily reluctant to spend money

Example sentence:
My parsimonious brother refuses to buy the candy his daughter sells as a school fund raiser because he thinks it is overpriced.

Did you know?
English isn't stingy when it comes to synonyms of "parsimonious." "Stingy," "close," "penurious," and "miserly" are a few terms that, like "parsimonious," suggest an unwillingness to share with others. "Stingy" implies a marked lack of generosity, whereas "close" suggests keeping a tight grip on one's money and possessions. "Penurious" implies frugality that gives an appearance of actual poverty, and "miserly" suggests avariciousness and a morbid pleasure in hoarding. "Parsimonious" usually suggests an extreme frugality that borders on stinginess.

Word Of The Day

The Word of the Day for February 05 is:

concinnity \kun-SIH-nuh-tee\ noun

1. Harmony in the arrangement or inter arrangement of     parts with respect to a whole.
2. Studied elegance and facility in style of expression:
“He has what one character calls ‘the gifts of concinnity and concision,’ that deft swipe with a phrase that can be so devastating in children” (Elizabeth Ward).
3. An instance of harmonious arrangement or studied elegance and facility.

Example sentence:
Julia maintains that no modern play can rival the concinnity of the classical Greek tragedies.

Did you know?
The Romans apparently found perfect harmony in a well-mixed drink. The cocktail in question was a beverage they called "cinnus," and so agreeably concordant did they find it that its name apparently inspired the formation of "concinnare," a verb meaning "to place fitly together." "Concinnare" gave rise to "concinnus," meaning "skillfully put together," which in turn fermented into "concinnitas." English speakers added the word to our mix in the 1500s as "concinnity."