bethoffreshair

cognomen.

noun, plural cognomens, cognomina [kog-nom–uh-nuh] 1. a surname. 2. any name, especially a nickname. On our way up a mountain, Pal pranced up to a tiny five-year-old gal. She squealed, “He’s the biggest dog I’ve ever seen!” His nose touched hers. She giggled and put her little hand on his huge head. I beamed like a proudContinue reading “cognomen.”

renascent.

[ri-nas–uh nt, –ney-suh nt] adjective being reborn; springing again into being or vigor. The warmth of the first day of spring feels renascent and Pal can feel the vigor as much as I can. There’s a pep in his step that increases my pep exponentially. I shed layers maybe prematurely because the breeze is still cool. My skin soaks up the warmth ofContinue reading “renascent.”

commodious.

[kuh–moh-dee-uh s] adjective spacious and convenient. ample or adequate for a particular purpose. The cozy cabin is so comfortably not commodious. It’s convenient for me, because I’m little and I like not having to take too many steps to make coffee. Now I have a gigantic polar bear and when I look at him taking up an eighth of the wholeContinue reading “commodious.”

natter.

[nat-er] verb (used without object) to talk incessantly; chatter. noun a conversation; chat. My black hiking pants and black jacket are covered in white hair. I have drool-specific rags on my cute teal coffee table. The pure white snow around my cabin is now the inedible yellow people warn you about. I adopted a huge six-year-old polar-bearesque 81-pound Akbash dog. His name isContinue reading “natter.”

bonhomie.

[bon-uh–mee, bon–uh-mee; French baw-naw-mee] noun frank and simple good-heartedness; a good-natured manner; friendliness; geniality. Frank and simple good-heartedness. I type this out and just sit and stare at it with a smile. It warms the cockles (as Trish would say). Frank and simple. Not overanalyzed, not complicated, just old-fashioned good-heartedness. Assuming the best about people. Letting benefit defeat doubt. Holding doors, buying coffees, shoveling snowyContinue reading “bonhomie.”

cryophilic.

[krahy-oh-fil-ik] adjective preferring or thriving at low temperatures. When talking about plans for tomorrow, I said to a friend, “Oh tomorrow afternoon will be 24 degrees, so that’s not bad.” He said, “Imagine if your Florida friends heard you say that.” “Ha! Good point. And I really mean it, 24 isn’t bad.” Am I cryophilic Idahoan? Nah. I wouldn’t say IContinue reading “cryophilic.”

cupidity.

[kyoo-pid-i-tee] noun eager or excessive desire, especially to possess something; greed; avarice. My favorite things lately are the opposite of cupidity. For instance, I realized I can plug my vacuum in in the living room and the cord reaches the kitchen and every inch of the bedroom. My new life goal is to always live in a place small enough for this toContinue reading “cupidity.”

kerflooey.

[ker-floo-ee] adverb, go kerflooey to cease functioning, especially suddenly and completely fall apart; fail. I don’t wake up easily. Alarms make my skin crawl. So I’m thankful for an evening job. I wake up because my body feels ready for it at 9:00, knowing there’s fresh snow everywhere. I get out of bed, start boiling the water, and get a fire going by the time theContinue reading “kerflooey.”

peripatetic.

[per-uh-puh–tet-ik] adjective walking or traveling about; itinerant. (initial capital letter) of or relating to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Aristotelian school of philosophy. noun a person who walks or travels about. (initial capital letter) a member of the Aristotelian school. I have a friend in Idaho named Hannah. You might know her as “the girl in Beth’s photos with the nice behind.” We’ve been skate skiing and snowshoeing together and I seem to always take photos of her tush surrounded by beauty. They turn outContinue reading “peripatetic.”

kvell.

[kvel] verb (used without object), Slang. to be extraordinarily pleased; especially, to be bursting with pride, as over one’s family. I think this photo says it all, but I do have to kvell a bit tonight. My twin brother had a baby (hadababyitsaboy…remember that brilliant commercial? John didn’t make a collect call to let us know about Jack, we got to meet him that amazing day in June.) Now he’sContinue reading “kvell.”