Coming as no surprise to anyone would be a comment that I love words. I do show partiality in that I like some better than others. Maybe they tickle my throat, maybe they sing as they emerge, or maybe they nail an idea perfectly.
Probably there is also no surprise that I still love finding new ones. I’ve had a feed every day from Word-a-Day for at least twenty years with new words that fit at least one of the categories on a regular basis. Sometimes I search for a word to name something extraordinary that I see, something that seems to call for a name not in my vocabulary. Such a thing happened one night as I looked out the window and saw the full moon shimmering on the frost. With wildly disparate weather changes in Mississippi, a couple of nights later, it lit up the fog rising from the ground. Again, I needed a word for this. In a coincidence, while I still pondered, from Word-a-Day on December 4, 2020 came this listing: Noctilucent – shining at night. Perfect!
Now came the challenge to work my new word into a conversation, assuming Covid would be over soon, and I would actually get to have conversations again.
The moon on the frost was nothing if not noctilucent.
Don’t you love the noctilucent pattern as the fog shimmers in the moonlight?
The reflection of the moon in the creek gave a noctilucent aura in the nighttime.
Okay, so I would probably get strange looks even if we were commonly having conversations again. Still I gaze at the moonlight and its revelations and repeat to myself, “Noctilucent, Noctilucent, Noctilucent.” Noctilucent – a new favorite word – tickles my throat, sings as it emerges, and nails an idea perfectly. While I can’t work it seamlessly into a conversation, I can write a blog about it.