Post vacation day three.
As my dear friend Kristen says, “Re-entry is a bear.”
I had a wonderful trip, mostly unplugged and immersed in the moment. My soul refreshed. Now the trick is to keep the vacation with me, even as I return to the mundane, unpack the bags, tackle the laundry.
I started reading a book during vacation that’s nurturing my peaceful attitude. Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts carries a powerful message of appreciation and hope. Voskamp’s writing challenges my mind in its style and meaning. Here’s a passage:
Losses do that. One life-loss can infect the whole of a life. Like a rash that wears through our days, our sight becomes peppered with black voids. Now everywhere we look, we only see all that isn’t: holes, lack, deficiency.
Needless to say, Voskamp uses many words that send me to my Merriam-Webster app. The first one I’d like to share for Wondrous Words Wednesday is coruscate.
Freshly fallen snow coruscates in the sun, countless stars across fields, tress in the woods falling soundlessly, their blue shadows stretching.
coruscate \’kor-ə-skāt\ verb, from Latin coruscare to flash; to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes, sparkle; to be brilliant or showy in technique or style
Word Nerd Workout
Can you think of something else that “coruscates”? M-W gives the example of shiny chrome on a polished car coruscating in the sun. What can you think of?
Thanks for getting nerdy with me. It’s good to be back.
Julia
Re-entry is a bear, although I would use another b word to describe it! Coruscate – good word! I took a few pics of the ocean when it coruscated in the sun – it looked like stars were twinkling on the water.
Very nice use of coruscate, Dana. Thanks for “playing”.
Coruscate. What a beautiful word. I also think of freshly falling snow, magically drifting across lamplight, like midnight sparkles.
I love the quote from the Voskamp book. I see what you mean about making you think differently. Our time to re-create ourselves is coming up next week. We’re heading to high mountain country where I’m hoping to wow my family by saying, “Look at how the sun is coruscating across that high-mountain lake,”
I think it must be a pretty sight. I’ve never heard or seen the word.
That picture makes it a pretty word, glad you had a nice vacation.
Our vacation is still on the horizon. I hope to be able to experience the morning dew coruscating as the sun peeks over the horizon. Maybe I’ll be up that early! 🙂
What a beautiful example. Thanks Judy!
Welcome back! Hang on to that beautiful vacation high as long as you can.
I’m trying, Nicole. But then I had to sit down this afternoon and pay bills…
Coruscate is one word I was truly unfamiliar with. Thank you!
Now to use it: I hope to spend a large chunk of today on a pool float with a book in hand while the water coruscates in the brilliant sunlight.
What a great example, and I hope you get your wish!
Welcome back to reality! I always feel like I need a vacation after my vacation.
When I read coruscate, the first thing that popped into my mind was the water in the ponds in our neighborhood when the light hits them just right.
Yes, I’ve craved a few days vacation to recover. I keep telling myself to allow for catch up time… but man I wish I wasn’t so tired!
Welcome back. That is a new word to me also.
Thanks Carol, especially thanks for helping me out with your guest post last week!
I have come across coruscate before but I didn’t know or had forgotten its meaning. Nice word. I hope you had a good holiday. Where did you go? that’s the worst coming back to the laundry.