Some thoughts as the last gifts are wrapped and the lovely white snow becomes puddles of grey water
It's Christmas Eve and, as usual, I am wrapping the last of my last minute gifts, always extra books that I can't resist buying for friends and family.
This year I discovered a wonderful second-hand book shop with an amazing stock of books in good condition. Not only did I get a few first edition novels for a friend who will love them, but I also found some gardening books for another friend who is trying to turn my 'thumb of death to all plants' into a 'green thumb of life'. Maybe these books will help, although I'm not confident.
I also picked up a few cookbooks for my ever-expanding collection that threatens to take over my kitchen and push the pots and pans out into my postage-stamp-sized back garden. Oh well ... books will always win out.
As well, I picked up a second copy of The Word Museum (by Jeffrey Kacirk, Touchstone 2000), with the subtitle "The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten". It's a terrific book that I use often to find a gem of a word that shouldn't have been forgotten.
I'll leave you with a great one, after wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and all the best in writing and in life in 2008.
From The Word Museum - abracadabrant: it means " marvelous or stunning".
May your holiday be truly abracadabrant.
