Happy Birthday Darling!

Éirinn go Brách

Though I don’t celebrate the bloody Saxon who came to Ireland and drove the wee folk underground I do celebrate Ireland as my ancestral home.

To all of you on the National Day of Érin I wish:

And to those of you wearing green t-shirts proclaiming your citizenship and thinking it entitles you to a kiss:

The word for March 17^th is:
Curmudgeon kər-mŭj′ən: [noun]
^1.1 An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.
^1.2 An avaricious, churlish fellow; a miser; a niggard; a churl.
While numerous folk etymologies surround this word, there is no widely accepted etymology. An alternative spelling attested in 1600 is cornmudgin, in Holland’s translation of Livy, rendering frumentarius “corn-merchant”. This has been suggested as the original form of the word, but OED notes that curmudgeon is attested some years before this, concluding that cornmudgin was merely a nonce-word by Holland.

Bending Not Breaking

As I have on March 8^th in past years, today I am presenting a virtual sprig of Mimosa to the women in my life. I am presenting it not just in appreciation but with the firm belief that equality is the right of all.

This deceptively fragile flower bends in the strongest winds but does not break – for me the perfect symbol of the strength of the women that I know and cherish. Thank you for letting me into your life and for becoming an important part of mine.

The word for March 8th is:
Bend bĕnd: [verb]
1.1 to force an object from a straight form into a curved or angular one, or from a curved or angular form into some different form.
1.2 to direct or turn in a particular direction.
1.3 to modify or relax temporarily.
Old English bendan “to bring into a curved state; confine with a string, fetter,” causative of bindan “to bind,” from Proto-Germanic base band– “string, band” (source also of Old Norse benda “to join, strain, strive, bend”).

New Year’s 2023

The word for January 1^st is:
Wish wĭsh: [^1. noun ². verb]
^1.1 A feeling that one would like to have or do something or to see something happen; a desire, longing, or strong inclination for a specific thing.
^1.2 An expression of a desire, longing, or strong inclination.
^1.3 An expression of desire for the happiness or success of another.
^2.1 To hope (for a particular outcome).
^2.2 To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
^2.3 To request or desire to do an activity.
Middle English wissh, from wisshen, to wish, from Old English wȳscan.

A Holiday Greeting 2022