Homebodies - Words describe life and memories
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- Published on Saturday, January 10, 2015
By Rita Friesen
twaddle- verb; to talk foolishly. Twaddler –noun; one that twaddles. May also be spelled twattle. I love onomatopoeia, words that sound like there meaning.
Don’t most of us know a twaddler? Some words I meet in my quest for the perfect Scrabble win, some I meet in my random readings. When I find an ‘aha’ word, I recall a statement made my one of my daughter’s when she was pre-school. An older sibling had been expounding on a trivial topic, the youngest, in a pause in the barrage, looked at me – ‘he’s just talking scribble.’ And I agreed.
*a spot of heartening colour. For the first time the Christmas cactus brightened my home with a spot of colour. I rescued it as a broken branch from a mature cactus several years ago. I watched it slowly grow and spread. Each season there would be pale pink nubs at the end of the stem. And each year it turned out to simply be another succulent leaf. Perhaps the universe knew that I longed for new growth, perhaps the plant, moving from a near frigid big room into the cosy warmth of the dining room, took heart at the love and bloomed. Looks of food for thought there! I appreciate the shaded deep pink blossoms.
*full moon. It is crisp and brisk and oh so bright as the creatures and I leave the comfort of our home. A brief pause to listen to the wonder of the silence interspersed with the winter sound of traffic, note the subtle shadows, and I turn to my fur covered companions and hiss through clenched teeth, - for goodness sake just go pee!
*frozen laundry. There is a scent to sheets and towels that have line dried on a bright winter day. I chose to dry large items on the wash line. Back in the day, it was a necessity. All items, large and small, were pinned to the wire line. Union suits stood guard over the aprons and, often, sagging rows of diapers. It was all out there for anyone passing by to see. What a wonder when electricity and automatic clothes dryers reached the rural areas! It is amazing how much moisture is removed by a quick, hard, freeze. If I recall correctly, the items that required ironing, (and that included almost everything!) could be rolled, ready for their straightening.
* clean floors. When the spirit moves I get out the scrub bucket and brush and give the floors a what for. I recall the time when floors were scrubbed, waxed and polished. There was an old worn out pair of my dad’s grey wool work socks that were salvaged for the polishing process. Donning the socks we girls would slip and slide over the tiled floors until they shone. Every week. Now we can swish a pre-dampened mop across the floor, and then discard the soiled pad.
