Dancing Lights
It’s that time of the year again, the time when the lights return and the street comes alive with their magic.
Quietly I sit in the back seat of our car, waiting anxiously for the show to begin. My parents tune the radio to the station posted on the sign in the main house’s front lawn. A moment of static passes, then the sound comes through and I start to quiver excitedly.
I press my face to the window as a voice comes on the radio. Out on the lawn, a bear made of an outline of lights has appeared and is talking in sync with the voice in our car. He welcomes us to the show and says he hopes we’ll have fun tonight. I know I will. I always do.
When the music starts, the lights on the streets dim. Another lit outline, a toy soldier playing a guitar, appears beside the bear. He softly strums the instrument as the sound of a real guitar plays through the radio. It starts out soft, then suddenly the music flares up and the decorated houses along the street come to life. Lights flash in colored patterns atop the roofs and in the lawns. My eyes shine wide with wonder; it’s finally begun!
A voice starts to sing over the music and the bear moves his jaws in sync with the words. Around him, the lights dance to the rhythm of the remixed Christmas carol he’s singing. Snowflakes twinkle in alternating patterns on the trees. Reindeer pulling sleighs glow on the rooftops. Christmas trees spin on the lawns and flash in bright patterns in the driveway of a house behind us. Outlines of familiar characters shine through a light grid on the roof. And all the while, every single light keeps perfect time with the music. It’s a magical sight!
My parents and I watch the lights dance to a handful of Christmas songs, many old favorites, some new tunes, and each more amazing than the last. Finally, the bear returns to speaking to thank us for watching the show and to ask us for donations to a children’s hospital. My parents must be able to read my mind because they turn around to hand me a $50 bill before I can say a word. I smile as I take it before I rush outside. As I drop the bill into the donation box, I look up at the bear to wink at him. I can almost swear I see him wink back at me.
“Merry Christmas!”
It’s the most magical time of the year. I can’t wait for next year’s Christmas light show!
My Reading Goals: Books I’ve Read in 2016
The end of 2016 is finally on the horizon, and as I look back on my achievements over the past twelve months, I’m proud to say I’ve accomplished quite a lot. One of my major goals going in was to win my Goodreads Reading Challenge, a set goal of how many books I wanted to read in 2016. I may not have set the bar particularly high for my first try, but I’m still happy to have reached it!
So after two January posts on the ten books I wanted to read this year and a midyear progress report in July, here is my final report on my reading challenge goals for 2016. Enjoy!
2016 Reading Goal: 10 books
Total books read in 2016: 10 books (100%)
Books I planned to read this year and did
- Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by J.K. Rowling
Books I planned to read this year but didn’t
- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
- Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë
- The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
- Divergent, by Veronica Roth
- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare
Books I read this year but didn’t plan to
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J.K. Rowling
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach
- The BFG, by Roald Dahl
- The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare
- Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
- Quidditch Through the Ages, by J.K. Rowling
- Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
Books I’m still reading
- A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
- Tree Thinking: An Introduction to Phylogenetic Biology, by David A. Baum & Stacey D. Smith
And last but not least…
My Favorite Book of the Year: Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
What about you? Did you set any reading goals this year? Were you able to meet them? What were your favorite books of the year?
Word of the Week: Cogitable
Word: cogitable
Pronunciation: KAH-jə-tə-b(ə)l
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: able to be grasped by the mind; conceivable
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
So I was doing vocabulary research on Oxford Dictionaries‘ website recently when my attention was drawn to the Word of the Day. I found it interesting because it reminded me of another word I had written about before: “cogent“. Both words refer to knowledge and the mind in some way, so it’s no surprise that I had to add this new word to my vocabulary queue. I sometimes wonder if it’s “cogitable” that a person can love vocabulary as much as I do!
To be “cogitable” is to be conceivable, that is, able to be grasped by the mind. The word arose in late Middle English and comes from the Latin adjective cogitabilis, meaning “thinkable” or “imaginable”. This adjective stems from the verb cogitare “to think”, which in turn comprises the prefix co- “together” and the verb agitare “to consider”.
When I first read the word “cogitable”, I assumed it meant something along the lines of “knowledgeable”, similar to how “cogent” means “logical”. However, it’s actually a synonym of “conceivable”, an idea that’s capable of being imagined. It’s worth noting that this adjective is considered rare and is evidently related to the verb “cogitate”, meaning to “think deeply about something”. If the details in your stories can easily be grasped by your characters (or your readers), you may want to consider including the word “cogitable” in your vocabulary!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
Christmas Surprise
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
Natalie awoke suddenly to noises coming from down the stairs.
Carefully, she crept out of bed and peeked outside.
She caught sight of reindeer on the roof.
Excitedly, she hurried out into the hall.
He was in the living room.
Placing presents under the tree.
They were for her.
She was certain.
Nattie grinned.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
What If? Writing Prompts: Holidays III
Welcome to December! Wow, the year just flew by again, didn’t it? As we reach the end of 2016, why not help yourself to one more batch of “What If?” Writing Prompts? Today’s set features more prompts in the theme of the holiday season. See what new holiday stories you can spin from these ideas! Enjoy!
What if… Christmas came early this year?
What if… you were stuck reliving New Year’s Eve every day until you fulfilled all your resolutions for the past year?
What if… you found a note from Santa Claus leading you on a scavenger hunt for your Christmas present?
What if… there were a mixup at the North Pole and you had to help Santa get all the presents to the right children by Christmas morning?
What if… on New Year’s Eve, time were reset and the same year started over?
Good luck spinning some more holiday tales!
If you have any “What If?” writing prompt suggestions (for any theme), please feel free to share them in the comments below. Ideas I like may be featured in future “What If?” posts, with full credit and a link to your blog (if you have one)! Also, if you’ve written a piece based on an idea you’ve found here, be sure to link back to the respective “What If?” post. I would love to see what you’ve done with the prompt! Thank you!
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