February 28th - Primtemps
Primtemps
For me, most things aren't very noticeable in their absence. No attention demanded and rarely reflected on; they still have a feeling of less - the narrowing of vision with less to appreciate. Having less, the things I have, see, and experience take on importance that is often out of proportion. I can't say that I really notice it happening or give it a name to take back its power in the spelling, but I feel it somewhere like a cataract.
I think we need a word for it (the Germans probably already do; they like complex compound words). We could just call it Winter, but winter is too vast of an emotional memory. Maybe a single word isn't enough. Maybe something like "nearwintruthur senstasis." Nearwian being Middle English for narrowing. Wintruz from Proto-Germanic for winter and combined with Truth from the end of Middle English and the beginning of the Golden Age of Piracy. The root Ur from Proto-Germanic for original or primitive (hence "urethra"). Sens is Latin for feel and cognate to sensation, duh. Sta from the original Indo-European and the Latin stasis for stoppage of circulation. It's only fitting to have both Germanic and Latin roots in there. But giving the Germanic a heavier weight in the balance of words makes sense since the words themselves are of a colder climate. Maybe "senstasineartrur" or "senear staswintur" or "nearsenstas wintur?" Or how about just "Stinter?" Like the experience of a winter stunting. It doesn't have all the great roots in there, but it comes off the tongue like melting snow in your mouth when you're thirsty (which only kinda works).
All that is to say that when I stepped outside the other morning, the birds were chirping their songs again. The world dilated in that moment, and I forgot what I was worried about. Must not have been important.
Happy Primtemps,
Tibs