N is for....

I've been absent from the blogging world for the last few days. I could ramble on about that, and perhaps tomorrow (or rather, later today, after I've had a night's sleep) I might. But for now, I'll just see if I can manage a Wordplay post and then head for the cooler ("cooler" being a relative term) bedroom and some more Jamie and Claire.

Noel - my daughter. Actually, my stepdaughter, she came into my life at four years old, a waif-ish wild child with baby fine hair and a stubborn streak as strong as her four brothers put together. A tomboy with Holly Hobby taste in clothing until puberty and Goth style hit her like a tsunami. She was the proverbial black sheep child through her teens, determined to learn everything the hard way, but she's turned into a smart, nurturing, independent young women and a wonderful mother to her own busy brood of special kids, my three grandchildren.

Nut - my silly long haired black kitty - she's only four years old but she's turning gray around the ruff for some reason. Pronounced "newt", she's named after the Egyptian Goddess who helps the dead travel safely to the underworld.

night, nocturnal, night owl - I've always been somewhat more of a night owl than an early bird, but the whole thing has been exacerbated to almost vampiric proportions by a number of factors, not the least of which was the many years my hubby worked the night shift and William's homeschooling not requiring anyone to get out of bed early. It has it's plusses and minuses, but it's rather nice to think of how many more shooting stars I've seen then your average person.

nasturtium - one of my favorite flowers, I love the way it grows almost kudzu-like in the Pacific Northwest. It tastes great too.

Nimbus - my angora rabbit. I had this wild hare (HA!) that I'd have the time and inclination to spin his beautiful dark, gray wool (hence, the name, Nimbus, as he reminded me of a large fuzzy storm cloud). I never did more then try to keep the matting down to a minimum. My cats loved to "attack" the little clouds of his sheared fur. They would never have attacked him personally though, he was twice their size and although he pretty much ignored the cats as not worth his time, I'm sure he could have kicked some feline ass with his huge thumper back feet of his. He was friendly but never cuddly and he died late this spring while I was away.

Northern Exposure - one of my all time favorite television shows. I loved it when it was new, loved it again when it was in re-runs and we were living up in the isolated mountains above San Diego in a small community full of our very own "Northern Exposure" eccentrics. I think the key to the show's appeal is that the characters were so bizarre that it somehow made them far more real and believable then most of the plasticized characters that were the mainstay of television at the time it first aired.

nine - one of my favorite numbers, the other one being eight. I was born on the 9th, Joe was born on the 9th, William was born on the 9th (in the 9th month). Sam had to be different, he was born on the 8th.

New Mexico - when I was a young teen my mom uprooted our family from the midwest and took off cross country to live near her mother who had retired in Albuquerque. I remember my school friends thinking I was moving to another country - sheesh - New Mexico, not Mexico! Quite the culture jump, but I slid right into the land and the people and culture from the moment I arrived and never thought I'd ever want to live anywhere else. There's something about the smell of the air there, the color of the sky, that's unique from anyplace else, even neighboring states. I was pretty much forced to leave as my mother took off once again, following a husband (she ultimately ended up divorcing) to California. I missed New Mexico for a long time, but ultimately California has made me who I am today. And as I've gotten older, I've come to miss the lush greenness of the midwest equally, if not more, then the pinon scented (and yes, I know there's a wavy line over that middle "n" - I can't find the option key to make it!)southwestern state. But there's still a special place in my heart for the "Land of Enchantment".

Navy - my son is in the Navy. I can't say that I'm happy about him being in the military in this crazy, political madhouse of a world, but I am proud of him for accomplishing goals he set for himself and I know, although I don't have to like it, that my children will all walk paths that are right for them, not for me.

natural - I tend to go for natural things or a natural look in just about everything: clothing, hairstyle, decorating, hobbies, foods.

nature - big fan of nature, even if it has things like mosquitoes and stinging nettle in it. I really like cities and if I couldn't live in the country or a small town, I'd pick a big city over the spreading sameness of suburban sprawl, but my heart belongs to nature first of all. I think my childhood, where it was safe for me to wander relatively free in the natural world, gave me a deeper understanding and love for this world then anything I could have learned from a book or a few brief nature "field trips." Not an uncommon type of childhood for my generation, I fear how few children in this day and age have as great an opportunity and I sometimes wonder if that will make it more difficult for future generations to care about what happens to the world separate from how it will affect their ability to buy gas or turn on their air conditioner.

nautical - I love the feel of a boat under me. I spent a lot of time in boats, medium and small, when I was younger. I didn't go out on the ocean until I was an adult and folks told me that it was different, and that I might get sea sick. Well, I loved the feel of the ocean underneath me just as much as the smaller waves of a lake or river. Coming back on shore after time on the water, I miss the sway of "sea legs".

near-sighted - since I was in 3rd grade. That would have made me about....eight? Nine? Astigmatism too. And now you can add farsighted on top of those other two, as I get older and have trouble finding the right length in which to view anything and everything. Bifocals have worked for a few years, but now it's gotten to the point where I have three different vision needs - the top of my bifocals, the bottom, and taking them off completely for some close up work or reading.

nickname - I had a few nicknames in my life (Bazooka Joe, Linny, Winnie, and of course later, "Mom!") but I never had what I considered a real nickname, growing up. I felt cheated that my name wasn't something easy to shorten or change. When I was 12 or so, I wanted to call myself Tawni - with a circle, not a dot, over the "i". I spent a lot of time writing it - Tawni - over and over in my school notebooks, but never could get it to stick to my persona - aren't we all incredibly grateful for that now! Tawni sounds like the name of a porn star. But when I was twelve, I thought it sounded sooooo lovely, soooo exotic.

normal - why be it? Normal means average, not unique in any way. Boring. Not very creative. Yawwwwwn. I mean, fine. Be normal if that's who you are, in one way or another. But don't work at being normal just for it's own sake. Nothing there that hasn't already been done. Different drummer and all that.

north - for some reason, directionally, the north always calls me stronger then any other direction. Not so much now as before, but yeah, still, if I was gonna head somewhere, it would probably be north.

novel - love to read them, still haven't written my Great American one yet. Give me another year or two.

nuture - I'm a nuturing person. More so then the average person, or so I've been told. Good thing, seeing as I had all those kids to raise and what not. There's a limit though - I have a button that reads "I just don't feel like nuturing today." And I'll let you in on a dirty little secret - one of the reasons I think I can be so nuturing is that I have a very selfish core. I make sure I meet my own needs whenever it's possible, and I know that makes it easier for me to meet the needs of others, without resentment, when that's what's important.

no - a word I've learned to say more frequently as I've gotten older. Do I want to head that committee? No. Do I want to join this club? No. Do I want to watch that television show? No. Do I want to clean my house today? No. Do I want to go to the store and buy you a six-pack of sodas? No. Do I want to stay up longer to check this post for typos? No. Any more questions?