Taking the advice of David McCullough, Jr.—my sister's superb former English teacher currently perhaps more famous than his famous father for his Wellesley High School
commencement speech declaring that "you are not special"—I am carpe-ing the heck out of every diem. Especially these gloriously sunny ones.
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| Any enthusiastic gardener needs a good drink afterward. |
When I garden, I really dig. When I bay, it's loud enough to ring across the pond. When I run, I knock over my mom. When I chomp, I do so with fervor.
I am, at my essence, enthusiastic.
I find it's easier to dig up than to plant, to destroy rather than repair, to eat what's on the table rather than place food there.
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| Enthusiasm + persistence = results. |
What is the difference between
enthusiastic and
ebullient? Enthusiastic, from the Greek meaning possessed by a god (or demon, in my case), means showing intense, eager enjoyment.
Ebullient, from the Latin meaning boiling up, is more like a bubbling over of joy.
So, Mom was far from
ebullient when she observed what she considered my over-
enthusiastic digging up of the hydrangea. I consider it merely effective.
