When Things Go Terribly Right
In which the author no longer has time to do the dishes because great things are coming at her very quickly from all directions.
This week has been a busy one.
Firstly, my daughter is graduating this month from high school, which has sent the household into a chaotic whirlwind of (1) studying for exams, (2) accepting awards and bursaries which have made her parents VERY proud, (3) seeking gainful summer employment, and (4) embracing an existential crisis of pending adulthood and/or growing old, depending on which family member is in the middle of feeling overwhelmed*. Secondly, I’m going grey, which isn’t making this month any easier on my sense of vanity.
But these are all wonderful events. No one’s sleeping much. We wander around like zombies, muttering about the swiftness of time’s passage — where do the years go? — but it’s terrific.
Except that this got me thinking about the word ‘terrific’, and how much it looks (at a quick glance) like ‘terrible’. Digging into the etymology, they appear to come from the same root. ‘Terrific’ started off as a general intensifier…
“The volcano erupted with a terrific explosion.”
…meaning that this particular explosion caused much terror. Eventually, terrific became a bit of hyperbole. It could be used for anything that required a bit of punch: a terrific noise, a terrific rumble, a terrific storm, a terrific crowd. Slowly, it shifted to have a positive tone, and eventually shed the negative connotations of its original use.
However, I can see how our future is soon about to change, and that strikes a happy sort of terror into my heart. I don’t want to stop it, and I’m so pleased and proud and full of many layers of complex joy, but it scares the ever-loving bejeezus out of me, too.
Thus, this week has been TERRIFIC, and everything is going TERRIBLY WELL, and if you see me on the street looking sleep-deprived and stunned and grey-hair-frazzled, you now know it’s because I’m TERRIFIED in the best way possible.
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Ongoing:
Thursdays nights at 8pm on CVOX, you’ll find ‘Story and Song’, where I’m reading stories and playing Shawn’s music. If you’re looking for short tales to lull you off into dreamland, go no further! We’ve got British Columbia-based history, shipwrecks, monsters, and sideshow tales galore.
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Coming up:
My short story ‘The Table’ will be available in the Fall 2024 issue of Sea & Cedar magazine, available at Vancouver Island Regional Libraries. It isn’t quite right to say this story is autobiographical; perhaps we could say it’s inspired by true events.
My short story ‘Gifted Girls’ will be appearing in Crime Wave 3: Dangerous Games, an anthology of short stories to be published by Sisters in Crime - West later this year. It’s been a fun project and I’m so excited to read the other stories in the volume. Lots of lovely, twisted, dark and dastardly authors!
Hey hey — I’ll be selling books at the Comox Valley Makers Market at the Old Farm Market on July 20. If you’re looking for a little summer reading, come visit me and pick up a bushel of fresh, healthy, handcrafted, 100% organic novels, perfect for relaxing by the seaside or pool.
* Side note: people are ‘overwhelmed’ or ‘underwhelmed’, but no one is ever just ‘whelmed’. What is the appropriate level to be considered perfectly ‘whelmed’? I suppose that would mean you’re level-headed, kinda blah, super-relaxed, chill… nothing fazes someone who’s whelmed.