Eh bien, I didn't mean to take a week off of writing this journal. I had planned to touch base with you on Christmas Eve, with a meaningful story, when the word intrusive popped into my mind. Call it intuition...or maturing in age...but the fact is je ne voulais pas vous gonfler avec trop de choses.
And maybe I didn't want to exasperate myself either? Whether one more letter in your inbox would have sent you (or me) into a tailspin, or chute libre, is only an assumption--something I make too many of, which brings me to New Year's goals. What are yours?
As you take a moment to think about that, let me veer off track and say: on Dec 22 I turned 51 comme le pastis. The kids were away, Mom was recuperating, and Jean-Marc had to work. So after moping...
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Did You Know?
Nidus literally means "nest" in Latin, and some of its relatives in English suggest this connection in a straightforward way. For example, we have nidification for the process of building a nest, and nidicolous, meaning "reared in a nest." But nidus itself, when used as an English word, is apt to refer to a place where bacteria lodge and multiply. Consequently, the extended use of nidus in English often has a negative connotation referring to a source of undesirable opinions or behaviors.
Examples of NIDUS
The neighborhood had long been a nidus of crime and vice, but community policing and other interventions have done much to reduce the crime rate in recent years.
"Ancient cities grew up along navigable rivers—think Cairo, Rome, Paris and London. In the 19th century, railroad stations were the nidus for Chicago, Denver, and Sacramento."
— Alison Stuebe, The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 20 Mar. 2017
Name That Synonym
Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of nidus: EERIA.
