A Thursday In February: Seeing The Sunshine Whilst Not Doing Something I Should Be Doing

/ Ally Bean
The snow isn’t deep here, the sunshine is warm & lovely, but the temperature is frigid outside.

~ ~ • ~ ~

WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME IF I told you that by writing this blog post I’m avoiding going to class and doing my homework?

Well, it’s the truth.

You see, in January I signed up for a pass/fail college course that is from the history department at Harvard University offered through edX. The course is entirely online and you do it at your own pace following an official syllabus to keep you moving along in a timely manner.

[Currently I’m failing, btw. I have 63% and need 65% to pass, but whatevs.]

I should be doing the right thing this morning: that would be watching the lectures and reading the articles and answering the questions, but I don’t want to. And therein might be the most dramatic difference between younger me and older me. Younger me was the good “Do Bee” student [Romper Room, anyone?] while older me is a wise “Your Ken can kiss my Barbie” woman [The Big Bang Theory].

Case in point, I’m not doing my schoolwork today and you can’t make me. Ha!

~ • ~

HOWEVER I WILL SHARE WITH YOU something I learned in the process of doing research for my final project that is due in a few weeks. Interestingly enough I came across a word that can be used to describe the feeling you’d have if you were standing outside in the sunshine, like the birch trees are in the photo at the top of this post.

The word is Apricity [Merriam-Webster] and it means the warmth of the sun in the winter.

Yes this is another word to add to your personal lexicon because who doesn’t like the joy of knowing an obscure word and using it in a sentence? I mean, why else would you be here today if not for another unique learning experience– and the opportunity to answer a timeless question on a cold winter’s day.

Thus I leave you, my gentle readers, to answer and comment below: do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?

~ ~ • ~ ~

204 thoughts on “A Thursday In February: Seeing The Sunshine Whilst Not Doing Something I Should Be Doing”

  1. Do you think there is any relationship between the word “Apricity” and the month of “April?”

    Right or Happy? I want to be whatever you tell me to be. Dear.

    Liked by 8 people

    • Z-D, I’ve no idea if there’s a connection, but I could research it. Only because that’s something I want to do, not because it’s something I’m supposed to do.

      Also, great answer to the question. Evasive and humorous. 🤨

      Liked by 1 person

  2. What a great word. I thought only the Germans and the Japanese had words that involved such specificity when it comes to nature.

    Sadly, not much chance to use that word in SoCal. (I know, I know, the rest of the country is all, “You can just shut up and go back to your orange tree now, Los Angeles!”)

    Liked by 3 people

    • Maggie, yes my spellcheck is not keen on the word, either. But spellcheck can be darned, it’s much too much like going to school if you ask me. Today I shall be happy.

      Like

    • River, yes, spellcheck is NOT A FAN of apricity. As for being happy that you’re right, that’s how I interpret the question, too.

      For instance I am right to not fuss around with my schoolwork today therefore I am happy. 🤓

      Liked by 1 person

  5. My folks love birch trees and always planted one at whatever house we lived in.

    I was in the same boat when I was taking a class in the fall – not wanting to do the homework. Well, I did want to do the work but I couldn’t get motivated or decide on a direction. So I wrote a post and it has become one of my most favorite posts. So I guess I’d say sometimes not being right (and then writing) can make me happy. (It’s the post about ‘AF’ and a boss who ate Chinese food daily and once opened a fortune cookie that said ‘YOU LOVE CHINESE FOOD’, in case you recall it).

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ernie, I like birch trees, too. The bark is always in transition which I find beautiful and the trees sway in the high winds without limbs breaking off.

      I remember your post with the timely fortune cookie fortune. I remember you taking the class, too. In my case I’m pleased with the lectures and the readings, but doing homework at my age is… tedious… and kind of silly… and has shown me how much I’ve grown as a person since I was last in college.

      Like

    • David, yes, I agree with you. Happy can be drowned out by the noise of what we believe to be right. Like you, what I choose to let in from the outside is getting to be less and less. Which is how I found myself not wanting to do homework this morning. When I was younger I’d have powered through, but now I take it all with a grain of salt– preferably on the rim of a margarita. 😋

      Liked by 2 people

  7. Your birch trees are so beautiful! And I want to be happy. If the sun ever comes out I might make some use of the word “apricity.” Thanks for teaching me something new and adding to my lexicon. 🙂 I hope you pass your course after all the work you put in so far…

    Liked by 2 people

    • Barbara, I like the birch trees too. They look good in all seasons and in all light conditions. It was odd that I stumbled over the word apricity after I’d just taken the photos of sunlight on the trunks of the trees. I had an example right in front of me.

      I’m about 3/4ths of the way through this class, so there’s time to get my score up two lousy points. Just not today.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Hi Ally – thanks for the new word – and I am still pondering it and wonder its origins (and later i might go and see if it is on my hard copy book called “word origins – keep you posted)
    and the class sounds interesting – 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yvette, I didn’t go any farther into researching the derivation of the word, so anything you learn will be news to me. The class is great in the sense of presenting ideas/info in a new way, but doing homework at my age has brought out the rebel in me: YOU WANT ME TO WRITE WHAT? 😏

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Take it from a solid C Student, there’s always time for homework later. Views like this are once in a, well, once in a while. Apparently, no link between Apricity and April, but that was a good way for me to waste a few more minutes and add additional knowledge that won’t be on the test. That’s the problem with fancy-a** schools, they don’t give you credit for all the other stuff you learned while not doing the work they say is important.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dan, my aim is to pass, pure and simple. And if I don’t, OH WELL life will go on. I took this class because the topic, how things end up in museums, seemed interesting to me. And it is, but I’m forever researching something and then my gaze shifts to something else and then pretty soon I’m not getting my stupid homework done. Piffle, I say.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Maybe you can get extra credit by submitting a few articles & objects from “the archives” in your basement to your museum of choice?

        Lovely that you have the perspicacity and acuity to recognize the capacity of a word like apricity.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Nancy, here’s what I’ve learned about museums in the process of taking this course: if that item in your basement is used OR average OR you don’t have a wonderful story to go with it, they’re not much interested in the item. Not surprised actually, there is a bit of pretentiousness associated with museum collections.

          Great last sentence! Made me laugh out loud.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Like you, I love words!

            BTW: We watched The Professor and the Madman (Mel Gibson and Sean Penn) last week ~ about the creation of the first edition of the OED (Old English Dictionary). I enjoyed it enough to get the book from the library to read after finishing MIGRATIONS by Charlotte McConaghy.

            And on your reading list, I finished The Castle on Sunset and requested a movie filmed in the Chateau Marmont from Netflix ~ Somewhere.

            Everything leads to something else, eh? No wonder you can’t get your homework done.

            Liked by 1 person

  10. I get it, Ally, on not doing what I should be doing. Such as right now. You do add a smile to my day. You left me a teaser last year in a comment about your new January endeavour. I LOVE this new word (new to me) “Apricity.” My husband and I often discuss the happy or right question. I would rather be happy. My husband may answer differently.🙂Good luck with your course.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Erica/Erika, as I’ve grown and matured I’m less inclined to do what I’m supposed to be doing in the ways in which I’m supposed to be doing it. It’s the free spirit in me, don’t you know!

      We often talk about the happy or right question, too. Are you happy because you’re right? Or happy because you don’t care about being right? Who’s to say for sure which is the answer.

      Liked by 2 people

  11. Haha – right or happy? Good one! 🙂 For me, happy wins, because in my experience, thinking that you’re right (or trying to get others to think you’re right) can lead to a whole lot of other problems. There are things that are absolute wrongs, but much of the time, it’s a morass.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Lynette, I agree that much of the time it’s a morass. I rarely [if ever] try to change anyone’s mind, so I can know that I’m right about something and be happy without anyone else agreeing with me. I live in my own little world, it’s nice here. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Gorgeous words, beautiful photograph and throwing your cares to the wind. All the makings of a great post, Ally. I once made a t-shirt with that exact question on it. I adorned it with bumblebees made of puff paint. I would much rather be happy. It is easy for me to acknowledge I have been wrong many times in my life. I love the word ‘apricity’. (My spellcheck flags it as a misspelled word – ha!) I also got the Romper Room reference…

    Liked by 1 person

    • Maggie, thank you! I’m in a throw caution to the wind mood today, at least when it comes to doing classwork, maybe less so about going outside for a walk.

      You made a t-shirt with the happy/right question! How cool is that. I’m pretty much happy [enough of the time] and I’m lucky in that I don’t need for everyone to agree with me that I’m right for me to be happy.

      I’m pleased that you understood my Romper Room reference. That song was embedded in my brain at an early age, for better or worse.

      Like

  14. Apricity sounds a lot like April in Florida when our weather is just right like in the Three Little Bear story.

    I’ve seen those courses from Harvard but never signed up though I’ve been tempted, ever so slightly!. Right now I’m taking a course called Monastery of the Heart with an “oblate.” Now there’s a word for you. Homework is minimal and optional. Sorta fun too! 🙂

    And, yes, I prefer being married to being right, though I am right most of the time – (Don’t tell!)

    Liked by 2 people

    • candidkay, thanks for your support. My rebellion may be smalltime, but it is making me happy. As for the new word, isn’t it great? Not what I was supposed to be learning about, but there you go.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. A new challenge for me in trying to figure out how to toss “apricity” into a sentence and then wait for the reaction. I suspect from 99% it will be a look of incomprehension, as it was for me! Happy or right…I’m striving more for happy over right every day as the aging clock ticks off the finite hours.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, I’d be shocked if anyone knew this word, but don’t let that stop you from using it in a sentence. See what happens. I go for happy, also– pretty much for the reason you stated. Plus I don’t need anyone else to confirm I’m right, so I can be quietly happy knowing I’m right!

      Liked by 1 person

  17. We do have the sun shining on the snow today in Illinois and we are finally getting a break from the bitter cold. Hurray!
    I don’t know about right or happy. Being right has become so full of anger lately. It has definitely not made me happy.
    I would want to get a good grade in the class – my parents used to call it “A-sitis” (rhymes with bursitis): meaning the drive to always want an “A” in a class. Not that I always got “A”s! My older brother was the smart one in our family! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ellen D, supposedly the temperatures will be warmer tomorrow, but less sunny. We’ll see what we see when we see it I suppose.

      I love your term “A-sitis” and your definition of it. Back in the day I was the most B+ student that ever lived: I was always never quite smart enough. Now I’ll take a passing grade thank you very much! *fingers crossed*

      Like

  18. Oh, so there’s a word for the way one feels when standing in the sun on a winter’s day!! It’s lovelier than me saying I’m like a cold-blooded reptile that needs to sit in the sun to warm up.

    I’m happiest when I’m right. 😀

    Your view and the trees are lovely. The bark texture on the trees is really neat.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Deborah, I thought this word was great. I mean, we’ve all experienced the warmth of sunlight on a winter’s day so the word made sense to me instantly. Sorry it’s out of fashion now.

      Good point about when you’re happiest. There’s something to what you say. And yes the bark on these birch trees is endlessly intriguing and the trees provide nice dappled shade in the summer. I like them.

      Liked by 1 person

  20. And, truly, there are many kinds of suns to stand beneath on a winter’s day. I call the weak January and February sun a lemon sun. But sometimes the sun shines SO bright atop white snow that you get snow-blindness. How interesting about the way you’ve dropped the good-girl grade perfection of your youth. Smiling. As for being right or happy…hmmm. Well, this is what’s coming up. I think there’s parts of ourselves that vote for happiness. Other sides of us might choose rightness. I like the happiness answer better though. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kathy, you’re right that there are different kinds of sunshine during the winter. I like the softer weak kind over the bright harsh kind. Either can warm you, of course– so the word comes in handy regardless.

      Yes, no more cooperative good girl student here. In fact I’d say that I’ve moved beyond being a good girl in all that I do. I mean, wise woman is so much more fun and interesting!

      The happy or right question is one for the ages. I tossed it out here because I was thinking about how I’ve changed my focus over the years, leaning more into being happy now.

      Liked by 1 person

    • writemindedwoman, you’re not alone. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the process of taking this college course it is that I enjoy procrastinating and am able to fully embrace it.

      Like

  22. APRICITY!!!! Thank you, Ally. I was feeling all the apricity-liciousness yesterday on my sunn-drenched walk but didn’t have the word for it. Now I do! You have passed your course with flying colours , if it was up to me.

    Deb

    Liked by 3 people

    • Deb, thank you. Your walk sounds lovely, filled with apricity. We’ll see if I pass this course. If nothing else I’m learning things, sometimes even that which I’m being graded on– other times not so much.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Fabulous word! We have a lot of apricity today so we are going for a hike! I think a combination of doing right and being happy is good. If I don’t do right I can end up feeling guilty, which definitely doesn’t make me happy. My life is much more weighted towards being happy since retirement. Too many time and attention commitments and I am not happy.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Janis, enjoy your hike in the winter sunshine. Sounds lovely. I know what you mean about feeling guilty if you don’t do what you believe to be the right thing, but overall I lean toward focusing on happy, not all skippy dippy mind you– just more inclined to take the happy path.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Jean, I love TBBT, too. Little bits of wisdom are hidden in plain sight in that TV show– and it makes me laugh every time. So you’re trying to MOM me into doing my homework! Won’t work, I’m a rebel without a cause today.

      Like

  25. Oooh…..I’m happy when I’m right…so…..I think happiness can be an illusion. We search for it, but rarely seem to actually capture it because we always want more. So, I think being right is easier than being happy…so I’ll go with easy for the win….

    Liked by 1 person

  27. If I told you how often I use my phone as a dictionary, you’d tell me it would be cheaper to buy a dictionary. 🙂 Nice word, I’ll give it some thought. Right or happy is easy and hard. Happy wins out every time, but for those of us who have a tiny OCD issue with making things right, that’s always an issue. Happy still takes first place so I hope you are having a happy day now that you made the decision to ditch school. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Oh THAT is what I experienced five minutes ago. Apricity. Huh. You learn something new every day. I had taken a quick walk and was admiring the glistening snow crystals, which the sunshine highlighted.

    Wow. What class are you taking? Is it enjoyable? What are you doing for your final project?

    And yes, I remember Romper Room. When you mentioned do bee, that took me back to kindergarten an watching that show!

    Liked by 2 people

    • L. Marie, the word is an old one but it is useful today. I wonder how/why it got phased out of our general lexicon, but it did.

      Thank you for asking, the class is about how things end up in a museum and what connections there are among the things. The class is fun and insightful and overall I’m getting a charge out of it so it’s worth my time and money.

      My final project is to take a thing in our house and research its origins, uses, and then hypothesize which museum collections that thing belongs in. It’s history meets interior design meets abstract thinking.

      Liked by 2 people

  29. I know this is just a side note in the post, but: ROMPER ROOM. Haven’t thought of that in years. Though I was more of a Wunda Wunda fan myself, which your side note reminded me of, and of the time one of my mother’s friends called and when I answered the phone she told me that she was Wunda Wunda, which blew my preschool mind. (WW might have been local to Seattle, though.) Thanks for the reminder of childhood happiness.

    Your right/happy question is a tricky one. I can think of more than one person who is morally reprehensible, but likely quite happy. In that sort of case, I’d rather be right. I’m guessing that wasn’t really your point, either, but that’s where my mind went. (Giving you the Cliff’s Notes version of where my mind went. It meandered a bit on its way to that final stopping point. Not an unpleasant journey, though.)

    If you were a teacher, and this post your lecture for the day, I’m guessing I’d be a bad student. But a happy one.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Rita, we didn’t have Wunda Wunda but I love how your mother’s friend had a little fun at your expense. So sweet, really.

      I agree that the question isn’t as straightforward as it might initially seem to be. You are absolutely right that an immoral person could say he was happy while being totally awful to everyone around him. His definition of what is right could be that which moral people call evil. It’s abstract paths like this one that make this question infinitely interesting, I’m happy to say!

      Like

  30. Ah, yes. Romper Room. Good times! As for right or happy? It seems to me to be a false, forced choice. I’m often happy though wrong, and right even though it makes me unhappy. Just as your gorgeous light requires shadows to add depth to our vision of the world, right/wrong, happy/unhappy belong together of necessity.

    I’m very happy that you’ve reminded me of a great line from Durrell’s Justine, the first volume of his Alexandria Quartet: “I am neither happy nor unhappy; I lie suspended like a hair or a feather in the cloudy mixtures of memory.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • shoreacres, I agree with you about the question– that I first learned about in college decades ago. The online college class jogged my memory and got me thinking about the question again.

      The two choices are a false dichotomy, but it is fascinating [from a social scientist point of view] to see how you can get people to accept the framework and think within it so that they answer one or the other choice. I didn’t ask it to be annoying, I meant it more in a lighthearted “I’m being a rebel today” way, but I’ve enjoyed reading what everyone has to say in answer to it.

      Your quote is perfect. Thanks.

      Like

  31. Well, I’m never right (ask my wife) and I’m happy most of the time. Lovely picture. Homework? Nosireee! Skip school and go build a snow fort (see my story, ‘Today I Built a Snow Fort)😁

    Liked by 2 people

  33. It’s a hard time of year not to get distracted by any little thing going on outside, even a shaft of light. Combined with the sheltering at home, the best we can hope for is to feed our soul. There’s plenty of time to feed our minds. It’s cloudy here today, but it may break; as soon as the clouds depart, I’ll sit on my sunporch and enjoy the apricity of the moment, stare at the landscape, contemplate the English language, and eventually get back to work. Thanks for the lovely word!

    Liked by 2 people

  34. Apricity! Love that new word! Who cares about being right or happy when you have sun shining on snow? When the sun goes down, get back to work! It’s time to finish what you started. I can say that because I don’t start much any more. Good luck!

    Liked by 1 person

    • bernieLynne, I liked the word when I stumbled over it. It describes what we all know happens, yet no one knows the word anymore. Language is a funny thing, as it comes and goes in the popular lexicon.

      Liked by 1 person

  36. I didn’t know we had that word, and I love the sensation it describes. I haven’t done any adult education because I feel that I’m far too lazy these days.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Margaret, I liked the word the minute I read it… when I wasn’t doing my homework of course. I took this course on a whim. I like what I’m learning and how it’s presented but I’m not into doing homework anymore. You understand.

      Like

  37. Another function of age, I suppose: I’ll definitely go with happy at this point in my life. But a valid question at the moment all the same. TRUE STORY: An applicant for a clerical position I was screening on behalf of management listed that he was a graduate of Harvard. Duly impressed, though also curious why he was applying for such a low-paying position, he kept changing the subject during our interview when I asked about his college courses. Our HR department later discovered that he took three community extension courses. Oops. We still end up hiring him though! Love the trip down memory lane with the Big Bang Theory video. -Marty

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marty, I agree with you about how age influences your answer to this question. Even twenty years ago I would have shouted RIGHT and then grumbled my way to being right. Now? Que sera, que sera

      So what you’re telling me with your story about an applicant is that if I take 2 more courses offered by Harvard through this company, I’ll be a graduate of Harvard. Cool.

      Liked by 1 person

  38. I enjoyed this post immensely! I relate to the “whatevs “ 😆 in relation to what you should be doing. But if I had to guess you’re gonna pass that class cause there is still that kid in you not wanting to disappoint. 🤓 Love the photo and the new word too. As for being right or happy, I choose happy 😊 (although rumor has it you can be both)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Sue, I’m glad you liked this post. I wasn’t going to post about the class, but then this morning I felt ornery about the whole homework thing + I found the new word so here you have it. My husband says the same thing as you about me passing the class. He thinks I’ll go into overdrive and pull a better grade out of thin air. I agree that you can be both right and happy; the question is, after all, a false dichotomy, but a good one to get people thinking. *gasp*

      Liked by 1 person

  39. It’s so cool that you CHOSE to take these courses, but you also CHOSE to avoid the work. This is what I enjoy about you.
    I also LOVED Romper Room; what a great show it was for the time.
    Me? I’ll always choose happy over right. That being said, I’m usually right AND happy.

    Like

    • Suz, I voluntarily signed up to take this course thinking it’d be something to do this winter and it has been. As for whether I’ll pass, that remains to be seen but I’ve enjoyed the lectures so I’m not unhappy overall. It’s just doing homework… at my age? *meh*

      Romper Room was fun. Too bad there’s nothing like it for adults now. 😊 I like your last sentence, btw. That’s the best way to answer the question: be right and happy!

      Liked by 1 person

  41. Oh great post here, Ally Bean! I remember Romper Room – wasn’t there a segment when kids walked around the room with pie pans or some kind of basket on their heads to demonstrate good posture? That might have been Captain Kangaroo…
    Anyway, I admire you for taking an online course and I have no doubt you will pas, but I do understand that feeling of not wanting to be a Do Bee. Thanks for sharing the word apricity – I’ve never heard it before but you can bet I will work it into a conversation. Maybe there’s a crossword clue with that as an answer, too!

    Like

  43. Arizona has apricity almost every day even though the dictionary on my laptop thinks that should read that Arizona has rapacity almost every day. Rather different! 🙂

    We watched “The Professor and the Madman.” It was both fascinating and sad. Fascimad? A new word right here in your blog comment section!! Maybe “fasad” would be better because it doesn’t sound mad. But I digress.

    Do your homework if you like. Doesn’t bother me either way. I like the lovely house in your photos and as for would I rather be right or be happy, the answer is definitely “YES!!”

    janet

    Like

    • Janet, apricity turned into rapacity. My goodness these spellcheckers are little tricksters, aren’t they?

      I read the book The Professor and the Madman. I liked it and found the story itself to be likely in the most unlikely way. I’ve not seen the movie.

      The house is our neighbor’s and it is very well cared for. VERY well kept up so it makes a good background image. “YES!” is a perfect answer to the question. Thanks for playing along.

      Like

  45. I want to be happy. Being right is nice, but it’s got nothing on happiness. You know what makes me happy? APRICITY! What a pretty word! What a pretty feeling! I love it, and shall employ it thusly! 😀

    Like

    • joey, ditto what you said. I like being right and occasionally I am, but mostly I just groove along in life being happy, dammit. Too gloomy here today to be able to use apricity in a sentence describing the weather outside, but you go for it.

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  46. Woo…Harvard!!! Very impressive. Hmmm…I know the right answer is “I want to be happy”, but I LOVE to be right. You have created a conundrum for me, Ally.

    Like

    • Laurie, I took this class because of the subject, not because of the institution– but it does sound rather impressive that I’m *going* to Harvard! As for the answer to the question, one that I first heard in college, there are no right answers, only ones that make you happy. It’s kind of a trick question that came to mind because I was back in school.

      Liked by 1 person

  50. Happy. Always. Being right doesn’t seem to matter much anymore. I don’t even remember why that was important to me at one time. (I’m assuming it must have been because of all the past arguments and debates.)

    Apricity is a great word. I ended up going down the rabbit hole of winter words and learned that I am psychrophilic. Thank you. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Robin, I lean toward being happy, too. At least maybe 96% of the time; I occasionally must be right, but generally go with the flow knowing I’m happy, enough. You’re correct that being right seems more & more irrelevant anymore.

      I reviewed the article to learn that you are “thriving at a relatively low temperature” and that you’re using the word in a figurative way. I’m glad you’re being true to you!

      Like

  51. What I’d really like right now is some of that winter sunshine. The past week seems to have been endless days of gray skies and snow … and more snow. Like right now. It’s snowing. Again.

    I’m starting to think that Mother Nature is working with the Public Health department to encourage us to stay at home … where we’re supposed to be.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Joanne, I’m sorry that you’re having such a gloomy winter even if it is inadvertently keeping everyone healthy. We’ve had alternating days of sunshine and gray skies, but with very cold temps so I haven’t been going for any walks. I miss walks. I should be using my extra free time to study, but…

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  52. I want to be happy and I am, pretty much. I know I’d be happy taking a class from HARVARD! Maybe not the one you signed up for, but something. One of my criteria for a place to retire is access to some sort of university. Now days, I guess, that could be anywhere given it’s all online anyway. I think I would miss being in a classroom with other people.

    One thought on you feeling behind….if it’s online and go at your own pace you are not behind. Just get your grade up a bit and you’re golden.

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    • Dawn, I like your first sentence. I am the same way, happy enough most of the time, so I get what you’re saying.

      I took the class because the subject matter appealed to me, and it just happened to be from Harvard. Not that my grades would ever have gotten me into there back in the day.

      I like your logic about my online class attendance, or lack thereof. Z-D said the same thing about how I’ll juice my grade up when I get in the mood to focus. At my own pace.

      Like

  53. I love learning a new word. Apricity is so beautiful, describing that feeling we have after the winter rains have moved on and that beautiful sun shows up. We go sit on the deck and let it shine shine shine on us in all its apricity glory.
    I would choose happiness over being right. Being right feels pretty good, but it doesn’t always make you happy. Happy makes you happy.

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    • robin, I liked this word immediately when I stumbled over it. Now as for the practical matter of using it in everyday conversation, therein is the trick.

      I like your logic about choosing happy. 😊

      Like

  54. Given that choice, I’d choose happy every single time. As long as it wasn’t hurting anyone else, that is. Sometimes we need to “do the right thing” and other times, we just need to listen to our heart. I’m glad you listened to yours today.

    Liked by 1 person

  55. I couldn’t care less about being right. Well, check that…it’s nice to be right…but I would never sacrifice happiness to prove a point.

    I had a word of the day desk calendar one year and that brought 365 days of joy. Thank you for sharing “apricity.” I like it!

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    • Swinged Cat, you’ve gotten to what I believe is the essence of the question. Some people will do all it takes to be right, including sacrificing their happiness. Not me, mind you.

      I liked the word the minute I saw it. Probably had to do with sunshine outside on a winter’s day, but I like to think I’d have liked the word regardless of the time of year.

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  56. I love my new word! Apricity! Imma share that on my blog on Monday and link to this post. Sorry — then all six of my readers will know you didn’t do your homework when you were appoze to. 😀

    In answer to your question: I’m always right, but I’ll keep quiet about it if I need to in order to be happy.

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    • Marian, I loved the word, too. It is the one we need for this weather. Oh no, more people knowing I ditched class? How will I ever deal with the shame! 😉

      Your answer to the question is perfect. There are times when silence is the happiest of all things.

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      • I’m going to try to use it a few more times this week to really cement it. Fortunately, it’s been sunny here, so I should be able to weave it in fairly naturally. Side note: I was able to use an off-shoot of my favorite word (penultimate) two days ago: I used antepenultimate at work to describe a student who had finished her standardized testing third-to-last. Score! (Opportunities like that don’t come around all that often – gotta seize ’em when you can.) 🙂

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    • Markus + Micah, thanks for your support. I like to learn, usually on my own, but this time I went with a more formal approach. And am now finding ways to avoid it! I suppose that might be the lesson in the end.

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  61. I walked today for the first time in a week and there was a lot of apricity which was marvelous! Blue skies and sunshine and tons of snow still, but the air had that February-melt feel to it. I’m impressed you are taking an online history course Ally. I meant to sign up for one of the GreatCourses.com courses, either art appreciation or the history of Celtic Ireland or one on France or Italy – instead I signed up for none. The special price was cheap enough $35 each), but I wasn’t sure if I would sit through 36 half hour lectures…..maybe if it was in a class room with a social aspect to it. Younger me loved Romper Room! I want to be both right and happy.

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    • Joni, I’m hoping to get outside for a walk today. It’s supposed to be in the 30s so that’s good and most of the streets/sidewalks are cleared now. I shall hope to experience apricity as I walk.

      I started out to take a class on the GreatCourse.com website but couldn’t figure out if it was a learn at your own pace deal or if there was a time limit about how long the class would be available to me. The edX website was more specific about how the class would work.

      I loved Romper Room, too. Although now that I think back on it the show was on in the morning and it wound me up for the day, rather like the preschool equivalent of coffee.

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      • I received a Greatcourses brochure/magazine in the the mail and had great fun picking them out, but I couldn’t decide whether I wanted the DVD (which my mother could watch too) or the download version. The website said you could get a free trial but I didn’t even do that, just read some of the reviews online good and bad. It was too much of a time commitment for me. Re Romper Room – I always wanted one of those horses on a stick that the kids rode around in a circle pretending it was a real horse. We never went to kindergarten (they didn’t have it back then) so Romper Room was a great educational babysitter for my mom!

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  62. Rightfully happy!😁 That aside, if I neglect too much and/or don’t do the right things I won’t be happy. And *that* said, I keep my obligations – to myself & others – within reason. (And I define reason.) “Apricity” rocks – thank you!

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    • notesoflife, this was a new word for me, too. I liked it so I had to pass it on here. We’ve hit our grayest winter days here now, so the idea of sunshine, and the warmth it radiates, is a memory.

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  64. Thankfully I indulged in some apricity today before that 1-3 inches of slushy snow arrives night, thus bringing with it not only more mess, but another gray day. That was a new word for me Ally. Today I took a photo of my shadow. I like the long shadows better, where your legs look like stilts but this was a short shadow, so it probably won’t turn out so great. I used to pepper my blog posts with what I called “good shadow days” and would mention that in my narrative of the walk. I took a look at some of the courses- they looked very difficult to me. I’d like to take up French again one day. I studied French for years and can’t remember much of it, despite taking a class where we were not allowed to speak in English. I need an additional stick of RAM in my brain to accommodate more learning.

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    • Linda, it’s another gray day here. I’ve not taken a shadow pic in years. I like how you do that, it’s a fun way to share your weather.

      I picked the course I’m taking on a whim. I knew I wanted to try online learning and history appealed to me so I went with it. For fun. I am not about to pursue another degree, although I’d like to re-learn what little I knew about the Spanish language at one time. Duolingo, maybe?

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      • It was gray here today too Ally. We had wintry precip and we’re getting it again tonight. The weather has become a real drag, but we have low 40s most of the week so that’s nice. I hope these shadow shots come out, but I took them where my shadow fell onto the snow which I’ve never done before.

        My boss takes courses through “The Great Courses” and they are mostly history which he enjoys. I looked at the Duolingo site – that looks interesting, so I tucked that site away. I took so much French, but most was book French and strictly memorization and conjugation, etc. My friend Ann Marie retired from teaching elementary school and was volunteering in a soup kitchen in Southwest Detroit. She returned to school to study Spanish so she could converse with the other volunteers as well as those that frequented the soup kitchen. I admire that.

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        • I’d like to become fluent enough in Spanish to say a few sentences out loud. Like you I learned a foreign language in school where we memorized and conjugated, but not much else. After I finish my current class that may be my next adventure in learning.

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  68. Ha! I do the same thing. Am heading out to enjoy the warmth of the winter sun on a long walk…and not working on my online class.
    Once I realized needing to be right was screwing up my happiness, I let it go and am happier now in my 60s than I have ever been.

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    • What made me think I needed to take an online class? That seems to be where I am about doing it at this point. Enjoy your walk, enjoy your sunshine, be happy. I agree about not needing to be right… most of the time! 😉. Thanks for stopping by to comment.

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  71. Ally, I love this new word apricity. I may have to go outside and experience it today.

    I hope you were able to get back to the homework, but I understand. Learning seems to be a more difficult task as I get older.

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    • Mary, I hope you experience apricity today, hoping the same for me in fact. I did get back to doing my coursework and have now finished everything except my final research paper. So I’m getting there…

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  72. I love that word, apricity, though spellcheck wants it to be apricots, which I also love.

    I love that you are taking a history class online. Several years ago I listened to some lectures on the Civiil War that were fascinating, and had the advantage of no homework. Of course, no grade and no college credit, but I just wanted the lectures.

    I would like to think that what I want is to be happy, but that is a lesson I am still learning. Sometimes my desire to be right can be overwhelming, and I try (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to tamp it down in the quest for happiness. This happens most often with friends, but sometimes with family as well.

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    • J., I’m enjoying the lectures and reading and discussion questions in this history class, but the ways in which the website user interface works, or more accurately doesn’t work, suck. And there’s a lack of consistency among each module, like different people created them without any unifying goal. They’re a hodge podge. But I’m getting something out of it, so I’m happy enough.

      Which brings me to THE question. I’m with you that being happy is a lesson that is ongoing. I don’t expect to be right when it comes to people, but can totally understand how it is that you need to tamp it down at times. I bite my tongue more now than I did even a year ago. We live in odd times.

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