![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/gleaming_word_week-meaning_pastoral1.jpg\" "\\"gleaming_word_week-meaning_pastoral\\"")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tOh, to gaze out my window over the rolling hills of the Palouse. Gorgeous!\u00a0It’s a winter wonderland out there. Even as I sit here writing next to my cozy fire, I can’t help but turn my imagination loose, letting it run wild down into those secretive valleys where thick pine groves harbor their sylvan secrets…<\/p>\n
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Did you catch it? The fancy word I’ve found for this week’s entry is one I can’t believe I’ve lived my whole life without: sylvan.<\/p>\n
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Lovely, isn’t it?<\/p>\n
Say it with me: Sylvan<\/a> noun (\\’sil-v\u0259n\\) is an adjective that rolls off the tongue so sweetly that it simply mustn’t be lost among the dusty pages of archaic literature. Why? Because, within its two unassuming syllables are the rustle of fallen leaves in autumn, the scent of conifers in a warm rain, and the secrets nestled in a pine grove on the Palouse in wintertime.<\/p>\n By definition, sylvan describes anything relating to a forest or abounding in woods, groves, or trees. It can also pertain to places that are pleasantly rural or pastoral (again, the Palouse).<\/p>\n Now you understand why I love this word and plan to make it a part of my working vocabulary from now on. I hope you will do the same because it does a body good to remember the wonders that abound in wooded places. Far from our cell phones and computer screens, there are untamed places that stir the most wonderful sylvan sensations in the soul.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oh, to gaze out my window over the rolling hills of the Palouse. Gorgeous!\u00a0It’s a winter wonderland out there. Even as I sit here writing next to my cozy fire, I can’t help but turn my imagination loose, letting it … Continue reading