Feria

Feria – in Latin, fēriae originally meant holidays or a religious festival but, in medieval times, the church started to use the term to describe individual days of the week: feria prima, feria secunda, feria tertia and so on. The meaning got twisted over time and now feria means a weekday on a church calendar on which no feast is observed. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term weekday is used.

My connection: the word made me think about my recent conversation with a good friend. We met for the first time at the beginning of our first year at the university and have been through a lot of things together over the years. Not so long ago, we started comparing ourserves right now to who we were a few decades ago and talked about how we grew to appreciate ordinariness, normal days when nothing much is happening, small daily pleasures life has to offer... Yes, it's an age thing, I'm afraid.

I can't say my life has been dull as a whole, far from it. I have had my share of drama, ambition, achievements, even trauma. Which makes me appreciate dullness all the more these days. So much so that I wrote a poem about it:

~~~

The world in turmoil every day

like a train wobbly on its rails,

and many bombard us with pleas

to cure its aches and ails.

~~~

But, in my kitchen, the kettle boils.

The hills outside are like a balm.

Let others have their trials and toils,

I’d rather have my calm.

~~~

Some may say “boring” and maybe I

would say so years ago,

but now my hair has gained some grey

it stings to be gung-ho.

~~~

Let the more eager rats run races,

let dramas fade away.

I’d rather have a book, some tea

and spend my days my way.

~~~

And here is the link to Penny's challenge extraordinaire:

https://vocal.media/writers/part-f-the-a-z-of-unusual-words-kfggj0pz6