nPostednJune 19, 2013
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nIndon’t know who came up with this holiday—some reports say that itnbegan at a hotel in Michigan in the 1970s—but it has a nicenmessage:
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Slowndown.
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nDon’tnrush through life.
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nTakenthe time to enjoy the little things.
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n Don’tnforget to stop and smell the roses.
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Tonsaunter is to walk slowly, with a pleasant attitude of enjoying thenwalk. It is to stroll, maybe even meander. One could saunter whilenambling about the countryside. Slower than sauntering would bendallying or even loitering.n
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n Butnloitering to smell the roses just sounds wrong!
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Inpersonally am a fan of “fast.” I love a screaming-fast rollerncoaster, and I like to hurry from coaster to coaster at an amusementnpark, too. I like to walk around the community for exercise at anbrisk pace, but I also like to clip along on a hike to see a waterfall,nsay, or grove of butterfly trees.
ButnI also love to stop and take in a gorgeous sight, or watch anninteresting bug, or look through binoculars at a bird. I like to looknup a lot—I look at the sky a lot, at amazing pile-ups of clouds andnat stars, checking out the ever-phasing moon, spying an occasionalnmeteor, gasping over lightning or a rainbow.
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nTherenare definitely things worth slowing down for, and taking in, andnenjoying.
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nHappynSauntering Day!
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nWordsnfor “went.” n
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nWhennwe write stories, we shouldn’t rely on adverbs to tell how people saynthings or dance or walk. I mean, sure, we can say, “She saidnslowly,” or “He walked quickly” once in a while. But ournwriting is stronger if we use more descriptive, just-right verbsninstead of adverbs. Words like (you guessed it) “saunter.”
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nHerenare some words you can use instead of “went”:
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scuttled…ndragged… marched… lunged… boogied… hastened… trod…nstrutted… darted… flitted… plodded… slithered… skipped…nmoseyed… chugged… clambered… fled… scrambled… zipped…nwaddled… veered… drifted… dove… pranced… gadded… slinked… dashed… galloped… hiked… hurtled… scampered…nscaled… rushed… roamed…
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nOfncourse, sometimes we want to keep it simple. You don’t want everyonenin your story constantly yelling, whispering, chortling, andnshouting. It’s nice when people keep their voices at a nice, evennvolume and simply “say,” “ask,” or “reply.”
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nBut when younfind yourself using an adverb, stop and consider:
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nRathernthan this nondescript-verb-plus-adverb, could I use a better, morencolorful verb?
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nAlsonon this date:
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nGarfield the Cat Day
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Juneteenthn
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nBaseballnplayer Lou Gehrig’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof the opening of the first movie theater
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Junenholidays, historicalnanniversaries in June,nand Junenbirthdays.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Julynholidays, historicalnanniversaries in July,nand Julynbirthdays.
Tonsaunter is to walk slowly, with a pleasant attitude of enjoying thenwalk. It is to stroll, maybe even meander. One could saunter whilenambling about the countryside. Slower than sauntering would bendallying or even loitering.
