Almost

Such a funny word, huh?  All-most. To be all of something that isn't quite. It's similar to being all muddy. Or all giddy.  Or all blue.  Right?

But that's not what it means, really.  That's now how we use it when we say "almost happy" or "almost pink."  If one is almost-something, what is usually meant is that it is close to something, but not actually something. Almost happy is not, precisely, happy. Or even partially happy, necessarily. Almost pink could be much more red or much more white than pink.  Almost means not.

Hopefully though, it really means not yet. Hopefully, "almost happy"  means that happiness is within reach. That there is hope of attainment.  Almost pink means "oh, I'll just add a little more red and we'll have it."


Almost means there's room for change.

Even if almost describes situations close to tragedy--almost lost, almost desperate--there is still the yet of the almost.  There is still the hope of recovering and journeying back on the way to "almost found," and "almost hopeful."  That "yet" is the hope in all things, I think. There's still time. There's still a chance.

It's such a hopeful time of year for me. The world around me is losing it's color, donning the dun and gray hues of winter, but I know--I believe--that spring is waiting to emerge after the snow. after the rain.

Really, winter is just another way of saying "almost spring."  It's just a matter of how you look at things.