Feeling UNDER THE WEATHER sucks.

If you know me, you know I'm not usually one to admit that I'm sick, but sometimes, you just can't deny reality, can you? I've been feeling UNDER THE WEATHER (not well) for close to a week now. My throat started to feel SCRATCHY (a little sore) last Saturday, and I've been feeling like I'm ON THE BRINK (almost; at the point) of getting sick off and on. I'd wake up in the middle of the night all sweaty and feeling CRAPPY (miserable) with my breath warm and my body a bit achy. I've been lucky though that I haven't had a fever. However, I started to cough, which I almost never do, and my nose started to run PROFUSELY (a lot; abundantly) yesterday. It's a little better today.

It's a good thing I get to SLEEP IN (wake up late) a couple of mornings a week now with my new schedule, which is fantastic. I SLEPT LIKE A LOG (slept well) the past couple of nights. I woke up well rested both times although I still didn't feel well yesterday. Today, though still not completely well, I feel much better. I have an early start tomorrow, so I hope I manage to HIT THE SACK (go to bed) early tonight and get another good night's sleep that'll get rid of this CRAPPY (horrible) feeling ONCE AND FOR ALL (finally & completely).

The ADVENT (start) of winter is often rough on the body with the huge changes and FLUCTUATIONS (unstable; up & down changes) in temperature and humidity. It's important to stay HYDRATED (with enough water), eat well, & get plenty of rest. It definitely SUCKS (horrible, #slang) being sick, so it's best to avoid it.

I hope you're all feeling well! 

Talking about FOG

I still have the morning fog that we had this past Thursday in mind and thought it would make a nice vocabulary lesson. First of all, I was running late and was in such a rush to catch my train that I didn't notice that FOG had BLANKETED the area. It wasn't until my train was crossing the Manhattan bridge that I realized there was fog and that it was quite DENSE. It was beautiful seeing it over the East River and Lower Manhattan; I wish I had taken a photo of it. The fog was so THICK that I could barely see the Brooklyn Bridge to the south, and the Williamsburg Bridge to the north was completely covered; I couldn't see it at all. By midmorning, however, the fog had LIFTED. There was no sun to BURN it OFF, but it was all but gone by noon, and we were left with thick clouds and some rain.

          In a rush - in a hurry
        All but - almost completely; pretty much

The words in capital letters above are the terms we use when talking about fog. Fog can BLANKET or COVER an area. We can also say that an area is SHROUDED in fog. When we can't see much around us or when visibility is low, we say the fog is DENSE, THICK, or HEAVY. If the opposite is true, we say the fog is LIGHT. When the fog disappears, we say it has LIFTED, or it has BURNED OFF. We can also say that the sun BURNED OFF the fog.

There you have it, folks. You're all set (ready) to talk about fog. The next time you see it, use the vocabulary above to describe and talk about it. 

Thanks for checking out this lesson. If you know someone who can also benefit from learning the vocabulary above, please share it. Use the social media buttons below. 

Take care!

Do you prefer dawn or dusk?

Cars heading home in the twilight in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

I stepped out for a short walk the other day at dusk to grab a couple slices of pizza and was reminded of how much I love this time of day. It's called twilight, the short period when the sun is already below the horizon after sunset and just before dark. The word "twilight" can also refer to the quality of the light at this time and actually has a poetic ring to it. As such, it's more common in writing, especially in storytelling, than in speaking. We also use this word to talk about the early morning hours of dawn; however, it is used more to refer to nightfall.