I was out walking last week, and noticed a familiar plant, whose name I couldn’t recall.
It wasn’t until a couple of days later, when I passed another garden with the same plant, that I realized the word still hadn’t popped into my head. I knew it started with “h,” I knew we’d had one in front of our old house, and I knew I’d used the word in an article I wrote in 2007 about Berlin.
Disconcerted, I mentioned my memory lapse to my walking partner, who wasn’t familiar with the plant. A few minutes later, the word came to me. Hosta!
It’s not a word that’s part of my everyday vocabulary. Forgetting a word I use all the time would be more of a concern. But it’s interesting to me that I remembered the exact article I used it in. I like words, and once in a while, when I have occasion to use a word or phrase that I don’t use often, it makes a long-lasting impression.
Hosta – I think it will stay fresh in my mind for a while.
franceskraft 