Every generation seems to have a new vocabulary or a new set of frequently used words. Some of the words now used with text messaging are like a foreign language. One of the most commonly used words today is awesome. I have recently read a number of the letters between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as well as much of Abraham Lincoln’s correspondence. None of these writings use the word awesome. Even Shakespeare, who used every word in the English language, didn’t use awesome. I never used the word until recent years, but now almost every sentence uttered by a teenager contains this word as well as “you know.”

I have recently gained an appreciation for the word awesome. We have just visited Hannibal, Missouri, which is the home of Mark Twain. We also visited the Lincoln Museum, Library, home and tomb in Springfield, Illinois The only word to describe the Lincoln Museum is awesome. To feel the presence of Mark Twain in Hannibal and experience the memory of Lincoln at his home and tomb is truly awesome/. We visited Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin that is the home of the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright. To witness his genius through his architecture is awesome.

So, the teenagers are right. Awesome is a great word. Now I’m going to try and learn some of the language of text messaging. I may be surprised to learn a new power word in this mumbo-jumbo.

I have often thought of the best word to describe the porch. I have finally found it with awesome. Awesome even describes the depth of my dislike for the deer in my backyard.