Day thirty. Honestly, the systematic, ordinal nature of this exercise has made it really easy and fun. I’ve actually looked forward to writing most if not all of these entries. I’ve enjoyed dreaming up sideways references and roundabout ways of getting to the heart of the matter.
I honestly didn’t think it would be such a pleasure and a joy to do NaBloPoMo this month, but I guess that’s just a little extra something I didn’t expect. A lagniappe, if you will.
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For those of you rightfully irritated that lagniappe does not appear to start with today’s letter– the one true different Spanish letter introduced here, and our curclicued little "enyay"– allow me to explain:
A lagniappe is a Cajun derivation of the word ñapa— a Spanish word derived in turn from the Quechua yapa and meaning an extra helping or aid.
In other words, it’s a word by which you call a gift; something wonderful and unexpected that comes extra. After all, you were already in the store and buying something, but then comes la ñapa.
La ñapa makes things even better. It’s the banana and the apple that justify the $8 bag of freshly-shelled peas at Eastern Market— still going strong, a year after burning down. It’s the extra samples of chips and delicious sauces and jellies that you get at Uncle Brutha’s, along with a friendly smile. It’s the free ice cream and conversation that you get at Ben & Jerry’s.
And it’s like the wonderful, buoyant feeling the Meow family got today at The Argonaut, eating one of the best meals we’ve had in a very long time (seriously!!! THAT GOOD!!!!) with a really great cider AND getting reeeeally good service AND (AND!!) getting Herr Meow’s food for free because Wednesday kids eat free!!! THAT’S LIKE ÑAPA PLUS! (And DC people? Go to The Argonaut and help revitalize the H Street corridor! DO IT!)
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And it’s the happy feeling that you get, because somehow someone’s seen fit to help you and boost you up and make you feel even better than you were already feeling. It’s like awesome PLUS. PLUS PLUS!
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And it’s the feeling of concluding thirty days of posts and not wanting it to end. Thank you, lovely April. Thank you, NaBloPoMo.
See you in May?
A Daily Dose of Zen Sarcasm! 
Thank you for the etymology lesson, and a month of great posts!
And … it’s over! Totally enjoyable … ack, a reminder that I do not get to DC nearly often enough anymore …
Yes…revitalize H Street. But, the other end needs love (and something other than bars) too. If you get a chance go have a drink and enjoy the jazz at Pap and Petey’s on the corner of 5th and H. Nice place.
You know… NaBloPoMo sounds like a blast. I think I’ll work on “training” myself this month and then maybe jump in for June and give it a whirl. I figure if I can do NaNoWriMo, I can do this.
: )