Growly

Today, as I drove into work, all I could think of was that the trip was making me growly! I really did not know if this was a true word but it fit how I felt. Growly. The roads are still not in great shape after a weekend of more snowfall. Plows, backhoes, and dump trucks were on the main and side streets during my commute this Wednesday, blocking the path where I needed to turn to make it to work.

I arrived, on time, but growly!  I just do not understand it. Our streets should be cleaner. I posted to social media about this within the last week and expected some push back. I just have a different perspective, based on living in a very snowy Western New York for most of my young life. Our roads got cleaned, thoroughly, after a storm. It was one benefit to living in the great Buffalo, New York, a place that gets a lot of bad press for its weather and bad football team. But, the road crews there really knew how to clean up after a storm!

Anyway, I arrived at work growly. But, by the time I arrived home, after working on my first official grant application as an “employed” person, I was less so. Maybe the roads had been satisfactorily cleaned and that lessened my growliness.

But, about a half hour after arriving home, I looked at my phone and saw a text from my friend with whom I walk once a week. at 4:23 p.m., she asked, “Where are you? Were we walking today?”  Ugh! This is a standing appointment on Wednesdays that I simply forgot!  I felt bad and apologized. She, on the other hand, was more concerned about my safety.

The growliness returned.

So, I looked up the word. It actually exists and was first used in 1843! It means to utter angrily. Yes. It fit. I was growling or acting growly in the car on my way to work. Growly is an adjective meaning an utterance resembling a growl. Growl, of course, is probably best known as a verb. We all know dogs, coyotes, and wolves do this.  It’s an action word.  But, growl can be a noun, too. The “thing” that is uttered by an angry dog or growly person is a “growl”.  What I didn’t find is growliness, but I would assume it means the state of being growly.

Yes, I was growly today on my way to work. Thankfully, I’m less so now.

I hope the roads will be better tomorrow.

It is a rare occurrence when I long for my life in Buffalo!