Queme

The English language, similar to many other languages has borrowed words from a myriad of other languages. I doubt if there is any pure language, particularly in the modern world. We are all mongrels.

Queme originates in Old High German and has come to us through Middle English (probably all those Angles, Saxons and Jutes).

It’s a word I hadn’t heard before, which is odd in a way, because I do know the German word bequem, which means comfortable.

According to my dictionary queme means pleasant, agreeable, comfortable – much the same as the original German.

I’m queme in my house. It’s a place I have created over the years to fit my personality and needs. I have lots of books everywhere – nearly every room (except the bathroom – I haven’t yet figured out a way to put one here, though I haven’t given up the idea of a small book shelf) has a bookcase. There are comfortable chairs and places to sit everywhere, including looking out on the back yard, which is full of perennials, a small garden, one tree, and berry bushes (and not much grass). I have enough storage space so that the place can be reasonably tiddy (when stuff starts to overflow storage I know it’s time to get rid of some). I have an office for writing (with a place to keep files as well as  another book case), though I can and have written in other rooms of the house. I wish I had a bigger window and a balcony in my bedroom; also I wish the kitchen was oriented to the back yard, with an eating nook. But I make do – there’s a spot overlooking the backyard where I have a wicker chair and a folding table so that I can eat or have a cup of tea there with a book or a manuscript I’m working on. Though my house is small, I have a couple of blow up beds, a folding cot and a foam mattress so I can hold quite a bit of company on occasion. My yard is small, too, but I’ve made the most of the space and besides the food it produces, there are places to sit. I also like the old-fashioned double door garage, which keeps my car off the street and means I rarely have to plug it in during the winter.

I’m also queme with myself. Am old enough to have experienced a lot of different situations, places and people, and have learned something about the world and myself so if things aren’t going the way I’d like, I usually know how to make them better.

Gosh, doesn’t all this sound rather self-satisfied? Perhaps that’s another meaning for queme.