I’m a proud word nerd. Give me a perfectly ordinary word and I’ll happily dig down to its roots like a an archaeologist with her pick. So when semiquincentennial appeared, my brain practically started doing cartwheels.
Semiquincentennial. A 250th anniversary.
At first glance, it looks less like a word and more like someone lost a fight with a bag of Scrabble tiles. But take a deep breath and break it down bit by bit into its Latin roots:
- Semi = half
- Quin = five
- Centennial = 100 years
Put them together and you get half of five hundred years.
Half of 500 is 250. (Even we word nerds can do a little math).
So while semiquincentennial may sound like a condition the grammar police should investigate, it’s really just a fancy way of saying 250th anniversary.
Thinking about the semiquincentennial reminded me of my friend, Patricia Saxton, a wonderfully talented artist who lives in Sedona. We met in college back in the late 1970s, and I’ve been admiring and following her creativity ever since.
In 2011, Pat launched 52 Weeks of Peace, “a visual exploration of a familiar symbol, imagined, designed and illustrated with an intention to inspire hope, joy and the practice of mindful peace in our daily lives.” You can explore the series here: 52 Weeks of Peace
At the time when Pat introduced 52 Weeks of Peace, I was teaching 8th grade Language Arts. Every Friday, I would end class by sharing her most recent peace symbol. The students really embraced the idea. They looked forward to seeing each week’s design, and some even created peace symbols of their own. It turned out to be a pretty wonderful way to start the weekend.
Pat completed all 52 peace signs years ago and has since moved on to other artistic adventures. Still, every now and then, a new peace sign appears on her social media.
To celebrate the semiquincentennial, Pat recently reached back into the spirit of her 52 Weeks of Peace series and created her 87th peace sign.
It doesn’t have an official title, but I’ve been toying with a couple of ideas: “A Peace of Pie” or “Have a Piece of Peace.”
What would you call it?
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