Lap

The word for today is LAP. I thought I'd try a short, simple word since some of the words lately have been rather complex. Then, I looked up the definition of LAP in the dictionary. There is nothing simple about the word LAP.

There is the LAP that is part of the body from the waist to the knees (but only when someone is sitting down); there is the LAP that one runs on a track or swims in a pool; there is the LAP of a journey that has many stages; there is the LAP that occurs when an animal drinks water with its tongue; there is the LAP(ping) of waves against the rocks; there are parts of graphs or charts or actual pieces of fabric that (over)LAP one another.

The human LAP only exists when a person is sitting down. I can't think of another part of the body quite like that. An arm is an arm, a leg, a leg. We can cradle a baby by folding our arms, but we only have a lap when our thighs are perpendicular to our torsos.

Some dogs are called LAP dogs because of their size and propensity to sit in the LAP of a human. Though cats are more likely to sit in your lap, there is not a word LAP cat. Some computers are laptops. But we don't sit the laptops on our laps. Usually these computers sit on desks or on specially designed lapboards. When they were first designed they were considered small because they were smaller than desktop computers, but now there are notebook computers (the size of a notebook), and PDAs, personal assistive devices, which are much, much smaller than actual human personal assistants.

LAP is a word that makes me think of comfort. I do not have children, but there is nothing that feels as warm and safe as holding a toddler in my lap. Their body fits his or her 90 degrees atop my 90 degrees, I take my arms and fold them around the child. And for a short moment, we are both safe. Love and human kindness can LAP across our souls bringing the peace we feel when we hear water LAP the shore.