My Concise Oxford Dictionary describes the meaning of the word pensive as “plunged in thought” and “melancholy.”

I confess I never thought of it having such dark, minor-key overtones – more Samuel Barber than Mozart. Not  that I spent a lot of time thinking about it, but pensive always struck me as a more easy-going sort of thoughtfulness, as in sitting back in a relaxed sort of way, just staring into the fire after a hard day’s work and letting the mind wander where it will, or not.

It’s that kind of a late evening: the last few days have been way too busy and stressful, what with one thing or another on the personal front. Meanwhile, the news has been full of Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau crossing the floor of Parliament from the Government to the Opposition side, and then taking a Conservative members arm to help him through a blockade of NDP members trying to do what they could to slow down the business of the House. And then, to make matters worse, he elbowed one female NDP member hard enough to make her flee the house in distress. Continue reading →