Brilliant!

I first heard this slang expression a bit more than a decade ago when I spent three and a half weeks in Oxford, studying on an English Speaking-Union scholarship at Exeter.  The two young graduates who were our shepherds loved saying "Brilliant!" at every opportunity and did so with such enthusiasm that, had I not spoken English, I would have understood its meaning anyway.

Today, my quick jaunt to Lake Cheston was "Brilliant!" in all the right ways.  The weather -- cool and gray -- let me to think all would be quiet, and at first it was.  Then I saw many Violent Dancers, followed by a mating pair of Lancet Clubtails, followed by my first Spangled Skimmer of the season, followed by my first Double Bluet of the season.  By the time I saw the male Calico Skimmer clinging to white clover, I was exhausted, my eyes spinning with marvels everywhere.

A Blue Corporal waited for me on the roof of my car, as if to say, "Brilliant!"  And it was.