Rain is Enigmatic?

Another rainy day – a time to cuddle into my robe and slippers and contemplate: What to do? Nothing outdoors, that's for sure. Not only is it raining, the temperature is abnormally chilly - 55 degrees F. and for the Columbia Basin of central Washington state in mid-September, that is cold. Now survey my options. If I were to sort and clean several piles of paper material I set aside yesterday in the midst of company, I would have to get dressed – my comfy robe too bulky to work properly. It didn't take long to decide in favor of curling up with a novel I was anxious to reread.
A word hits me. Enigmatic. Do I know its meaning? I reread the sentence again. I am puzzled. I noticed that word many times in various stories and was satisfied knowing what it meant. But did I really? Oddly I am curious to know what word authorities can tell me.
And I am amazed at the scope of meanings revealed by Webster and Roget. I must reread the sentence once again. In fact I must go back the few paragraphs that lead up to the word so that I can decide just what the description reveals about the character it refers to. And also about the character who choses to describe an adversary in that manner.
Whoowie! Enigmatic could mean puzzling, inexplicable, perplexing, baffling, uncertainly, abstrusely, mysteriously, esoterically. And my thoughts go beyond the story to reflect something entirely different – a revelation that authors have been expanding my vocabulary with every book I read. I think of the millions of readers touted by the publisher of each book and realize I am not the only one influenced. In every mystery, thriller, romance, western, or adventure, words are used by authors to enhance plots that entice readers to read on and on and on.
But alas, a lively breeze slaps the branches of my Douglas fir against the house and the sun breaks through dissipating clouds. I must put the novel and cuddly robe aside to face reality.
Still there is much to be said in favor of a rainy day.
Naomi Sherer