Donning the Law of the Day

Full of thought — con sidere, with the stars. She studies the sky before she steers.

1. 01Given to careful thought before acting
2. 02Thoughtful of the needs and feelings of others
3. 03Marked by deliberation rather than reaction
4. 04Attentive to what a thing will cost before it is done
5. 05Reflective; weighing a matter in the mind
6. 06From considerare — to observe the stars closely
7. 07Slow to speak because she is busy looking
8. 08Regardful — holding another in view while she moves
9. 09Deliberate; not hasty or careless
10. 10Mindful of consequence as well as intention

Looking around — circum spicere. Watchful on every side before she commits.

1. 01Given to looking about in every direction
2. 02Watchful of the whole situation, not one part of it
3. 03Surveying the ground before stepping onto it
4. 04Attentive to what stands at the edges
5. 05Vigilant; keeping a wide field of view
6. 06From circumspicere — to look around
7. 07Careful because she has seen more than one side
8. 08Observant of surroundings and consequence together
9. 09Alert to what is approaching, not only what is present
10. 10Wary in the good sense — informed, not fearful

She has looked around and drawn the line. Watchfulness settled into judgement.

1. 01Careful to consider all circumstances before acting
2. 02Prudent — unwilling to take an unnecessary risk
3. 03Discreet in speech and in commitment
4. 04Cautious because she is informed, not because she is afraid
5. 05Well advised; acting on what she has surveyed
6. 06Guarded about what she lends her name to
7. 07Deliberate to the point of declining
8. 08Wary of the thing that looks right and is not
9. 09Judicious — sound in decision under pressure
10. 10One whose caution has become character

The beginning of value — to gauge what a thing is worth before you spend it.

1. 01To regard something as valuable or worthy
2. 02To estimate the worth of a thing
3. 03To hold in high regard; to honour
4. 04To appraise — to set a true price on it
5. 05To weigh in the judgement and reckon it good
6. 06From aestimare, to value or appraise
7. 07To count a person or a resource as significant
8. 08To rate rightly rather than sentimentally
9. 09To prize — to treat as worth keeping
10. 10To gauge before you gamble

To see the equation — esteem grown up into working the number out.

1. 01To determine the worth or amount of something
2. 02To judge the quality or significance of a thing
3. 03To work out the value of an expression — to solve it
4. 04To assess evidence and reach a finding
5. 05To weigh alternatives against a standard
6. 06To examine in order to form a judgement
7. 07To measure a result against the aim it served
8. 08To appraise on grounds you can name
9. 09To read the whole equation, not just the answer
10. 10To test a thing before trusting it

To deliberately abstain — the no that keeps the point. Salt does not go in the sugar.

1. 01To abstain from something deliberately
2. 02To avoid on principle rather than by accident
3. 03To shun a thing you could have had
4. 04To keep clear of what would spoil the work
5. 05To refuse habitually, as a settled practice
6. 06To decline the good offer that is off the point
7. 07To give a wide berth to what corrupts a recipe
8. 08To turn away from, by choice and in advance
9. 09To forgo — to let a thing go for the sake of the aim
10. 10To keep a boundary you never have to re-argue

The sign — not the option. The alchemist's world speaking to the woman paying attention.

1. 01A sign of something to come
2. 02An event regarded as a foretelling
3. 03A prophetic indication read in the ordinary
4. 04A token or portent of good or ill
5. 05The first small evidence of a coming season
6. 06An augury — what the watchful notice early
7. 07A warning given before the consequence
8. 08An intimation — the world hinting before it speaks
9. 09A signal placed in the road for the one who is looking
10. 10The beginning of information, before it is fact

The seer — and to see is the whole of it. Signs read aloud become counsel.

1. 01One through whom guidance is given
2. 02A seer; a person who perceives what others miss
3. 03A source of wise counsel and authoritative answer
4. 04The answer itself, when it is given
5. 05A person consulted for judgement because she reads truly
6. 06A holy place where the sign was asked for
7. 07One whose word is trusted on a matter
8. 08A revealer — she makes the hidden legible
9. 09An interpreter of signs into direction
10. 10A woman others come to before they decide

What the sign-reader is left holding — room to choose, earned by having watched.

1. 01Things that may be chosen between
2. 02Available courses of action, held open
3. 03The freedom to choose rather than to react
4. 04Alternatives a woman has kept alive by not spending them
5. 05Rights to act later, secured now
6. 06Openings that remain because nothing was rushed
7. 07Choices held in reserve as a form of wealth
8. 08The room a plan has when the wind changes
9. 09Several good roads instead of one forced road
10. 10What increase looks like before it looks like money