In the High Peaks
















Friday, September 28, 2018

Tomorrow: A Day to Contemplate Books til December

This week has been a bit complicated. We've been scurrying to catch up with mail, paying bills, doing many loads of laundry, battling our annual fall mouse invasion, and beginning our household preparations for winter, which has been very harsh the past few years. Yet the day-by-day, minute-by-minute crisis in our governance has been upsetting, distracting, and so hard to push aside from consciousness. It's taken a toll on both of us, as I imagine it may have on all of you.

Everyday after my labors, I force myself to halt the chores and I retreat to knit and listen to the audiobook  Old in Art School by Nell Painter, which is a delight because it is so provocative and because it makes me really think. I'm glad I haven't rushed the listening of this audiobook. I've taken breaks. And when I go back, I'm ready to absorb more and more. So much to be said about what it means to be an older woman in our society today, what it means to be black and a black woman, and what it means to have high ambitions despite one's age. Painter was born in 1942 and she has become a role model for me, although I must say I do not have the kinds of goals that she had and has.

Tomorrow I have a deep, impassioned need to sort out what I want to read next. I feel I've been piddling around. I really want to commit to reading some enriching literature.
On the docket! Til then!

6 comments:

  1. I can only say that as regards the on going crisis in your governance, I feel for you and know that many others outside your country feel the same.

    I always have terrible trouble choosing what to read next. My tbr pile is massive and I want to read all of them at the same time. So choosing just one is difficult. I always look forward to it and then stand before my shelves or my library pile picking one book up, then another, putting them back, try another. It's quite ridiculous.

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    1. Hi Cath,
      I completely relate to your troubles with choosing books from the tbr pile. Lots of times, I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I haven't read large numbers of the books I own. Choosing one is hard. And then I feel I'm tied to that book for however long it takes to read it. Sigh. A book lover's lament, I suppose.
      Thank you for commiserating with me (us) about our national pig pen. We had such a blissful day on Saturday because we were too busy to hear or see any news whatsoever.

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  2. I look forward to hearing what you are considering for reading next. That is a lovely fall picture at the top.

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    1. Hi Tracy,
      Thank you for your kind words about the photo. It was taken on a cloudy day, but I have a close friend who insists that foliage colors are brightest on cloudy days. (We disagree about this, yet it is true in fall that photos of fall colors do seem better without stark sunlight.)

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  3. Yes your header photo is beautiful. When the sun hits the trees behind our house it makes them look like they're on fire, even when the leaves are still green. I only have to say to Jack - Decisions, decisions, and he knows it;'s that tough time again - choosing which book to read next. I feel for you with the mouse invasion and hope they steer clear of us this winter, last winter was just too cold and long so they invaded the loft!

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    1. Katrina,
      Thank you for your thoughts about the photo. I know exactly what you mean by the foliage being set on fire by sunlight! Something photography simply can't capture.
      Yes, we're still handling our mouse invasion. Strong Peppermint and spearmint in tea bags, mixed especially to divert mice, is helping us somewhat, though not 100 percent. Rats! Still, better than it was earlier in the month.
      Now what is your loft like?

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