“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.”
I need to be outside enjoying the cool, sunny morning. It is only 72°. For a Saturday, it is unusually quiet. I can hear birds singing and an occasional bark from across the street. Even Henry is quiet.
The other night I went outside with the dogs before bed. They roamed the yard. I stayed on the deck. Over my head swooped a bat. I ducked. I marveled at the first time I’ve seen a bat in the yard.
The older I get, the more words I seem to lose. I can see in my mind’s eye the picture of what the word is so I am patient hoping the picture catches up with the word. Most times it does.
My dance card this week has been filled with uke. The only ukeless day was Thursday. I had a concert Monday, yesterday, and I have another today. On Sunday I will rest.
If you had told me when I was a kid I would be a musician, I would have laughed. That I would travel the world was more believable; yet, here I am uke in hand playing music and accompanying myself. I mostly sing off key but with great enthusiasm.
I always think my greatest achievement when I was a kid was learning to read. Tying my shoes was second. Those loops weren’t easy. My mother bought a book a week at the supermarket. There were a couple of novels in each book. I read every book. They were abridged, but I didn’t know that until later. Most were classics. I remember Tom Sawyer. Those books were in the same bookcase as the supermarket encyclopedia. Our supermarket didn’t just feed us. We got a whole set of dishes, serving pieces included, and those books.
When I was in Ghana, I read all the time, in between and after classes, at night and when I traveled. I was blessed. I was given a Peace Corps book locker which the Peace Corps no longer gave volunteers. It was made of heavy cardboard, and when closed, took the shape of a small locker. When opened, there were two sides each with two shelves. My book locker was filled. The treasures inside included The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I flew through those books. I was oblivious to the world around me. I stayed in Middle Earth.
The second blessing was my town had a library and not just any library. It was designed by Davis Brody. It was only two years old when I arrived in Bolga. The form and shape of the building resembled the compounds of the FraFra, the local tribe. I loved spending time in that library. I’d go through the stacks and sit for a while at one of the tables. It was there I found British mysteries and Ngaio Marsh, a mystery writer from New Zealand.
Since my retirement, I have had unfettered time for reading. I am again blessed.
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 