as I flounder along

I periodically check in with this 1897 book of daily quotations--it makes me feel connected to the past. In 1897 there were no radios, televisions, computers, or cars. Women couldn't vote. But January (then as now) was cold and the trees were leafless. Weeds rose above the snow.

I've only been to the Catskills a couple times this winter, because of the mess of construction of the new kitchen and much of the work being done on weekends. I ache with missing it--arriving Friday night, getting out of the car stiff from the long drive, to the cold sharp smell of the air, the pounding waterfall, the crisp stars. The worst of the kitchen work will be done in a couple weeks, and I look forward to returning, to making new discoveries, to getting back that deep connection to nature I seem to need.

Whenever I have time this winter, I've been burrowing with books, making nests of blankets, reading materials, cats, mugs of tea and the occasional oatmeal raisin or ginger cookie. (okay, more than occasional.)  I recently stayed up all night reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, a vast novel about India from the 1947 era of partition and independence through the 1970's state of emergency. It follows the intersecting lives of four characters with fascinating, heartbreaking realism, through small daily acts  and enduring ones. It is both panoramic and wonderfully detailed, exploring family and friendship; cruelty and corruption; heroism and sacrifice.

Currently I'm reading Perfume, recommended by Shelley, and all I can say is Holy Cow, what an intense, strange and mesmerizing book. Next is The Round House, by Louise Erdrich. I also have some non-fiction going, but I'll save that for another post. Yesterday I saw Silver Linings Playbook. It was poignant and funny. There was dancing, crazy football fans, mental illness, an Italian family, and great characters/actors. I loved it.

Any good books or movies in your life recently?