I had aspirations of regular thought-provoking, amusing, lambent posts this summer, but the muse has been strangely absent. One would think that seeing me working five or seven hour shifts behind a desk in a quiet lobby would bring her running, but it has not been so.
This has been a delightful summer. I feel a bit as if I'm experiencing a part of childhood I lacked growing up. I never had the friends next door that you run and play with after you finish your homework. But now, when I get home from work, I throw off my ill-fitting polo shirt and khakis, jump into play clothes, and bike to my friend Megan's house. We have continued to run together. After that first miserable run, nothing feels so bad. This past Saturday, we ran in the 5K Run for the Stars race, in the cold and rain an hour or so after I had woken up with a cough and sore throat. I made my best time by a good two and a half minutes. I'm sure it was good for me.
I've also been reading some children's books. Megan and I went to the Wheaton library to get Winnie-the-Pooh & The House at Pooh Corner to read about the spotted and herbacious backson and came back with a couple of our favorite childhood books to exchange. I gave Megan Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield, and she gave me Robin McKinley's The Outlaws of Sherwood which I have now read. And then on Saturday I read All of a Kind Family, the first of a delightful series of books about a Jewish family living in Crown Heights (I think?) in the early 20th century. Those are stories that made me ask my mother if it was possible to become Jewish. That was a long time ago. I no longer want to become Jewish. I'm blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
My dear friend Arwen and I have been house sitting for one of my professors while he and his family are the in Holy Lands. It has been a huge blessing. He lives a block from the edge of campus, has a chinchilla with whom I have become fast friends, and has even allowed us the use of his cars. It's pretty much ideal. I'll post pictures of Arwen and Chickles soon.
I'll spare you, gentle readers, from further ramblings.
6 comments:
If All of a Kind Family were about NYC Jews at the turn of the 21st Century, it would be set in Crown Heights. But it was set in early 20th Century when the eastern european Jewish immigrants lived on the lower east side of Manhattan.
Glad you're writing again, Carol. Even if you haven't felt the muse. I've missed you.
mmmm. sounds nice.
Ballet Shoes!!!! I loved those books!!! Did you read the other ones? Dancing Shoes was my favorite, and Theater Shoes... those are the only two still in print, but there are a lot more- Tennis Shoes, Skating Shoes... sooo good.
I love them too! I can still remember where the "Shoes" section is in the children's part of the library. Ballet Shoes is my favorite, but I like Dancing Shoes and Theater shoes too. And Traveling Shoes. I never knew about Tennis Shoes - I'd like to read it some day.
Love the ramblings--keep them coming ;-)
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