All around me
I thought I wouldn’t enjoy being part of a book club because reading is a solitary activity for me and I was worried that it would feel like I was back in school, reading books I didn’t want to read and feeling obligated to say something insightful every so often. But I like book club as a grown up, because people who read for fun tend to be my kind of people. We read House of Bone and Rain for this last meeting (a 3-star read for me, in case you were curious) and at one point during the conversation, I wanted to bring up the concept of a foil in narrative, but I didn’t want to seem pretentious, so I stayed quiet. Baby steps, I guess.
Driving to West Philly recently, I thought about how this is the 30th summer-to-fall transition I’ve experienced in this life and I still get so excited when it happens. These days, I’m always stopping my car, pulling over to get a better look at the trees. This year, for the first time ever, I laid under a tree and stared straight up as the wind caught the leaves and carried them all around me. Why do I let myself get so stressed when things like this exist?
D & I are sprawled out on some grass. It’s fall and I’m wearing shorts, and every time I feel the breeze, I also feel her trace the goosebumps on my legs. She’s the only person I know who reads James Joyce for fun and writes things like “I feel greedy for your shoulders” on sticky notes.