It’s Sunday.
note: I’m reading Possession by A. S. Byatt for our book club. We finished Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.
Tag: books
To walk another day
To the river, along the river and over the river. That’s what I did in my walk to fitness today.
Today I drove to library to return a book, After Alice by Gregory Maguire, a book I joyously finished reading. A return to Wonderland of Alice. A return to childhood lightened my heart.
And I got a new book, Ordinary Light, A memoir, by Tracy K. Smith, the Poet Laureate of the United States. I also just finished Life on Mars, one of her book of poems.
From the libaray, I walked on the Riverfront , over a bridge then to the Vine Trail which connect to Kennedy Park.
The weather today was similar to yesterday, sunny with a cool breeze. I had to walk with a warmup top on.
today: 76 minutes.9,000 steps.
Yesterday: 11,000 steps.
I have to alternate in a certain way long and short distances.
Books
They read a book while walking
stumbling over gnarled roots and dislocated stones
They are like somnambulists who fell asleep in a library
They are friends with different temperaments
Books are their common bond.
the detail is divine
“Sit there and describe. And because the detail is divine, if you caress it into life, the world lost or ignored, the world ruined or devalued, comes to life. The little world you alone can bring into being, bit by broken bit, angles into the great world. It’s voice, your style. Or, call it what it is—your integrity.”
~ Patricia Hampl, The Art of the Wasted Day
note: I’m currently reading The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl. I just finished re-reading the Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.
Convalescence
The clouds are mute, silent and still
I’m convalescing from superstitions
the force propels, distracts, destroys
notions of certainties
Finding three pennies while I’m walking
a trout for every cast
3 paragraphs to bring in the orbit
vignettes I place in a porcelain bowl.
They come unbidden like insomnia
and derail delicious daydreaming
I try to be consistent
We only fail when we try hard
innocent apprehension of work
like looking for remains of dinosaurs
We do not barge in with our eyes close
like dying with curiosity,
an idiosyncratic expression of pleasure.
note: I’m enjoying reading Moby Dick and Manhattan Beach. I also started reading The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl.It’s a busy day. I finished reading the other books.
photo: Napa River
What is who is doing?
note: I promise myself to reform my reading habit.I promise that if I start reading one of the classics I will finish it. I started reading Moby Dick again.
Why Moby Dick? Because this is one of the classic books which many start and never finish. I was one of them. I will finish it this time. The goal may not be grandiose but it’s a small step.
In parallel I started reading Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan also.
Worth
“Free! The word and the thought alone were worth fifty blankets.” -Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
Mine is books.
What’s yours?
note: I just finished The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Books I’m reading:
The Japanese Way of the Artist by H.E. Davey
and How We Work by Leah Weiss
A Sunday walk
Walking today, one Sunday morning
in the sacredness of ordinary things
the sky like cinnamon rolls, a divine touch
on the street, a flower decorated car,
a steel bent to shape like infinity scarf
an art of human creation.
note: Art Walk in downtown Napa, Napa Valley, CA
Books I’m reading:
Still Writing by Dani Shapiro
The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
The Brothers K by David James Duncan
Two Birds
They can be a child and her aunt
But they are two birds: a gull and a blue heron
Their backs facing each other
In awareness of my approach
Walking towards them one small step at a time
Their eyes, their wings, their feet in complete stillness
I turn around after I take a photo
With gratitude for their courtesy.
Is it a mystery
When fear is stilled and comprehended?
Is it easy to step into simplicity
And why is it a stuggle to stay?
Sometimes you have to withdraw your rational mind
And the insistence to understand.
It’s a long way, a long way.
note: I finished reading Abandon, A Romance by Pico Iyer.I’m starting anew book: Beyond The Sky And The Earth, A Journey into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa.
I just discovered a minimalist artist, Agnes Martin and heard the voice of Sissel Kyrkjebo, both for the first time.
Books, books
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