Summer’s End
Well, it has been a long, delicious summer of writing, walking the puppy around the neighborhood, and cooking all sorts of tasty new meals (all grain-free, sugar-free, bad-ingredient-free recipes). For the first time in many, many years, I feel rested, restored.
In July, I started a reading journal to keep track of all the books I’ll read this coming year; over the past few years, I had fallen out of the habit of reading for pleasure, and this journal will be a goal-oriented way to return to that very important pastime of mine. My plan is to read at least one book per week–preferably novels and longer works of nonfiction, as well as the usual poetry collections that are always a part of my reading list. I’m currently finishing Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth. Next up are Michael Chabon’s Moonglow, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Here I Am, and Anthony Doer’s All the Light We Cannot See. Yes, I know that I’m a little behind whatever is considered of the moment, but that’s what happens when a once-and-future bookworm has to play catch-up. Perhaps, by next August, I’ll have read enough that I’ll be on to the current New York Times bestsellers!
The fall semester begins next week. I’m excited to see my colleagues, to meet my new students, to talk to my old ones. Last August at this time, I was in a frenzy of making Denton feel like home, still unpacking, still figuring out which was my favorite grocery store, which was the best place to buy take-out, which was the campus parking lot closest to my office. Now, I feel like one returning to a place that is hers. It’s going to be busy, productive semester. Onward and upward!