reading

i just finished these two books. walking nature home by susan j tweit and together alone by susan wittig albert. i could hardly put them down. i raced through susan albert's first, then, still like i'm careening downhill through a glorious winter woods on the tele skis i swooshed through susan tweit's. both memoirs. both about a particular woman, her partner, and her relationship to the land. and about so very much more. these are worth reading.

i am always reading. i read while i do many mundane tasks, cooking, as a passenger, eating. today, i found myself apologizing to my assistant when the students were out between classes about my hesitant reading, my mistakes. he said no, it didn't matter about those things, i read with expression and understanding and that far outweighed my errors, it helped bring it alive. i was deeply moved, for if i can capture his imagination, i might be able to my students'. thank you, gary. i needed to hear that. in class we're reading patricia mccormick's book, purple heart. the kids are on the edges of their seats. i knew they were with me when they got really mad when i told them it was a work of fiction. and then they forgave patricia and me for that betrayal when i told them there's a saying: all the stories are true. we discussed what that is trying to say about story, about truth, about human nature.