I am behind in nearly every portion of my life right now. Why would this blog be any different? My two jobs seem to be the only parts of my life that I am keeping current at. Well, I have also read three books this week. Can I count them as therapy? A while back I noticed I wasn't reading much. That disturbed me. Part of that was not having as much free time. There were five kids running through my house demanding silly things from me. At the end of the school year more kids means more field trips, more programs, more treats to be made for parties. One Friday I rode on a bus full of first and second graders to the zoo, the next I met the fourth and fifth graders at a fishing pond. The high point of the zoo trip was watching the kids standing way to close to the Rhino's fence then trying to dodge the urine he shot at them. Since I was thinking ahead to the ride home I was rooting for the kids, otherwise seeing them get shot with urine would have made my day. Part of me was thinking that the fishing trip was a lame field trip. The pond was only ten miles out of town. Not much of a trip. I was wrong it was actually a lovely day. Before lunch I read a little and watched the kids play. I didn't think about there being a naked Barbie on the cover of my book until dh pointed it out. Would somebody find this an offensive thing to bring to a grade school activity? Did I care if they did? I gave it some thought and decided that the people who found it offensive would probably be the same ones who would be offended by reading a book an openly gay man wrote about his life. So I shrugged and didn't worry about it. The kids fished, I spread out a blanket in the shade. At noon Curly top, Huggy bear, dh, and I ate a picnic lunch. Lane was too busy having a water fight to eat. After lunch I hauled the kids around in the paddle boat. Then with my legs feeling like jello I drove home.
So yes I have been busy, but lack of time wasn't the only reason I wasn't reading. There just seemed to be a lack of concentration within me. For most of my life I have been in the middle of a book. When you are in the middle of a book there seems to be another layer to life. Throughout the day, when you are going about your life, their are characters in the back of your head. They hang out in your thoughts giving you something to think about. Sometimes, and this may just be me being odd, I see my world through their eyes. I don't understand people who don't like to read. Their life seems limited to their own experiences. I was becoming one of them. None of the books I picked up engaged me.
Last summer Lee and I made a deal that involved me reading one Steve Alten book and him reading one Terry Pratchett book. Neither of us fulfilled our part. Lee brought it up during this slump and handed me Domain. The next day I sat down to read and after a few paragraphs noticed Curly top was watching a Sponge bob I had never seen. Before I knew it the book was resting in my lap while I watched cartoons. I picked it up again and read a little further then I realized I wasn't reading any longer, but staring at the ceiling thinking about the universe. Now that is an acceptable time out. That is one of the things books are for, to give you a thought and let you mind run with it for awhile. That evening I did settle down and read. It was just what I needed. I read it in two long gulps. My dry spell was over.
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