You'll Find Me in the Shade ...

... near refreshment (including, but not limited to: pool, fountain, iced beverage).

Another scorcher promised, so I shall just give in and find a cool spot with a good book while the children study. Having just finished Annie Dillard's The Writing Life (a slim volume I FORCED myself to read slowly, savoring each carefully-chosen word), as well as another read of Babette's Feast (paired with another splendid viewing of the excellent film just last night), I find myself poised in front of the well-stocked shelves in eager anticipation of a new adventure. I had hoped to read The Tale of Despereaux but Gary cut in line. : ( I have been leafing through Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift From the Sea (another re-read ... but a GREAT ONE), as well as contemplating MFK Fischer's The Art of Eating; but somehow I am seeking a STORY. A thrilling new ride down a pathway never taken before. I have Elizabeth Goudge's Gentian Hill at the ready, but then I see Thor Heyerdahl's Fatu-Hiva sitting there with a promise of tropical adventure. Next to Thor rests An Infinity of Hours (subtitled "Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order), and just over a bit lies Amanda Grange's light and lively Mr Knightley's Diary. Oh my, this special bookshelf of waiting-to-be-read delights has sent me all in a fluster. How do I choose? What title shall I pick next?

And so I dither until I realize that I have a whole HOT day stretched out before me in which to R-E-A-D, followed by less severe though equally-heated days this week alone. I close my eyes, reach out to pick just one, but give in and grab them ALL, intending to make plans for a Chinese take-out dinner. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh ... the joys of a lazy Summer's day. :)