sojourn

the red barn
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

Yesterday I drove upstate. Early in my trip I encountered the most vicious rainstorm, with howling winds, so bad that I had to pull the car off of the road. It was scary. After it calmed down I resumed my drive. The road was nearly blocked in a few places by felled trees. Nature is powerful and mean sometimes.

The country was wonderful. I built a roaring fire, since it was quite cold. I read the entire time. I finished THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN by Claire Messud. A former student of mine had reviewed it for the cover article of the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, giving it a rave. I knew I had to read it. I couldn't even wait until it was returned to the school library; I bought a copy and read it voraciously. I could hardly put it down. It speaks of the transitions one makes from post-adolescence to adulthood; it speaks of transformations, of how reality is so mutable. It was beautifully written. The sensibility was almost Victorian, like modern Brontë.

I drove back today, in the mid-afternoon golden sunlight. My new car is like a sports car; it handled the twists and turns of the Taconic Parkway magnificently.

I relished my solitude in the country, and the stillness, the absolute quiet, and the stars in the sky at night. And Mabel was thrilled to run in huge circles and play with her friends the horses.