March 17, 2013
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My hat, my Kindle, my phone, my highlighter, the book I was reading (Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell,) Jenell’s North Carolina basket, the Alabama sun filtered through blinds. You can always tell where I am by tracking my little piles.
Yesterday Nancy’s granddaughter, Nancy’s son and his friend/partner/I’m-not-sure-what-her-official-title-is came over and made dinner for us. Grilled Salmon, sweet potatoes, this w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l cheesy bread, and spinach and portobello mushrooms. And pineapple upside down cake. Wonderful.
Today I wrote a little, spoke firmly to Riley about barking, shared the last of the Cheetos with Annie, ground up some stray papers… We’re not doing anything terribly significant today. It must be moderate weather because Riley is outside and Annie is inside. The sun shines most of the time, but there are some dramatic clouds scattered here and there across the sky.
I have a love-hate relationship with Patricia Cornwell. (She is unaware of our relationship, however contentious it may be.) I read the entire book, much like the last time I was in Bama I read the last Cornwell book, kicking and muttering all the way through it. I am as strong an advocate of strong female leads as anyone around, but there is a certain arrogance to Cornwell’s writing and to her characters that aggravates me. However, would I stand up in front of a room of people and present this as a solemn literary criticism? Probably not. I can be a petty individual when I put my mind to it, and she is small, blond and enormously successful as a writer while I am old, gray, fat and unknown. I can be competitive. There is no doubt in my mind that if I put my competitive spirit up against Cornwell’s, she would mop the floor with me. And, ultimately: I read both books. She is a compelling writer, even if you’re gritting your teeth just as little as you go. Some people might call that ‘edgy’.
Annie is wadded up in a puddle of sunlight on the rug. She’s not even sleeping: she seems to be waiting for something exciting to happen.
Today that might be a long wait.
