Home from Nova Scotia

Returning home from a vacation leaves me in a state of mild euphoria that I have no desire to dispel. I know there are things I'm supposed to be doing, and I do a few of them. I write a press release, make a postcard, update a website, send some metadata to a distributor, answer an email or two.

But I mostly enjoy the feeling of being at home with memories of ten days of sublime adventuring on the Atlantic Coast drifting through my head. It doesn't hurt that upon our return the skies here at home were clear, the air was cool, and as we discovered the next morning, the lower angle of September light was giving the vegetation a pleasant glow.

Our departure from Halifax had been delayed by the arrival of Hurricane Lee; we missed our connection in Toronto and spent six additional hours at the airport trying to figure out clever ways to use up the complimentary (but meager) food vouchers we were given by way of compensation.  It was fun.

But back here at home the refrigerator was empty. We scrounged a few chunks of pickled herring from the bottom of the jar and sliced up the chunk of Canadian cheddar cheese from my carry-on bag that had befuddled security personnel in both Halifax and Toronto. (Maybe it looked like explosive putty? It was getting a little ripe.)

The next morning, not yet ready to re-engage in normal life, I looked through ten days of mail—mostly pleas from the Democratic Party, Nature Conservancy, Habitat for Humanity, Mercy Corp, and so on—and hit upon the latest Daedalus catalog.  Daedalus sells remainders—discounted books—and I have vowed several times never to look at that wretched catalog again. It's a sign of how free and loose and uncluttered my head had become on the beaches of Nova Scotia that I not only paged through it, but found several books of interest. The next morning I placed an order!

Break It Up: a history of the many ways various states—and not just the southern ones—schemed to leave the United States before the Civil War broke out.

The Book Of The People: a book about the Bible written by the author of Dante in Love, which I enjoyed.

Evening In Paradise: a collection of short stories by Lucia Berlin, a woman I've never heard of.

The Quotable Machiavelli: the title says it all.

The Coldest Case: an inspector Bruno mystery that Hilary read recently and enjoyed.

Follow The Flock: a history of the role played by sheep in the development of civilization. I have read this book. It's a classic.  

Montale-Poems: I have a copy of Montale's collected works—a doorstop of a book. This tiny volume looks more manageable.

I'm not eager for the order to arrive. Just think what a burden it will be!