Stacey and Matt joined me for tea yesterday afternoon in my apartment. A wild nor’easter was raging outside, but we were quite comfortable as we sipped our Bigelow decaf tea (with a hint of lemon). While the spring storm blustered against the windows, we talked and laughed together. The dark afternoon seemed to make my lamps glow around us in an especially kindly manner.

* * * * *

I’ve set aside my audio tapes of Middlemarch (at least temporarily), and have gone back to reading the old-fashioned way. Yesterday I read a chapter without listening to the tape – just reading slowly and marking passages with my highlighter pen. Somehow, I enjoyed it more. Perhaps it was because I could read at my own pace, stopping occasionally to re-read and mark passages. I seemed to be more involved in the reading, as though reading the words without the help of the audio tape’s voice forced me to focus more carefully. Here are a few quotes from my reading:

“To ask her to be less simple and direct would be like breathing on the crystal that you want to see the light through.”

“Our tongues are little triggers that have usually been pulled before general intentions can be brought to bear.”

“Each looked at the other as if they had been two flowers which had opened then and there.”