summer drizzle

The air was so damp last night that the clothes I hung to dry overnight still felt wet in the morning. All that humidity broke the sky apart with thunder-showers and today is a drizzly, foggy day. Which I adore.

Rainy day photo by my brother

I am reading up a storm these days, probably in preparation for a return to the world of text books and papers. A place where there is no (very little) time for fun fiction. I have discovered an interest in graphic novels recently, which probably started when I read Chris Baldwin's Bruno online earlier this summer. I loved it, and it has led to some more truly lovely pieces of work. I really had no idea that people were using the medium of comics (well sort of comics) in such incredible ways. I am reading a great kid's book right now called Predator's Gold, which is the second of a four book series (Hungry Cities Chronicles) by Philip Reeve, who is fast becoming a favorite author of mine. What a brilliant setting! He imagined up a world in the distant future where, after the "60-minute war", the ground becomes unable to sustain life so the cities of the world become mobile. Countries are dissovled and people are citizens only of their city. The (albeit distored) law of Darwinism prevails, with larger, faster cities eating the smaller ones, and using the resources they havest to sustain their own city. It sounds pretty bleak, but of course it is the humanity of the characters and how they cope in this situation which makes the story work so well. Even though it is a strange, heart-breaking idea, I think the imagery of enormous many-tiered cities roaming vast plains like great clockwork beasts is stunning.

Next week is my last week of full time work and then I am back to student-land (and only working one day a week). Even though it means temporarily reading less of the things I choose, I am kind of looking forward to it. And kind of stressed about it. Not stressed about the homework I will have to do per se… after all I have become a veritable magician of getting-stuff-done-through-procrastination. But stressed about being stuck there. Stuck doing the same thing forever. What if my purgatory is school?

I wrote a post last week about the return to school, and that is still what I am feeling. Uncertain and even sometimes ever so slightly ashamed of where I am in "life". But at the same time completely joyfull about this crazy adventure (life?) and not the least bit worried about a destination. I know which feeling I want to cultivate and which one I want to squash! But since they are both still present, I guess for now, I have to sit with them both, honour them both.