Summer Reading

One thing I know I'll miss about summer is being able to read books for pleasure. Two that I'd recommend are Life of Pi by Yan Martel and The Story of B by Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael. Life of Pi is about how a young boy from India develops his spirituality and also his survival instinct (I can't say much more or I'll give away the plot). I'm in the process of reading The Story of B, and it is very interesting so far, as I expected since it's subtitle is An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. There is great philosophical discussion in this book, and I keep remembering one line in particular:

" If the world is saved, it will be saved by people with changed minds,

people with a new vision. It will not be saved by people with old minds

and new programs. it will not be saved by people with the old vision

but a new program."

One reason for all this book reading is that Flagstaff is in the midst of monsoon season. Every day brings inches of rain, all with spectacular displays of lightning and explosions of thunder. This means clear mornings that smell fresh and dewy, and cozy afternoons indoors playing games and reading books. The monsoon season is predicted to last two weeks into September, so maybe this means the drought is disappearing little by little.

Calm before the storm

Meanwhile, Bryan and I are babysitting a friend's wonderful, tiny, almost all white kitten. His name is Coconut, and he has been a joy to have in the apartment. Coco pounces on anything and everything, moving or not moving. After keeping us up the first night with his antics, we tired him out with play before going to bed last night, and things were much more peaceful. Until he woke me up at 6:30 am todayby scampering all over the bed, ha ha. Sleeping now, he seems so peaceful, and I can't wait until Bryan and I have a place big enough to be fair to keep our own animals.

Coconut