The zinnias are blooming.
Always a sign that we’re entering late summer. Soon (hopefully) we’ll see the morning glories as well. Last year, one of the morning glories bloomed and the other didn’t. Fingers crossed. The moonflowers? Well, they’re growing very, very, very slowly. We’ll see.
Every year is a different story when you’re gardening. Very little is predictable.
It’s a gray day out there, with rain on the way this afternoon. In the meantime, we have to mow the front lawn, at the very least. It’s getting quite long.
I’m reading Bookworm by Lucy Mangan, a memoir of childhood reading. It’s very entertaining. But I also have to choose a novel – maybe Transcription by Kate Atkinson. When I’m traveling, I like to take a novel in which I can lose myself during the flight. Atkinson might be perfect. I briefly considered A Book of Ghosts by John Connolly, but at 600 pages plus and a hardcover to boot, it’s not the most packable of books.
The next chapter in Bookworm is about Dr. Seuss. Should be interesting. I have a confession to make about Dr. Seuss. I never liked those books. There, I’ve said it. I owned The Cat in the Hat and If I Ran the Circus. They were read to me many times and when I could read, I would give them another try to see if my mind had been changed. Nope. I never liked them. I found the characters annoying. I didn’t particularly like the illustrations either.
Years later, when The Old Globe premiered the How the Grinch Stole Christmas (with the blessing of Audrey Geisel, Theodore Geisel’s widow – they lived in La Jolla) Don originated the role of Old Max. I briefly worked on the show. But I still didn’t care for the story and the thought of having to perform it throughout the Christmas season would have sent me over the edge. (That may be the reason that Don declined the offer to do it again the next year. Once was enough.)
I’m sure that I’m the rare exception and I’m fine with that. I also wasn’t a big fan of cartoons. I got bored by them pretty easily. Go figure.
Today, work on deductions. Mowing.
Exciting, right?
What books did you love as a child?
Happy Saturday.
