We had another fine discussion at our classics book club on Monday evening -- a wandering, honest, and sometimes inspiring sharing of thoughts about Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. It's a book I'm enjoying immensely. As I told the group, I love the charming informality of the narrator, as if he's sitting in our living room just telling some marvelous stories about some people he knows. And what's good is that I don't take him seriously. He's just telling a wild and crazy story, not trying to preach to us or get us to understand deep, deep truths about life. He's having fun with the story, and therefore, so am I. 

Yesterday, Cia went up to Norwich in the morning to help The League of Women Voters with voter registration. I very much admire the work she is doing, week after week, to help offset what's happening in the White House these days. She has made a commitment, which is more than I can say for myself. 

I'm continuing with my almost-daily writing of poems, and am enjoying the light-hearted, rambunctious, almost random process I've fallen into. Lately I've been arbitrarily selecting words from a New York Times article, putting them into a list, and then randomly creating a poem using those words (and others). It's been a surprising kind of fun for me, and I don't mean to make light of it, because I truly like the poems that have been created through this chancy, haphazard process. 

Here is one example:

SHAKING

(two in their 70s)  

One day

a man shook hands with his special friend

and then the thoughtful clouds above them

threw down a shower

that gently jiggled them both,

and bright thoughts shook their lives,

and springtime

brandished its affectionate weapons

like breezes breaking all records for smoothness.

A thousand thoughts swayed inside them

and feelings flourished like acres and acres

of accommodating quietness.


Today we took a walk in Watch Hill with Jim and Ann, around by the lighthouse where we could see the thunderous waves smashing ashore from Hurricane Maria. She's way down off Cape Hatteras, but her effects are certainly seen up here. We then had lunch together in a nearby cafe, catching up on our news with each other. Pictures below: