Get Lost

I tried to capture that pale, morning light filtered through the bathroom tapestry:



I knew those Lotta sticky notes would come in handy! I started taking sublingual allergy drops from the Hotze clinic. The drops are a bit high maintenance: shake the tiny bottle well and take one drop (this week) under my tongue without eating/drinking ten minutes beforehand or afterward. I placed the small medicinal bottle on our bathroom counter to take first thing upon waking, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember to shake! Thank you, Lotta birds:



I finished John Carter Cash's biography about his Mom and gave it four stars on GoodReads and Shelfari. Here is the mini-review I wrote for both:

To be honest, I cried twice towards the end of this book. Once, when John Carter Cash described his Mom's death and then again when he described his Dad's death. I never met them, but both Johnny and June are true heroes of mine. I love their music and I love who they were. They were not perfect people, but grand people, and ones of Christ. John Carter Cash did a great job of writing his Mom's story both lovingly and honestly. He honored his parents within this sweet, smooth read. I've read a lot about Johnny Cash, so 'twas a treat to read more details about funny June Carter - what a lady.

And, as is typical of my bibliophile behavior, I quickly selected another book to begin immediately. I have three other perfectly brilliant books on my nightstand, but with all that talk of getting lost the other day, I recalled a book on my writing room shelves highly recommended by Allison: A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit. If Allison applauds a book, I know that for one, I'm doomed to a future purchase, and two, the book will nourish my writing (hopefully). I read the first six pages last night, quite delighted. I'll share a few sentences:

"The first time I got drunk was on Elijah's wine."

"This opening the door to night, prophecy, and the end of time would have been a thrilling violation of ordinary practice."

"To calculate on the unforeseen is perhaps exactly the paradoxical operation that life most requires of us."

"That thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you is usually what you need to find, and finding it is a matter of getting lost."

Solnit also referenced the Passover, the Jewish tradition of setting a glass of wine on the table for the prophet Elijah, the pre-Socratic philosopher Meno, how both artists and scientists are drawn to the unknown, Edgar Allen Poe, poet John Keats, and well, that is in just six pages. There are 206 pages of brain-food in all.

I'm not saying that Ms. Solnit is another Annie Dillard (probably neither woman would appreciate the equality), but while reading those first pages, I sighed with relief. There was enough similarity to make me intellectually giddy. I rather like the book cover as well:



I have a feeling Rebecca Solnit will become a favorite writer of mine. How could she not with books like Wanderlust: A History of Walking and Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics?

P.S. - Damn you, Etsy! I actually do need more blank notecards, but the question is, will Johnny agree?