SUMMER ROUTINES #1

The strawberries are IN at the Produce Lady’s stand. I don’t care if they might be from New Jersey or if the other person beat me to the three ripest quarts as Scott nabbed the largest of the three remaining whoopee pies; the strawberries are here early and they are always the best.

And Roseledge Books has sold its first book of this year. A summer person who winters in an inland city chose Giles Milton’s Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: Or the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History. As she pointed out, seafarers and voyages, e.g. those involved in the China Trade, are so much a part of the worldliness of the Coast. It’s fun to read of saltwater voyages while here. This continues the almost-theme of books being a window on the world that rests within my memories of Louis Auchincloss’ books about the elite of Manhattan. (See CATCHING UP #2.) Bringing the sailing trade closer to home is maybe my favorite book about TH, okay Port Clyde, James Balano’s The Log of the Skipper’s Wife.

Fig. #22. The tides may be my favorite recurring summer rhythm, but the fog, though less regular, comes close.

Speaking of books as windows on the world, I just heard a piece on NPR about Ikea offering free ferry service from loweer Manhattan to Red Hook, an industrial part of Brooklyn, because otherwise it would be too much trouble for customers to get to the store. This same difficulty getting from lower Manhattan to Red Hook played a part in Martin Gruber’s The Book of Air and Shadows, a book I liked a lot. (See CATCHING UP #2.) I loved knowing a little, then a little more, of how the world works. It’s a life goal.