Already there in spirit and soon in body, Charlie and I will be smelling the sea’s salt and, with luck, saying hello to the harbor before dusk next Friday. Maybe a week late, but better late than early when its cold and rainy, as it was in Tenants Harbor over Memorial Day. Roseledge may only be as ready as chipmunk damage allows, but Roseledge Books is always all ready to entice ready readers. Okay, the shelves might be awry, but think of the fun of browsing through the disarray and find unaligned treasures.
I love Roseledge. I can hardly wait. First sightings in daylight are best.
I will put on hold Anthony Shadid’s House of Stone — which I am enjoying a lot — because it is a many-paged trade paperback (therefore awkwardly big and heavy for travel and one-hand reading) and I want to savor learning about his Lebanon as he rebuilds his family’s home.
I love reading about people who live two places, especially Nicholas Kilmer’s A Place in Normandy in which he tells about the week he spent deciding whether or not he, as the only sibling interested, should continue caring for the 14th Century farmhouse his grandparents had bought in the 1920’s. (When this is finally in paperback again, Roseledge Books will have it.) My other favorite is Lillian Beckwith, who wrote a number of semi-autobiographical books about her post WWII years living among the crofters in the Hebrides, none of which is available in paperback . Aarrgh-h-h.
So I will travel with the right-sized G. M. Ford’s Cast in Stone, a Leo Waterman mystery set in Seattle, which he knows well, and featuring as helpers, his “boys,” who are retired reprobates as are many of my friends. I’ll keep you posted, but I like learning about Seattle. Besides, Charlie who lives in Seattle which is on big water, recommended — or at least mentioned — it. Traveling books are always tricky, especially if fog or other delays may be likely.
Lobster buoys are part of what I know and love. Thanks, Tenants Harbor.
Summer will be different this year, especially without Tim to smooth the way and always be a backup. I will miss him. And his East Wind Inn has been sold. A friend called to say that without leaves, the Happy Clam seems almost an extension of my backyard; Dave Lowell’s wharf is a beauty to behold from the front porch; and my unmowed front lawn which is mostly on ledge has gone amok. More next Saturday when I can speak from experience.
I may be ever slower, but I am still moving, sometimes more smoothly, and isn’t that a good thing! After next Saturday, the chairs will be on the porch waiting for you all and sunshine.