On not beginning from the beginning

I was watching the wind yesterday. We’ve had a lot of it. I read that a tornado touched down near my house last Wednesday but I haven’t really seen where it happened except in the Hamilton Spectator…

I asked someone for help in reading the sky. He said the fast clouds only told you that these are high winds. Knowing the wind direction is important but what he said was really important was what is behind the wind. I read that remark and saw the wind as a kind of veil. Is it keeping things from me? But I think he really meant that the weather that follows the moving clouds is what matters because it’s an indicator of what’s next and in that, the present moment matters less than the future… Gotta keep movin’.

I’m resisting writing an introduction. I prefer to take on a role – that of a wandering reader, une lectrice érrante. I recognize that reading shapes much of my experience and I want to understand that better. I’m willing to admit that, like Don Quixote, I’ve lost my wits to reading and I read the world from a skewed perspective. I’ve wondered if others find that too…

I have not made a reading list. I know that I often read with purpose because I have to find something out from a book but I also read very indiscriminately and I’m open to suggestions. I’m not starting any new books today or embarking on a new way of reading. My habit for many years is to read more than one book at a time and I often find myself attached to reading a particular book in a particular location or place.

I’m reading three books right now. Two of them I’m very committed to but at the same time I don’t want to read them quickly. I like them and I want to stay in their presence, under their spells for a while longer yet…