Ensconced in another tale...

I was just in my bedroom in the middle of the afternoon, and so clearly felt a presence that I turned to look out the window. My edginess surprises me at this hour, when all that greeted me was blue sky and a calm breeze.

Whatever book I happen to be reading at the time, it never ceases to haunt my dreams--both day dreams and during sleep. I have been reading with a hunger this month--insatiable.

I love finding magic in a good mystery, when the story grabs me and spins me around. When I sit in my chair by the window and can't help but smile, impressed with the unexpected wrinkles, suspenseful surprises, and writers' creative maneuvers.

Currently what seeks my gaze is "The Historian", by Elizabeth Kostova. Normally a novel about Dracula wouldn't excite my attention, but a review in the newspaper sparked my curiosity, and I was fortunate to come across a copy during my last trip to the library's second-hand store. There, on the 'new acquisitions' shelf, a copy of this book I have been longing to devour, and with only a one dollar price tag.

I read over a hundred pages today, yet it barely makes a dent in this large volume. The length holds no dread for me, only enthusiastic anticipation. Already I fantasize of packing my bags for Slovenia, to visit lush vistas and Romanesque structures. The descriptions have scratched the travel bug dormant for too long.

"As an adult, I have known that particular legacy time brings to the traveler: the longing to seek out a place the second time, to find deliberately what we stumbled on once before, to recapture the feeling of discovery. Sometimes we search out again even a place that was not remarkable in itself--we look for it simply because we remember it. If we so find it, of course, everything is different. The rough-hewn door is still there, but it's much smaller; the day is cloudy instead of brilliant; it's spring instead of autumn; we're alone instead of with three friends. Or, worse, with three friends instead of alone."