1. I started the day reading some poems by Wallace Stevens. When I read his poems, it's like I've never read them before. Today, in particular, his poems stirred me with their music, odd words, epistemological musings, and playfulness. At one moment, I delighted in the realization that for once I wasn't reading Wallace Stevens' poetry as an English instructor nor as a student with a paper to write nor with some kind of article in mind nor as someone trying to compose in my mind what a reasonable "reading" of his poems might be. As I grow older, I'm hoping to shed my identity as an English instructor more and more, not to think about how poems or plays or stories would "work in the classroom", to quit thinking about what my "reading" is, what this piece "means" and read for deep pleasure.
2. This reading for deep pleasure, not thinking about what I'm reading as school material, is giving me deep pleasure as I continue to make my way through "Purple Flat Top". When I began the book, I thought it was a memoir built around a single continuous story, moving chapter by chapter through a single main plot. I was wrong. It's a series of independent stories, all tied together by involving the book's writer, Jack Nisbet, all tied together by all occurring in the general Chewelah/Colville region. It's a splendid book. The stories are terrific, enlivened not only by memorable characters, but by the region's many histories.
3. Adrienne, Jack, and I went to church together this morning. I was mostly happy for Adrienne. She enjoyed seeing people she's known for years but rarely sees and she enjoyed having Jack with her and being able to do whatever she needed to both worship and keep Jack happy. I'm really glad we have one more Sunday coming up when we can go to St. Mary's together again.
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