1. In contrast to the torturous experience dental appointments were in my youth, over the last twenty years or so, thanks to advances in dentistry, I've begun thinking of these visits as going to the dental spa. I am relaxed, cared for, and cleaned up. It's almost entirely painless. Afterward, my mouth feels fresh and my teeth look better. My regimen of brushing and cleaning is working. Today, my exam was a positive one and I'll return for another cleaning in May.
2. I suppose it was inevitable. Sarah M. Broom moved back to New Orleans and rented a small apartment in the French Quarter. In writing The Yellow House, she is driven to investigate as much as she can about her family and about the city's neglect of New Orleans East, especially after Hurricane Katrina. Living in the the French Quarter greatly improved Sarah M. Broom's proximity to government offices, the public library, and other place where she could dive into property records, zoning regulations, and other documents along with being not too far from where her mother lives, fairly close to her brother Carl, and within reach of the lot where the yellow house once stood before the city demolished it.
I didn't quite finish this book last night, but I'm close. It's difficult for me to sum up the level of neglect and indifference Sarah M. Bloom describes and how invisible the poverty, dilapidation, and despair of New Orleans East is, especially after Hurricane Katrina. Almost the only time any one pays attention to this ward of New Orleans is when killings happen -- and so, as with so many urban areas, in the public eye, crime, especially murder, comes to define these places.
3. I'm starting to think ahead about what to read next. It's possible that the book I enjoyed most in 2020 was Lucy Cooke's The Unexpected Truth About Animals. I've been reading history, poetry, fiction, and memoir. I have more history, a biography, more poetry, and another memoir piled right next to me here in the living room to read.
But, I think I'm going to focus on plants and animals for a while. I'm definitely going to read Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders next. I have two books about whales in my bookshop.org shopping cart and today I discovered a writer who lives in Spokane, Ben Goldfarb, and his book about beavers looks irresistible. I might welcome a break from reading about humans and spending a few weeks in nature.
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