Farewell, July!

I've changed the look of the blog after my youngest nephew, Diego, informed me that he found the aesthetics of the blog to be rather wanting. Pretty much in those very polite but firm words. He disliked the black background most of all. Thus, taking his feedback to heart, I've changed the colors to something I hope is at least a little brighter.

As July ticks on toward its sad end, I'm profoundly grateful for having had such a restful time, a true break, this month. And for having felt so well physically after a year of struggle on the heart front. In addition to joining a gym and doing some light stationary bicycling (added to my two walks with Lizzy each day), I've managed to read several books just for fun. These include current "bestsellers," like The Vacationers, The Hundred Year House, and Bliss House, which I'm almost done with. It's been great fun reading not-for-work. On audiobook, I've listened to The Husband's Secret, Mrs. Poe, Still Life with Breadcrumbs, and started on The Good Lord Bird, which is making me laugh out loud. For more serious work, I'm also reading In Cold Blood for the first time, and re-reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, both of which I'll be teaching in my new journalism class this fall.

I've taken to heart (so to speak) the realization that unscripted time is a rare privilege to be treasured. I know and hear and read about so many people whose busy-ness is like a compulsion so that they can't (or don't want to) stop long enough to think or ponder or consider. I'll never forget a friend at Harvard in the 1970s who told of his grandfather, an elevator operator in NYC, who never had any time off until he retired in his old age. July, with its blank-slated time, has been a blessing for me and I am deeply grateful that I've been able to enjoy it fully. Once we round the corner into August prepping for the semester and finishing scholarly projects will be the priority.

Just for fun, a work friend sent me a lovely tiara after I mentioned that I'd admired the ones that Princess Diana had during my recent visit to Cincinnati. Now I have my own tiara. "Don't encourage her!" another friend said on FB. Well, it's too late for that. :)