At Home,The Dentist And Work With Vasily And George

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So it's Monday morning. Still dark out there. We are in that calm moment between daughter having her breakfast and brushing her teeth and the last demands of the old man for her to move to the car and get her stuff so that she can be driven to the school bus stop.

Ten minutes then. Time to light up that Kindle.

So I'm reading Vasily Grossman's An Armenian Sketchbook or if truth be told the introduction. Reading introductions to any book is a risky thing because there is the risk of spoilers. My normal rule is that they're read after I've read everything else unless the writer as in this case is new to me only because it might help me understand what I'm about to read.

Well there is a spoiler in this introduction but an odd one. It's nothing about what's in the main book itself but it reveals a fact about the author that might affect your perception about what you're about to read. I can't explain further without revealing the spoiler myself but you have been warned.

We move the clock forward to a little after nine. The sky is miserable and the air is damp. I know I've used this phrase in the last post but have no problem in repeating it as this time it's literally the dawn of a new grey on a Monday morning.

Perfect time then to go to the dentist.

I am unusually the only patient there but I still have to wait. Don't mind. Could read the magazines or watch the large screen TV (not really an option as it has the sort of daytime programme I'd have switched off if I had control of the remote) but I have come prepared.

To make a quick digression our family has belatedly become fans of the American TV series The Gilmore Girls. We stumbled on this going through Netflix and it's become unique in that it's the only show that myself, the wife and our daughter are prepared to watch together.

Now whilst there are some things I'm not in agreement of. Such as the notion that private schools are automatically better than their state counterparts (something again that I've changed my view of as I've gotten older. What this show has is the ability to remind you that though we might have some irritating quirks most people in the world, whatever their beliefs, are actually nice.

Anyway the reason why I'm mentioning it here is that the youngest "Gilmore Girl" Rory carries a book with her almost everywhere she goes. I am, as regular readers of this blog will know, exactly the same. Today's book is The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. Despite all the distractions around me I can immerse myself in this novel.

That's what books can do.

I said before that you know you're old when football match officials are older than you. Now add dentists to that list. They also if you're not careful have the power of lecturing you as if you're the younger one. Still I walk out of there with my teeth still attached to the rest of me so I'm happy enough.

Afternoon/evening shift at work. The heating has failed. Good thing this wasn't the last couple of weeks so it is bearable. And in the breaks I continue to read George Eliot's book and forget the cold.

That's what books can do.

Until the next time.