Solace in a Book

I woke up this morning thinking it was time for me to post. I have been struck with something like spring fever. Only instead of making me feel energetic and spring-y, I have been ready to cocoon with a book.  How cool it is that this morning I discovered my garden, the bridal wreath bushes and flowering lilac in particular, is attracting lots of butterflies. So I got my camera and began shooting.  I took as many photos as they do at fashion shoots, and I swear a couple of these beauties were playing up to the camera. All the pics are posted in as Glimpses of Solace.

It occurred to me that maybe these aren’t butterflies but some kind of moth, and I did a little research on the subject, not enough to yield the scientific name, but enough to give you info on a great source: The Chicago Botanic Gardens. I also found out through the local news that the warm temperatures in March fueled a butterfly boom in the Chicago area so the yellow-tipped mourning cloak and red admiral are already sipping nectar from lilac bushes and apple trees, which bloomed ahead of schedule this year.  As to the exact Lepidoptera that posed for me, I am not going to venture a guess. Butterfly or moth by any name, all I know is it is beauty in bounty.

I have had a few professional disappointments lately and so have my writer friends, so I could easily find a lesson in this butterfly story but I’ll spare you (and me) any stale epiphanies and tell you what I have been reading. It is a varied lot.  I have been a Russell Simmons fan for quite some time.  As far as I am concerned he puts his money where his mouth is, and he has built a successful business empire while trying to be a good and generous citizen. So I decided to buy his book Super Rich. When I experienced professional disappointment (first through a friend’s experience and then through my own rejections), I thought of what Uncle RUSH has to say: “Through constantly  wanting things to be different–our careers, our loves lives, our finances, our bodies, and our relationships with the world–we unintentionally impede our own progress. In fact, it could be said that needing things to be different is the cause of all suffering.”

Another book I recently finished is Jane Gardam’s Old Filth.  Dickensian is a word used in describing this book.Once I got into it, I enjoyed reading about Old Filth and his life as a Raj orphan and witness to many historic events.  BTW, FILTH stands for “Failed in London, Try Hong Kong.” The book has all kinds of clever inside jokes and insights into the lives of Brits during the last century. Both the writing and the story are rich.

Currently I am reading A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava.  The book has made the news because it was self published and received so many accolades that it was picked up by The University of Chicago Press.  The book is 678 pages long, and they are dense pages. So far I am only on page 94, and I cannot say exactly what the book is about, but I can tell you I am along for the ride.