“Today is one of those excellent January partly cloudies in which light chooses an unexpected part of the landscape to trick out in gilt, and then shadow sweeps it away. You know you’re alive.” – Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
I wasn’t going to blog this week. I just finished a huge project documenting my path into the Creative Nonfiction genre from 1998 to the present using Lauren Winner’s books Girl Meets God and Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis (if you know who my advisor is, you know that this was a risky idea but it was a piece I needed to write so I wrote it). I decided after I finished the paper I’d give myself a break but then I go ahead and start Pilgrim at Tinker Creek on one of the last days of January and this sentence comes along, and oh my goodness I want to look for the gilt in my landscape before the shadow sweeps it away! So that’s what I did.
But don’t let me fool you. I’m still suspicious of this whole “lets get out in nature and learn life lessons” thing. Ms Dillard can’t convince me that easily. For example, in the first paragraph of the book she writes about a tomcat that used to jump into her bedroom window in the middle of the night and basically sharpen his nails on her chest. My annotation in the margin? Shut the damn window!
Ha! I was like, “oh no! Does Callie like nature now?!” I could envision you suggesting a hike at Whidbey. Gross. Haha
Chrysta, I was so conflicted when I read the first chapter of Tinker Creek. I was all, “Oh my goodness, I can sort of relate.” But not AT ALL in a “I’m gonna go walk in nature” sort of way. It was more that I thought it was cool how she explored evil and grace hanging out with each other…like in a cool bar in the city. A big, loud, awesome city.
Callie, I’d love to read your thoughts on Lauren Winner’s books–both of which I have enjoyed reading.
Hi Mary! I’d be happy to send my paper your way (it’s long, though).
Thanks for sweeping our shadows away with the precious pictures of your girls. Now I want to read the “Underwear” book!
Thanks, Sara! I highly recommend Winner’s books, and so far I’m really enjoying Tinker Creek. (I’m surprised I’m enjoying it!)
i’m with aunt sara. what do we wear under there?
You will have to check that book out. It is literally the entire history of underwear. I learned a lot reading it! 🙂