SABS (not to be confused with SADS) is in full force. The light situation is far improved over our January days, but this is the time of year when I start getting a bit restless that winter is still here in Anchorage (obviously). In sharp contrast, the rest of the country is just starting to warm up. Just take a look at the Lowes and Home Depot weekly circulars, and you'll note these franchises are clearly geared toward the pulse of the lower 48.
I mean, what would I do with a lawnmower in March?
To make matters worse, we're experiencing an early and false break-up. "Break-up" is what we residents refer to as the stop-and-go thawing process that occurs before Spring can finally stay. This week has seen temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s, sweltering by Anchorage wintry standards. The erratically warm weather has compromised many of our go-to pastimes for dealing with winter - skiing, ice skating, etc. I've sought out exercise and solace in the dark corners of my basement. (Yes, I'm still cutting up the concrete floor.) But earlier this week I had a dream that I was mowing my green and prolific lawn.
Clearly, I'm starting to lose it.
Yesterday I decided I was overdue for a trip to the public library. If slushy and icy conditions are keeping me from being a winter extrovert, then so be it, I will be a winter introvert and just bookworm my way to Spring! Armed with this goal, I spent almost two glorious hours at the library perusing through its wares.
My take-away included:
- 4 DVDs of diverse genres,
- 2 Brazilian music CDs,
- 1 soundtrack to American in Paris,
- 4 French cookbooks,
- 3 Japanese cookbooks,
- 1 collection of short stories, (Knifethrower) by Steven Millhauser
- 1 piece of non-fiction (American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China).
(As for the last title), who could resist?
It is always interesting to me that my take-away from a library visit is usually a pretty decent barometer of who I am at that moment. The DVDs and short stories suggest that I am restless and craving outside imaginative stimuli. The music shows that I am always on the prowl for new "sounds." The cookbooks betray the fact that I am probably hungry since I am now deep into week three of Almost-Vegetarian-Diet-of-Mostly-Only-Brown-Pellets. The French cookbooks are based in the work of Julia Child and Jacques Pepin - my constants in this everchanging world - and make for pleasant research even though given my present diet, I will not be cooking much of it. The Japanese cookbooks are my attempt to craft a palatable way of living while essentially cutting out meat.
Did I mention that I'm probably somewhat hungry?
And the titles, Knifethrower and American Shaolin? Apparently, I feel like kicking some ass! (... with deadly precision I might add).
And so I am thankful to the public library for making this all possible. Every time I go, I seem to forget just how much I absolutely love the public library. Library visits are an old habit of mine - I love to gather more media than I could possibly digest and pay lots and lots of fines in late fees. But I do it all happily. There's nothing more extraordinary and overwhelming than the vast repository of knowledge housed within the walls of a library. I suppose my efforts to absorb information from my library finds is really some kind of effort to Fatten My Knowledge and to Become Library.
So go forth and Fatten Your Knowledge and Become Library! For anyone looking for something to fill up the winter nights, I highly recommend a visit. The parking lot is a little slushy, but the goods inside can't be beat.
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