There's not much that gives me more pleasure than finding a really good book.
I have two 'suppliers' here in the Flemish city of Antwerp. The first is De Slegte aan de Wapper, just a couple of doors away from Rubens House. The second is more of a secret. It's the place where I find quietly superb books for .25 cents to 1euro.
We hired a city car for a few hours today. Jess had an appointment with the dental surgeon and we delivered her to the hospital. Then the Belgian bloke who is on holiday, and I, slipped away to the secret book supply shop and voila, treasure was found.
We found 4 beautiful hardcover Roald Dahl books for Miss 10, printed in Nederlands. Then I discovered Dinner with Persephone by Patricia Storage (.50 cents), Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali (.75 cents), and The Colour of the Moon by Alkyoni Papadaki (1euro).
I love the randomness of secondhand bookshops. I find so much treasure in them. I just finished Tim Parks novel, Dreams of Rivers and Seas tonight. I had loved his 'ethnographical' book titled A Season with Verona. This fiction was something else. Someone else's treasure, now my secondhand treasure.
But really, the reading is done on the trams mostly. I was back on that early morning school run this morning. Jess had her dental surgeon appointment today but turns out she can't have her wisdom teeth out until Thursday as there is an abscess which, combined with the pain of her teeth, is knocking her around something fierce.
We were quite traumatised by our 5am ER visit and by the time she had been treated we didn't even dare ask which painkiller they'd IVed in to her, much less insist they might be wrong and that there was an abscess involved.
We actually laughed as we walked out into Saturday morning afterwards ... that stunned ohmygoddidthatreallyhappen kind of laughter. But today was an experience so opposite as to be surreal. It was very healing and I confess, we were very very relieved.
So there is work to do and family to work around ... Gert has his appointment with a shoulder specialist on Thursday. We're hoping he doesn't need surgery but it's not looking good. He's been in much pain for 2 months now.
My football team played a brilliant game in Italy last night. I was glad not to be here. The tension ... missed chances and the fact that they lost in the final minutes. All this against one of the top teams. It might be an exciting season this season based on the exciting squad they've put together.
I was wandering out on Flanders Fields one frosty morning, with a small group that included then New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark. I noticed these trees and stopped for a few moments, wanting to capture something of the light.
The quote. Justine Musk ... I enjoy her writing.
