Last Weeks of Summer

Bookstores and I are a bit of a dangerous combination.  I could get so lost in the history section of Barnes & Noble, for instance, that it'd be months before I even realized that time was passing, and that nearly happened yesterday. I'm just grateful my brother or mum are usually there to pull me out of my history-induced daze (though my mum does often get sucked into it with me, LOL).

Some of the books responsible for distracting me indefinitely while I wish I had copies of them:

        

Speaking of a daze, summer holiday (though we've spent most of it working) is almost over now.  It's already August, and, though I think it's good to welcome August lovingly and optimistically, I'm admittedly a bit scared by how quickly the summer's gone by and how short a time there is left before regular work obligations start popping up again and our lives are once again based around our academic calendar. I'm reading about what seasons mean now in How to Read Literature Like a Professor...summer is often connected to youth and freedom and sunshine, whereas winter is usually implicative of loneliness and coldness, and fall (which we're approaching) is sort of like a "bridge" connecting them.  That said, though, common literary conventions aren't necessarily true for real life.  (The fact that I'm wearing a blue blouse, for instance, isn't necessarily a reflection of my innermost character/true feelings but rather a reflection of what was in my closet this morning.) We've been having a bit of an oppressive heat wave, so I'm excited for cooler temperatures, and winter can be just as happy a time as summer as long as you're in a loving place.  So that's what I'm hoping for for everybody--that, no matter how difficult things seem, you have a loving place to go to, regardless of whether it's wintertime or summertime or holiday time or school time.

<3 Frances