August's End

Hello Gentle Readers. This past weekend brought rain and respite from the heat. When I went out to the garden Saturday, I found a little over three inches of rain in the gauge. The rain was very welcome. The local schools are back in session. The blue blooms of roadside chicory look weary. The sunflowers turn toward the sun while the cicada chorus throbs into the evening with a call and response. When my Granddad heard the cicadas he would remark, "Six more weeks until the first frost." Climate change may have changed the truth of his farm wisdom but I still think of him as I garden and especially when the August chorus begins. Well into old age, he tended a large beautiful vegetable garden. 

This is a Wednesday post with Kat and the Unravelers. I continue to knit on the same projects but that is how I like to work. Last night I thought I'd finished the body of Norah's Rainbow Sweater but there was something I didn't like.  After looking at it in a photo, I know I'll shorten the ribbing and perhaps change up the the color. Last night I began weaving in the ends along the front edge. I knit stripes in a random order to maximize the colors as a few are knit with two strands of fingering mini-skeins. I have less yardage in those colors.  

In between stripes, I've worked a little on this sock. Over the weekend I added a contrasting heel. 

As far as reading, I enjoyed listening to The Librarian of Burned Books. This historical fiction, set during World War Two is the story of three women who work with books. The novel is set in Berlin and Paris during the rise of the Nazis and later in New York City during the war. It is a chilling reminder about power, control, and what happens when freedoms are suppressed. It may not be great literature but it is a good story. Some of the ideas echo debates going on in the world today. 

I finished Mrs. Dalloway. I marveled at the way Woolf transitioned between characters. The image of a clock or a tree signals the reader that the prose is moving to another character. Character development and relationships between characters propel the narrative. 

I'm also reading The Age of Phillis by the author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. DeBois. The story of Phillis Wheatley is told in poetry. The essay at the end of the book, "Looking for Miss Phillis," is a fascinating account of the author's fifteen year search for information about Wheatley and the time in which she lived. The hard copy also includes notes about the ideas and inspiration for many of the poems. Jeffers is an excellent scholar and writer. That Phillis, survived the middle passage as a young girl and then went on to writing poetry is a testament to her intellect and grit. Jeffers honors not only those qualities as she brings her to life as an individual living during the 1700's.  

I hope August's End finds you well.