Routines

Being a teacher, I follow a fairly strict daily routine for 9 months of the year. In the summers, I still follow a routine, but the times are more flexible. A walk or run takes up an hour or two first thing in the morning. Reading and writing consume a few hours each day. I drink tea, knit, sew, converse with friends, read some more.

This week I am following my other summer routine while visiting friends. I still walk each morning, but these streets and sidewalks are a bit uneven, meaning I cannot read-walk. The days are filled with conversations, book talk, walking, cooking, and interesting excursions. In the evening, I read aloud to my friends in the cool living room, their cat leaping up to join us, even when he is reprimanded for doing so. This summer the book is LIAR AND SPY by Rebecca Stead. As this is my third time reading it, I am finding clues I missed, wording that could be understood in more than one way. I wonder if my listeners are catching the clues, or if they, like me the first time I read it, are so completely engaged with Georges, the narrator, that they will be surprised in a few chapters.