Wow, offline for almost 14 hours. Fabulous.
1) So wrapped up in Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France that after work I sat on my back porch in the fading yellow-gray light with a glass of wine and kept on reading until it was too dark.
1a) And then kept on reading over dinner at Doyle's until her surprising and sad story came to an end. Not a heroine, not a traitor - someplace in the middle like most people.
1b) But what I found most appealling about this story is that Priscilla is actually the author's aunt, and he began it with his childhood memories of her and their relationship: watching old movies in her bedroom on one of the first television sets, her scent, her love of couture, visiting her sunbathing in a secluded part of a walled garden (nude; he'd have to announce himself in advance so she could cover up), and years later discovering in her scrapbook his own baby picture on the first page. You wouldn't have found any of my aunts and uncles sunbathing nude in a walled garden or dressing in couture! But it did give me an opportunity to reflect on the relationships I had with adults when I was a child.
2) Yesterday was really just a big fatigue-a-thon after a poor night's sleep and an 8 AM dental appointment, but miraculously I powered through the afternoon and got stuff done.
3) A couple responses to my column on Not Upstaging the Deceased have really touched me.