radiency

We dropped J off at the stable around noon.  I had to go in this time because she told me there was a new animal in the stable, a fuzzy baby donkey named Nestor.  Because I really wanted to meet Nestor, I picked my way through the hay and manure piles to get close.  He let me rub his nose which was warm and bristly.  I like donkeys, more so now than ever.


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On the way out we saw a tree with seven immature bald eagles sitting together.  I didn't realise that baby eagles stick together like that.  I always thought they were more independent.  We pulled over on the side of the gravel road to watch them, and as we were doing that, two women walking by with their dog told us that further up the road there was another tree in which they had counted thirteen adult bald eagles.  We drove in the direction they pointed to see those eagles too.  It's a wonderful place we live.


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After that it seems impossible that things could get more exciting but they did because we went to the bookstore to spend my Christmas gift certificate, courtesy of Mum and Dad.  I only had one book on my must-have list and was planning to let Shawn spend the rest.  But he was looking for something specific (by Isaac Asimov) which wasn't there.  Because he has a Kindle he felt it wouldn't be worthwhile to order a paper copy of a book he would rather have electronically.  (I don't really understand this, because I prefer paper books.)  I reconsidered my opinion on this, though, after I got my books.  The book I most wanted was 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami, and it's enormous.  Too enormous to come into the bath with me for I will certainly drop it in.  And so enormous, I suspect, that I will develop very strong wrists from holding it up as long as it will take me to read it.

Since Shawn didn't want to spend my certificate, I decided upon two more books.  I already had a Japanese author, so I picked an American (The Grief of Others, Leah Hager Cohen)  and a Canadian (Monoceros, Suzette Mayr).   The cashier commended my selections on the way out, which I found promising all around.  I like it when people who work in bookstores read books too.


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