Confessing Happiness

It's Done!
But Will it Survive?

The best news yesterday was a late night phone call my wife and I received from our son announcing his return to the US from his big Mediterranean adventure with the Most Excellent Girlfriend.  He sounded tired but also incredibly happy/content and that made us incredibly happy/content.  I did learn yesterday that climbing a mountain, even a small one, on Saturday definitely impacts on my ability to run on Monday.  I felt really old when I started out but everything was working about halfway through it.  I had to park my car at the end of the street and hike about a ¼ mile to the house when I got back from work because they were finally finishing off the road paving project.  I walked up the side of the road and could feel the heat emanating from the freshly laid road way.  Luckily it had cooled enough near my house that I was able to cross the road without melting the bottom of my shoes.  They didn’t do anything with that portion I’m concerned will wash out with a heavy rain so we’ll see, today, because I drove through a deluge on my way to work.  It does look and feel great driving over.  I'll have to remember this feeling next spring when we see what kind of damage (Frost heaves anyone?)a New England winter has inflicted.  I finished off The First Confessor by Terry Goodkind yesterday.  He wrote the Sword of Truth fantasy series which I truly enjoyed and this latest book was about some of the major historical figures thousands of years earlier than the time of that series.  Goodkind does an amazing job writing action scenes but he gets caught up in explaining the ins and outs of magic as if the these rules really existed which can get tedious at times.  It’s something he obviously enjoys doing but it can be wearing on a reader, at least this one.  He is so good at creating epic characters that you really care about but I was tempted to skip over parts when he would launch into another of his polemics about magic.  Interestingly, Goodkind self-published this novel initially only in the e-book format.  He apparently has had trouble with the strictures and editing of publishers in the past.  The success of his earlier works provided him with the financial wherewithal to publish this himself.  I applaud his audacity but I think he missed the editors a little bit as this book was not as crisp or focused as his earlier works.  Still it was a good read and I enjoyed learning the back story of Magda Searus, Barraccus, and Merritt.  These were epic characters from the series that the reader heretofore only knew through reputation.  Today I will begin my next foray into the wacky world of Chuck Pahlaniuk.  I think I’m ready.  Of course, is anyone every truly ready for Pahlaniuk.