counter on blogger

Pickle Me This

July 5, 2010

Reading like a pirate

Harriet has learned to point, so now she’s the master of her index finger, and this afternoon she mastered it directly into my left eye. Which means that I’m just now back from the walk-in clinic, after four hours of being last in the queue because everyone else was hemorrhaging. It was the longest uninterrupted stretch of reading I’ve had for as long as I can remember, even better than the two hours I spent waiting for a passport last summer. Someone reading a Nora Roberts novel kept trying to talk to me, but I was hardly going to waste such a precious opportunity on small talk, particularly not with someone reading a Nora Roberts novel. No wonder she was distracted, but I wasn’t, which was wonderful. To read for hours, without stopping, without the compulsion to check my email, lacking the means to do so. Seated in a comfortable chair just made for ophthalmology, never minding the fluorescent lights, or that I periodically had to cover up one eye and read my book like a pirate. I read the second half of Katha Pollitt’s book, and reread (for the fifth time) the first third of Slouching Towards Bethlehem. I was actually disappointed when the doctor finally arrived, but not so much when he told me that I was fine. Just a tiny scrape on my cornea, and nothing a little over-the-counter wouldn’t fix, and then it was out of the air-conditioning and and into the heat, and onto the subway to read my way home.

5 thoughts on “Reading like a pirate”

  1. patricia says:

    Aaaaaarrr, that musta hurt. Good for you, for making the best of your waiting time, and yes, good decision to not chat it up with the Nora Roberts broad.

  2. Your book snobbery warms the cockles of my heart.

  3. Joan Clare says:

    And I was worried about you with such a long wait?????? Of course you would have a book with you. Does this conjure up memories of being sent to your room??

  4. carin says:

    You make the aftermath of being poked in the eye almost appealing… no, wait, you DO make it appealing.

    Best of all, Harriet will suffer no guilt.

  5. Nathalie says:

    I love this! A reading break, air conditioning and overcoming the need to be nice. You DO make scary poky fingers sound appealing.

Leave a Reply to carin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

New Novel, OUT NOW!

ATTENTION BOOK CLUBS:

Download the super cool ASKING FOR A FRIEND Book Club Kit right here!


Sign up for Pickle Me This: The Digest

Sign up to my Substack! Best of the blog delivered to your inbox each month. The Digest also includes news and updates about my creative projects and opportunities for you to work with me.


My Books

The Doors
Twitter Pinterest Pinterest Good Reads RSS Post