“Thought is neither instant nor noisy … It thrives best in solitude, in quiet, and in the company of the past, the great community of human experience. That recorded experience is essential whether one hopes to re-assert some aspect of it, or attack it.”

— Wallace Stegner

I suspect Stegner’s quote was introduced by Wendell Berry’s “Standing by Words.” I suppose one could go on line and get an immediate answer. What matters to me is the quote.

Finding solitude is easy enough these days for me at my age but for the young at heart solitude is sitting in front of a screen or having a cell phone connection or texting. I must admit my niece’s daughter, Franny, showed me how to text a line when I spent a night with them. That was my last text message. They don’t seem to work on “land-lines” and what a hideous name that is. It sounds like something out of the 18th Century.

I’m preparing to do a reading next week for some kindergarten kids in Rochester if I can find the school. They will be listening to “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. I remember bringing it downstairs and placing it on the bookshelf and the other night I went to get it and it wasn’t there. Finally on my third or maybe fourth search there it was with the little red apple falling from the tree to the little boy waiting below. Now I just need to find the school. I have a napkin sketch map to go by. This could be a challenge.

The grief of humidity slid into town Sunday, something we don’t look forward to in spring. Fortunately the humidity slipped back out of town before morning which was a relief to all. Mello and I spent some porch time watching traffic pass by and a few walkers.

Lydia, our daughter, called from a political doings, a post doings and said she couldn’t find her car that she had parked before the event. She continued to talk until she found it and then said she might be coming by to spend the night if she couldn’t find Susie.

Monday morning she was sleeping on the couch not far from Mello. She said when waking Mello up she only faced a few barks when she arrived. Mello appears to be mellowing. Then Lydia was back on her way to Rochester for another event in the world of politics.

I think we need younger politicians these days. Perhaps there should be term limits. Politicians, at least at the Federal level just seem to be nesting in office. There was mention the other day of a recent graduate of Pepperdine University Law School. The article said, “A law degree used to be a ticket to the good life. But in this economy, debt-burdened law school grads scramble for a job — any job.” The $160,000 job offer he received while in school was rescinded when the economy tanked. John Kay, the new lawyer said, “I have no problem paying my dues. The problem is I can’t even get a job at the bottom.”

It was nice to see the display of Eric Johnson’s photo collection in Sunday’s Herald and it’s fun to watch Eric shoot photos too. The collection was a nice assortment of photos. The first one stood out but they all played well, and it was good to see Eric on the front-page setting up to shoot with a characteristic toothpick in his mouth.

A writing friend, Rita, gave me a book at Plainview “Black Dog, Black Night” contemporary Vietnamese Poetry. Here is a sample from Te Hanh, a native of Quang Ngai and a member of Vietnamese Writers Association entitled Hanoi Without You

Now Hanoi is without you/I walk along the streets looking for the past/this street next to a park/makes me remember waiting for you as if for the wind — we were familiar but not close/This street, on the moonlit evening/when you and I walked for a while talking in silence/This street where I came to look for you/makes people think I’m looking for a shade tree/I follow the streets here and there/And love Hanoi, even though it’s empty without you

Rita had a twin-brother who served in Vietnam and now prefers the quietness of the wilderness outside Duluth like many other Vietnam veterans. And as for the poetry my favorite line is: “When you and I walked for a while talking in silence.” Nice closing words.