3 Thoughts

I'm going to try to post three simple thoughts each Monday morning. This is kind of/sort of inspired by the regular "Random Thoughts" posts of one of my favorite bloggers, Matt B. Redmond, who blogs at Echoes and Stars. Matt usually collects together 10 thoughts, but that just goes to show he's more thoughtful than I am. So:

1. I worry about people who don't read books. Whole books, start to finish, for pleasure and/or edification. I also worry about people who walk down the street looking at their phones (let alone those who drive down the street looking at their phones). It seems that no one has stopped to consider the long-term impact of this "revolution" in how we spend our time. Sometimes I see moms or dads walking down the street, engrossed in their phone-world, with the kids trailing disconsolately. I have to admit, I want to grab the phone from their hands and throw it under a bus.
2. But I love my town and region. South Portland, Maine. We're planted, Laurie and me, where we need to be. And by the way, we both agree about that.
3. This "cowboy lit" phase I've been going through, it may never end. I'm loving my investigation of the Western fiction genre. Right now I'm well into Philipp Meyer's The Son. This is no shoot 'em up western, no kill-or-be killed adventure on the prairie, but a deeply thoughtful and deftly woven tale involving the clash of cultures and generations. Barring a disappointing finish, I would rank this one among the greats. Really.