Dear Readers and Book Lovers,
It is the second day of Hanukah, the Jewish festival of lights. Soon will be solstice. We live in dark days and times, but light is coming – albeit in small, slow, increments.
My day job is remote during the pandemic. I am lucky for that. When I was commuting from Providence to Boston by train, some people would say: “at least the commute gives you time to read.” Of course, I have more time to read now; more access to my reading chair; more bonding time with my bookshelves and book piles. Light.
Without my commute, I enjoy the luxury of reading doorstop tomes without having to schlep them on the train. Light. I am nearly done reading the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. For my bedtime book, I’ve been dipping into The journals of Dorothy Wordsworth. She depicts routine days with her brother William, and friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge: walks, reading, writing, and baking. (She also regularly collected moss for reasons I still haven’t uncovered. Do you have theories?) Early in the pandemic I read and loved Mistress Masham’s Repose by T.H. White, a story about a girl who discovers exiles from Lilliput. I recently read Living Bread, a cookbook that includes stories about bakers. In many ways a tribute to people living the dream and doing what they love. Light.
I don’t miss the commute, but I do miss Arugula Books and those who visited the stall to browse, buy, and talk books. I think about Arugula Books all the time, and dream about my reopening after the vaccine. In addition to going to the grocery store, I have been ordering some food from Farm Fresh RI. When I order apples, they arrive in sweet little shopping bags. I have been saving these bags because they will offer a lovely way for Arugula Books’ customers to carry home their biblio-treasures. Light.
On Hanukah we light nightly candles: one candle on the first night, two on the second and onward until eight candles flicker and brighten the space. I am taking my days light by light.
Be safe, and happy reading! Ilene
PS If you want to buy books without entering a bookstore and without patronizing the company-that-shall-remain-nameless, check out bookshop.org and Biblio.com. Here in Providence, we have Books on the Square; Symposium Books. Cellar Stories, Paper Nautilus, to name a few options.
Arugula Books 
Happy Hannukah to Arugala Books and its lovely proprieter!
What wonderful thoughts at a challenging time.
Happy Hanukkah and thank you, Ilene, for shining your light into so many places!
I don’t have a theory, but I would say that by process of elimination, we can say that Dorothy was not a Rolling Stone. I am happy to read your shared thoughts and activities. You are inquisitive and insightful.
Happy Hanukkah! Thanks for the reminder that, despite our current time, we have many reasons to hold the light.
Your post revealing the ‘light’ interwoven into daily rhythms of living and vise versa made for a very calming read! Can’t wait for Arugula Books to rise again in 2021!
Your blog has brightened my day! Thank you for sharing these experiences and thoughts, especially during such a challenging time.