Evening Reflections in Madison, NH

Evening, Saturday, September 28, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Night has fallen over my little spot in Carroll County, and the chill is settling in. The sun dipped below the horizon a little after 6:30 PM, leaving us with cloudy skies and a temperature hovering around 61°F (16°C). While it’s not as bone-chilling as winter’s worst, I’m thankful to be warm inside. It’s not just the cool air; living in this rural expanse means sharing the night with bears and other woodland creatures.

Patti’s husband, Marc, paid a visit this morning. No need for a grocery run—I’ve got a good stockpile—but I did ask him to take me to the mailboxes. The effort yielded nothing noteworthy, just the usual Medicare handbook and a few mundane items, but at least the mail got collected.

I followed through with my plan of taking it easy today. Lunch was a Red Baron pepperoni pizza, half of which awaits its turn as dinner. Once fueled, I ventured outside for a quick walk before dusk fully claimed the day. Fifteen minutes was all I managed, but it was enough to stretch my legs and breathe some fresh air.

At my desk, I’m currently immersed in the melodies of John Williams in Vienna. This album, a treasure trove of film themes composed and conducted by Maestro Williams, was recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic in early 2020, marking their debut concert performances of film scores for Deutsche Grammophon. I picked up the multimedia box set from DG late in 2020 while still residing in the Tampa area and enjoyed the concert multiple times on Blu-ray at my old place. Although I can watch it here—it sits among the semi-assembled media towers in my bedroom—I haven’t felt the urge to do so.

Other than that, there’s not much else to say. I gave Regiments a shot about an hour ago but found myself uninterested less than 10 minutes into the 30-minute battle and called it quits. I do enjoy the game, but that’s just my nature. Often, I’ll plan to dive into Activity A, begin, and soon find myself shifting gears to Activity B.

I can’t help but be curious about what the Conway Public Library staff will decide regarding the donated copy of my novella, Reunion: A Story. I won’t pretend it doesn’t matter to me whether the chief librarian gives it a stamp of approval and adds it to the library’s shelves, likely in the young adult or general fiction section. That would be quite something, right?

There’s a part of me that’s eager for Reunion to be cataloged and borrowed by patrons. After all, I published my novella with the hope that my story would reach readers and resonate with them deeply.

Naturally, there’s a side of me that can’t help but be a bit pessimistic. There’s always a chance the chief librarian will decide to donate it to the Little Free Library program in the Conway/Madison area instead. That’s not entirely unfortunate – at least someone will read it.

Oh well. At least I tried to leave behind something good for the community I’m about to part ways with.