JOURNAL
Sunday // JAN 1st // 2023
Americans have always been flag-wavers and good for them. This is a country peopled by immigrants -- people like my grandparents who moved to North America and reinvented themselves. They're proud of what they've achieved, proud to express their love of country by flying their American and Canadian flags. This is a country that changed ' God save our gracious queen! Long live our noble queen!' to 'My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty.' Good for them. But something troubles me about the intensity of this patriotic surge. Propaganda thrives on flags. I get the feeling that patriotism is being manipulated.
Bruce Fogle
from TRAVELS WITH MACY
Thursday // DEC 8th // 2022
The woods were full of singing birds, warblers and thrushes; and then I heard the unmistakable sound of a cuckoo, which was as clear as a clock, striking fifteen. The sun was strong, the gradient was easy, the bees were buzzing, and there was a soft breeze; and I thought: this was what I was looking for when I set out this morning -- though I had no idea I would find it here.
All travelers are optimists, I thought. Travel itself was a sort of optimism in action. I always went along thinking: I'll be alright, I'll be interested, I'll discover something, I won't break a leg or get robbed, and at the end of the day I'll find a nice old place to sleep. Everything is going to be fine, and even if it isn't, it will be worthy of note -- worth leaving home for.
Paul Theroux
from THE KINGDOM BY THE SEA
Saturday // DEC 3rd // 2022
Longmont Books is finally open!
