On birthdays, reading and the perfect storm

On birthdays

Three weeks ago, I celebrated my 52nd birthday. I am grateful for all the years given to me but can’t help feeling a bit sad from time to time about the fleeting passage of time. I am even more aware of it when I look at our son. He turned 17 just over a week ago. Next year he will no longer be considered a minor in the eyes of the law. In my eyes though, he is still the mischievous toddler trailing after me and talking incessantly about dinosaurs, volcanos, airplanes and trains. There are moments when I think I am ready to sell everything except my soul just to have one of those days back. But life never goes backwards, so I will look forward to the time ahead with excitement instead of trepidation. 

On reading

As I mentioned in my last post, I plan to read 23 books from 23 different countries this year. I don’t yet have 23 books from 23 different countries but I will get there. My goal for 2023 is a total of 40 books, so there is ample time for me to search for books from around the globe. You may think I’m crazy, but I’ve joined a ‘Read The World’ challenge that includes 196 countries from around the globe. The nice thing about this challenge is that you can start or finish whenever you like. So my start date is 2023 but I could continue this challenge until it is completed several years in the future. There are book suggestions for nearly every country (except for some countries that I have never even heard of). I am very excited about this and keep hunting for the more elusive countries whenever I am buying books. Up to now, I’ve ‘done and dusted’ three countries: Syria (The Stray Cats of Homs by Eva Nour – I will post a review of this remarkable book soon), the UK (The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro) and Greece (Ariadne by Jennifer Saint). For some reason, ticking countries off the list just makes me smile. I could cheat and add books I read in the past to increase my tally quicker, but I’ve never cheated in my life and don’t plan to start now. After all, this challenge gives me the perfect excuse to beg for, borrow or buy more books.

The perfect storm

After a very mild autumn, the first 4 weeks of winter were also quite warm and sunny. Then it turned cold on my birthday weekend (which was the perfect present) and has continued to be so. Last week though, storm Helios battered our shores. We had constant rain for 24 hours and gale-force winds. Friday was a public holiday and the sun came out for a while. My husband and I went for a walk along Dingli Cliffs, where I was scared the wind would blow us into the sea, and then spent some time reading in the car. The sunlight warmed it up and it was perfect for a while (although the wind kept buffeting and shaking our car). After some time, dark clouds started to form on the horizon and by the time we drove home, the rain started coming down again. People in Malta have got so unused to storms (we haven’t had a major one since 2019) that anytime one hits our shores, it becomes the main topic of conversation for at least 10 days. I wonder how we would all survive if the weather was bad a bit more frequently. Of course, I relished it and now I wonder whether we will get a few more storms before winter is over.

There are already quite a few signs of spring here in Malta. The daylight hours are, like everywhere else in the northern hemisphere, noticeably longer. Some wildflowers, like the crown daisy, yellow wall rocket and asphodel, are already blooming, while buds are starting to form on the giant fennel. Soon the garigue and the countryside will be humming with bees and that somnolent feeling which I always associate with spring will be in the air.

I want to try and keep my posts as short as possible because I know how busy life gets and I don’t want to take up more of your time than necessary (and I have to get back to my books :)). So that's all for this week except for one small question: I would like to write some posts about sustainable living and making simple environmentally-friendly choices but I wanted to know whether anyone would be interested. Thanks in advance for any feedback. 

Have a wonderful week.