1 April, 1999

Full Circle

The day dawned gray and rainy after a night spent first talking to Winnie and then reading yet another young adult book from my adolescence.

This time, the books are the work of a British author, Ruth M. Arthur. All of the stories revolve around capturing moments from past times, generally involving ghosts of past generations of a particular family and the interaction of those ghosts with the present.

Some of them are better than others, I'm beginning to realize as they slowly trickle in from amazon.com's out-of-print book service. Last night's selection, The Whistling Boy was one of my favorites twelve years ago and stood the test of time as well, probably because it involved issues of slightly wider impact than the ghost story itself. The main character is struggling through a difficult transition and the story is really about how she handles her troubles.

Another facet of these books that I always enjoyed were the illustrations. There aren't many, just a few decorative panels, one or two full page spreads, but they capture the essence and atmosphere of the stoies perfectly. The artist, Margery Gill, uses pen-and-ink to great effect, stark lines blended with the more lyrical, expressive faces without overly detailed features.

Of course all of this has sent me back to a place and time that I left behind long ago. With this particular book though, also came a sudden sense of serenity. It's difficult to explain, but a number of things in my heart and mind came into alignment. I feel much calmer than I did a few days ago, various tasks that I need to take care of have lost a bit of their urgency.

I never know what will trigger this sense of peace, but it feels wonderful when it happens. Especially when the worry has been bad and I feel choked up, almost panicky and frayed.

Now if only the sun would peek out a bit ... it would be a perfect day, cooler than yesterday which got quite warm, but full of rumours of spring.