Another day, another chapter in life

Last weekend my son asked me if we had a copy of the book The Outsiders at home.

He wanted to read it.

I grabbed the book from our book shelf and handed it to him, noting about the story, “I first read this book when I was in Grade 8.”

“Holy!!! It’s old!!!” he blurted out.

Seriously, it always cracks me up when my kids don’t use a filter. I remember a time a few years ago when Justin told me he remembered when I used Velcro hair rollers “way, way back in the day,” adding, “You know, when you were 40.”

“Ummm, I’m only 46,” I had told him at the time.

Surely six years earlier didn’t count as way, way back in the day?

Meanwhile, the fact that The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hutton, was first published in 1967, two years before I was born, did make me feel a bit younger.

Still, I told my son, “That’s right. I was reading the book while dinosaurs roamed the neighbourhood.”

Seeing my son Justin reading the book has been nice. After he finishes the book I figure we should seek out the movie and watch that together too – although he may not be up for it when he realizes that as a teenager I saw it so many times I know most of the dialogue off by heart.

I read a lot in this job. I read my stories, other reporters’ stories, newspapers, emails, reports, texts, tweets, etc.

As if I don’t read enough during the day, in my spare time I like to read books. On weekends or evenings my favourite place to be is sitting on my back deck reading a book.

Last Sunday I pulled out a book by one of my favourite authors, Lisa Jackson, and read the entire book in between the time I got up and the time I went to bed – all 423 pages of it. And during that time I also still managed to work for about four hours and do some errands at home. I guess I’m a fast reader.

I’ve tried to make it a habit to put an ‘R’ on the inside covers of my books, a note to myself that I’ve already read them. Sometimes I forget to do that and I’m a couple of chapters in before that déjà vu feeling hits and I realize I’ve already read the book.

There have been books in the past that I’ve enjoyed so much I’ve read them four or five times but I try to avoid doing that now.

I’ll admit I feel a little bad when I’m reading as it sometimes feels like I’m neglecting my family. But we all need that ‘me time’ to help us get through the days and weeks and this ride we’re all on called life.

The day before my marathon book session, though, Justin and I had some ‘we time.’ We drove up to our family’s camp in Meteghan for the day. We decided not to call ahead and tell my parents we were coming. We opted instead for the element of surprise – hoping it didn’t backfire on us when it was time for supper. But mom usually always has more food than is needed so we figured we were safe.

It was a pretty laid-back after- noon. I was sitting in a chair by the lake – yes, reading a book. Justin decided to do some fishing. It was hard not to get distracted by him as he kept getting the hook from his fishing rod caught in the tall grass close to the shoreline.

Then the next thing we knew his hook was caught in a tree.

From here the conversation went like this:

Me: “Why don’t you cast that way,” I say, pointing towards the end of the wharf.

Justin: “Because this is where the fish are.”

My dad: “But the fish aren’t in the trees.”

I laughed so hard I felt I like I was reading a comedy. As for Justin, he later gave up the fishing and returned to the book instead.

When the only thing you catch fishing is a tree, you might as well move onto another chapter.