Time Warp

The first thing I noticed as we drove to Central PA was the loneliness. People like to talk about the beauty of the countryside, and whole movements have been centered around the idea of the purity of nature compared to the wickedness of the cities and the need to "get back to nature" and beauty and all that. I can see it, but I can't feel it. Because what I felt driving through and what I remember feeling from when I lived out there was the loneliness. You can go for a long time between farm houses. People cluster along the highways like they are rivers, connections to other places. Lifelines. Not for me.

It was interesting in other ways too. Like when a cashier asked for my phone number and I realized that my area code would not be strange to her at all, as it is when I give it to people in the Philly area. I guess we always carry pieces of our past with us. I enjoyed seeing college friends that I hadn't seen in ages. But it was also bittersweet as we realized that next year, given visas and job needs, we might be really and truly scattered. I had not realized how many of the people I was counting on to be in the Philly area might not be here in a few months. We kept talking about transitions. Transitions transitions.

And now for a quick book review: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor is one of the best books I have ever read. I came across this author's name years ago in a blog post about the dearth of fantasy and sci fi written by writers of color. But my library in Central PA had never heard of Okorafor, so I put her on a list to read in the future. When I saw her latest book in a Borders that was closing, I decided to take a risk and purchase before I read. I am so glad I did, even though it meant I got even less sleep than usual. Who Fears Death deals with a lot of hard and horrifying topics; the main character is born of rape and the main impetus for her heroic journey is to save her people from complete genocide. The magic is unique and the characterizations complex and vivid. I don't want to keep rambling... I'm going to track down Okorafor's other books the minute I have freedom from my thesis, haha. (Another motivator. I'm so good at finding new motivations. You'd think I'd be beyond done by now!)