Escapes

I indulged myself last week—removed myself from time and space—especially time, since I blanked out an intended visit to a friend on Saturday and only remembered Sunday afternoon. I sent abject apologies, of course. Actually, I haven’t really stopped escaping now, simply slowed down. 

There was reason behind my reading binge. I called it research. The research part: How do mature teens behave, think, act, react? And, how do authors convey those same teens in action? 

But in truth, it was pure escape.

I browsed my iPad for the library’s holdings of young adult ebooks, and the name Louis Sachar caught my eye. I loved his Holes, and here was a title new to me, though published in 2010, The Cardturner, a book about duplicate bridge. I know little about playing bridge, other than Barry Rigal’s daily column on the newspaper puzzles page, and I only pay attention to that because of the quotes he inserts, which have nothing to do with the game (as far as I can tell). 

Reading The Cardturner was a lot like reading a book about a sport I don’t indulge in, where my interest is in who wins or loses, and what one learns about people by playing the game. Seventeen-year-old Alton gets the job of reading the cards to his blind, very rich great-uncle, who never forgets a hand. Family drama, romance, and even some channeling of ghosts add tension to the plot. 

The next title that caught my eye was Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything, 2013. This many-starred read is the opposite of a sports novel. Ezra’s accident puts an end to tennis and his place among the jocks. I’m definitely planning to re-read this one, being a person who is still wondering who I’m going to be when I grow up.

After those two, I read three other YA novels and am now reading a very old collection of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s shorts, Double Vision. 

And finally got back to work on my own visions. 

Walking Sophie this morning, I was reminded that any time a deadline presses on me, such as preparing for company or a trip, I first escape into other worlds. It always used to worry me, and I still don’t know the psychology behind it—but there it is, if anyone can explain it.