What to Read on the Plane

I sent out a call for book recommendations on facebook. I got a great list! A very dear friend brought some by my house this morning. I think I have decided to take Witchwood by John Buchann, The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett, Inklings of Reality by Donald Williams, and Mulliner Nights, by P.G. Wodehouse. I have a strict policy of always flying with Wodehouse.



I had pulled Then Darkness Fled, the Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington by Stephen Mansfield, off my bookshelf a couple of days ago. Last night I was reading about his struggles as a very young boy being a slave during the civil war. One of his greatest longings was for education. "Oppression of mind, as well as of the body, made slavery the bitter thing that it was. Those who seek to subjugate others fear the dreams of an educated mind as they do the armies of their foes," Stephen Mansfield. When I picked up Inklings of Reality and read some of the introduction it stated: "The classical concept of education that inspired men of the Renaissance like Machiavelli involved growing out of the provincialism of one's own time and place to become a citizen of the ages. Such people heard around them the echos of a great Conversation as old as the race, in which the great Minds wrestled with the great Questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is ultimately real? What is the greatest good? And, not least importantly, how do we know?" I am really excited about reading more on the plane. Thank God terrorist have not started using books as bombs, if they take my hand sanitizer I will live, but NOT MY BOOKS!



So I am still packing, and am down to what I "need" in my carry-on. I have found packing to be an interesting exercise in what is important to me. I really don't "need" much. I have a few clothes, and paperwork, but the rest is all optional. I know I will want things that comfort me. I don't have a teddy bear, but I do have a fleece blanket, lots of chocolate, books, ipod, and ibuprofen. I don't like to be in pain, and I like to have something to fill my mind and tummy. When I get back I will have to explore my addictive behaviours again. I think I see some patterns emerging. It is also a good reminder that I need to be on the lookout for those things that comfort Jubilee. Weird things that I think about when getting ready for big changes.