Date: 2018-03-29
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Miles today: 0.0

This question is directed you, my readers. I¢ll let you know what I¢ve already downloaded for this hike, but really, I would like your suggestions. Think of it as a wine pairing. What books would go well with a flip-flop thru-hike? Do we want a nice fruity, easy-drinking red, like a Beaujolais, that we can quaff instead of sip?  An Oregon Pinot Noir, elegant but simple? A serious Burgundy? Since I¢ll be hiking at the peak of summer, perhaps a Viognier from the Languedoc served with a seafood paella cooked over the campfire? Only if you are catering. Which e-books would you carry?There will be plenty of time for reading. My work-of-fiction hiking schedule has me reaching Manchester Center, Vermont on the summer solstice, June 21, when the sun will rise at 5:09 and won¢t set until 8:42. That¢s 15-1/2 hours of daylight, not even considering twilight, and far too long for me to spend it hiking. By then I¢ll know the hikers around me well, and while I¢m sure the conversation will be scintillating, there are bound to be long pauses when a book would be nice. The summer solstice is also known as Hike Naked Day.  I won¢t be. Hiking naked is a cardinal violation of the sixth Leave No Trace Principal ¢ Respect Wildlife ¢ not to mention the seventh ¢ Be Considerate of Other Visitors.  My reading tastes are catholic, so nothing you might suggest would offend me. I tend to read more fiction than nonfiction, but I have read a good deal of American history, particularly the 17th and 18th centuries and the Spanish-American War, when we first became an imperial nation. My frequent visits to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia while serving on the board of Appalachian Trial Conference/Conservancy piqued my curiosity about John Brown and the abolitionist period. I¢m fortunate to live only a short walk from both the Fletcher Free Library of the City of Burlington and the Bailey/Howe Library at the University of Vermont, so whatever my taste at the moment, I can indulge it in depth. I enjoy exploring rabbit holes. I read a lot of new fiction. Since our house fire in 2009, I¢ve tended to rely upon libraries and downloads rather than buying hard copies. Books have lost a sense of permanence for me.In penance for having quoted the first line of Leo Tolstoy¢s Anna Karenina without having read the book, I have downloaded it. It is a personal failing, but Tolstoy bores me. I thoroughly enjoy Dostoevsky, particularly The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov, and I¢ve read Herman Melville¢s Moby DIck repeatedly. On the other hand, reading Tolstoy¢s War and Peace felt longer than the fifteen years the book spans. The Pevear and Volokhonsky translation in hardback weighs nearly four pounds, making it excellent for pressing eggplant slices. I can take Anna in only small doses, but she will be joining me on this hike.  My favorite writers include Hermann Hesse, especially Narcissus and Goldmund and The Glass Bead Game, and Flannery O¢Connor. I named Enoch, Kansas after her character Enoch Emery. A blessed few of you may have recognized the caption of last week¢s photo as an homage to Oscar Wilde, whose fate was sealed by a small envelope left by the Marquess of Queensbury at Oscar¢s club proclaiming, ¢For Oscar Wilde posing somdomite (sic).¢I¢ve also downloaded Dylan Thomas¢ The Collected Poems since he seems to be on my mind of late.  I am incapable of reading poetry unless I¢m in the woods and time slows down. Before cellphones made the weight of books immaterial, I sought out thin books. I carried Walt Whitman¢s 1855 first edition of Leaves of Grass for years, reading and rereading the 12 poems it contains, until finally they opened up to me. Walt¢s final edition in 1892 ballooned to over 300 poems and never would have found its way into my pack.  Wendell Berry¢s Sabbath poems beg to be read outdoors.In general, I avoid mysteries and suspense novels on my hikes. There are enough real things going bump in the night that I don¢t need to be scaring myself. Dame Agatha Christie and P. D. James, Baroness James of Holland Park, are exceptions.  I also have the e-Book of Common Prayer and Lectionary on my iPhone and try to say the daily offices, but often fail in that. The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer traces its roots to 1549 and the artful editing of Thomas Cramner.  He managed to keep his head through various regime changes, but he was finally done to a turn at the stake in 1556. I¢ve been accused of grounding my faith in aesthetics, and perhaps it is so. Words like inestimable and unfeignedly are simply divine. The 12 modes of Gregorian Chant excite my soul.So, dear friends, what shall I read on this hike? Please make your nominations in the guest book. One month to go, and I¢m getting antsy.