The days are hot, but it is starting to fell more like autumn at night. Last night the air was filled with a smoky smell that for me always brings to mind autumn and winter. Of course, in this case the smoke was coming from some lightning-kindled fires in the hills. Nonetheless, it eased my night with a touch of nostalgia. It really is too bad that my peace of mind had to come at the cost of 3000 acres of burnt grassland. Everything exists in a state of balance, although it seems that one side or the other should topple and tumble down under the weight of some inequity or other. Ah, well...

Here's a continuing list, more for my benefit than anybody else's, of books I've read lately:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
A Circle of Cats - Charles De Lint
The Road to Lisdoonvarna - Charles De Lint
Bad Chili - Joe R. Lansdale
The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" and other Nautical Adventures - William Hope Hodgson (I'm currently in the middle of this one. I originally read it as a teenager, but they've just reissued it with a whole slew of extra stories - first in a proposed six volume set of collected works. Yay!)

cds I listened to while reminiscing about seasons past: The Third and the Mortal "Painting on Glass", John Zorn "Filmworks 1986 - 1990", and "The Big Gundown", Naked City "Leng Tch'e", and V/A "The Poor Minstrels of Song and the Temple of the Moon"