Keeping My Nose In A Book

"Where's Ramona?" was a question asked about me many times. Mom would say: "Oh, she's got her nose in a book." Books were my means of adventure and escape then, just as they still are. Though some days even books can't help me escape. The news of the real world is just too compelling, too upsetting, too hard to believe, thus I must keep watching.

Last week it was Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, this week it is the advance warning news generated by Hurricane Irma. In between is the news about all the wildfires burning and the nuclear threats from North Korea.

I feel very fortunate and fairly safe here in Iowa where only the effects of the wild fires are visible....the sunset Saturday was a huge red ball.

Sunday morning the sky was shadowed by smoke.

And Sunday night, the sun set very red, again.

And rose a red ball again yesterday morning.

All day yesterday the sky was an eerie yellow-green. At times it would be so dark in the house I wondered if there was a hail storm coming, though nothing showed on radar. I thought, "This must be what a nuclear winter would be like with no sun shining through."

Sunset last night; still murky, but the sky had cleared some.

Up early this a.m. in time to see the (almost) full moon setting, shining on the water. The sky was clear and it was chilly out. (51°)

But as I read the latest news from North Korea, I thought about the evil 'face' in the setting sun Sunday.....

.....and again last night. Are we getting closer to the end of our planet? Or will it survive along with enough population to start over?
This is why I never liked dystopian novels. It was always too easy for me to see their stories becoming a reality.

Some days it is hard to remain positive and keeping my nose in a book just isn't enough of an escape.