I'm back now

This captured my attention at the Columbus, IN Visitors Center. Pretty much any quote by Auden is a good one.

I have not meant to neglect you, my loyal blog-readers, for the past three weeks. I do apologize though, because it looks as if I had. I have been on my much-anticipated holiday to visit family and friends in the United States and just got back to the UK today. It has been quite a trip! My head is still several time zones behind, I think, and so I am going to make this a short blog post. (Probably better for you, anyway, because if I can't follow my own train of thought, I highly doubt you'd be able to make any sense of it either.)

Anyway! I have been sunning, shopping and eating at Cracker Barrel and other places. I think I've gained at least ten pounds. From all of the appetizers and free refills and three sides that come with every main course. My ankles, once delicate and bird-like, have now disappeared into my calves and so now I just have cankles. I will be doing some serious detoxing here in the next few weeks.

During my time in the States I also had time to visit with two of my dearest friends, Haley and Margaret. I've written about Margaret previously  - she is the author of Dark Horse, which I highly recommend. We had a fabulous five hour lunch, and we discussed a variety of things (the scope of which my mind still can't comprehend). Especially the writing life. She has told me that fiction is always influenced by our experiences, and her book is definitely no exception.

Also, I think it bears mentioning that during our lunch (at Panera Bread in Muncie, Indiana) we were sitting right next to the cousin of Gene Brewer, who wrote K-PAX. It is truly a small world after all. If you have never seen the movie, I think you might like it! But then again I am a big Kevin Spacey fan. I have never read the book - if you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

And so before I nod off now I will leave you with this: read, live, and be inspired!