Rainy days and good books

Rainy days have returned to Seattle, and I couldn't be more excited. This is our second consecutive day of rain, and it's the best kind of rain: bluish gray rain clouds, steady rain that is cool but not bone-chilling. It makes the air smell amazing - fresh and crisp. And it sounds so relaxing.

It's the perfect day to curl up with a cup of tea and a good book. Good thing, because Daina and I have started our next book: John Adams by David McCullough. I am only about a hundred pages into the book, but have been enjoying it greatly so far.

I am finding that I identify a great deal with John and Abigail (we are all on a first-name basis, already). John talks about how wonderful it is to be participating in the Continental Congress with so many brilliant people, but at the same time, it is so very frustrating because the group spends far longer debating simple matters than necessary.

Adams said, "I believe if it was moved and seconded that we should come to a resolution that three and two make five, we should be entertained with logic and rhetoric, law, history, politics, and mathematics concerning the subject for two whole days, and then we should pass the resolution unanimously in the affirmative."

Ha. I am glad to hear this isn't a new problem when it comes to government, or even corporate, decision making.

And, I do have a little crush on Abigail. She was so smart and so hardworking. Plus, she was a feminist and worked for women's rights long before what we think of as the traditional start to the women's movement. Wow. But so far, some of my favorite things are these lines that McCullough writes about her:

"She did everything that needed doing. All her life she would do her own sewing, baking, feed her own ducks and chickens, churn her own butter (both because that was what was expected, and because she knew her butter to be superior)."

Abigail and I have that in common - I often find myself telling Sean that I would not buy one thing or another because my version of that thing is far superior. Sean, much like John (at least in my imagination), has never bothered to correct me on this point. What can I say, he's a smart man who picks his battles well.

Well, off to walk Dottie so I can settle into a long morning of reading and sipping tea. What are you doing today?