Day Twenty Nine
Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm Page: 207
The Confessions by St. Augustine Page: 370
Three times in the last few days people have asked me if I remembered such and such that happened yesterday or the day before and I’ve been at a loss for what they were talking about. Now each time after getting impatient and forcing them to explain further I’ve remembered what they were talking about but for some reason was unable to comprehend the original description they used. And so I’m worrying if “mommy-brain” is setting in. I’m trying to get something out of my reading and both understand and remember the substance of the various books but if I can’t understand basic ‘markers’ for recalling simple conversations or incidents how can I expect to grasp the essentials of one of the greatest works of Christian literature? I worry about the way that food has taken over something like 75% of my waking thoughts. I’m continually calculating how many ounces of formula Luc is eating a day and whether that is enough (babies need 1 & 1/2 to 2 ounces per pound of body weight per day). I’m also constantly thinking about how to keep Alex’s diet varied enough to ensure that he gets all the nutrients he needs which is difficult both because he’s one and not able to eat everything and because we are constantly at the store where it is difficult to cook and store food. Likewise I have to try to plan meals that I can make quickly and with at least one baby in my arms and will last for more than one day so Jared and I have good to eat at the store. And on top of all that I’m also trying to lose weight (I gained 50 pounds with Luc) so I have to count my calories. And I’m doing all of this on a very tight budget since between the pay cut Jared took to work fewer hours at ShutterCrafts and buying formula for one and diapers for two there is no spare room in the grocery money. So no wonder I can’t remember every little incident or conversation.
I was desperate last night to get my pages in for yesterday and so I broke out Grimm’s Fairy Tales to get the job done. I succeeded at about 8pm and I got a good start on today’s reading when I was up at 3:30 this am. They were weird enough to give me odd dreams – apparently German women were extraordinarily ready to eat their or other people’s children and the Grimm’s end a lot of their tales with inexplicable little conclusions like “…and if they have not died, they are living still.” or at the end of Hansel and Gretel “My tale is done, there runs a mouse; whosoever catches it, may make himself a big fur cap out of it.”
I finished Augustine today but considering that this is a sixteen-hundred year old work that has commentaries written on it there is no way I did it justice with my 100+ page-a-day consumption rate. I have often lamented the fact that education in America in this day and age does not readily include the classical languages. I so wish I could judge of the quality of a translation and I wish I could read the originals of these classic works to get their truest sense. I don’t necessarily feel any wiser for having read it but I think I feel sufficiently challenged to greater personal holiness. Like I said a few days ago, I think I’ll re-read this again at a much slower pace someday.
Tomorrow, I start Democracy in America and maybe tomorrow but certainly by the next day, I’ll start Jane Eyre.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:17 am
There are some books that you just don’t read past about 7pm. Among these I will add The Phantom of the Opera And oddly enough some of the Series of Unfortunate Events simply because they play tricks on a tired brain that should not be played and when you wake up the next day you are a bit topsy turvy.