I read a few months ago about Catatumbo lightning, a phenomenon where lightning strikes up to 28 times per minute for nine hours a day for over half of the year in a remote region of Venezuela. There are a few scientific theories about its occurrence, but I was fascinated by the metaphors that piled up around the spectacle: “River of Fire,” “House of Thunder,” “Lanterns of St. Anthony,” “Lighthouse of Maracaibo.” The Wari believed the lightning was a concentration of millions of fireflies; the Yucpas and Wayúu considered it the presence of the spirits of the dead. Even some of the scientists were prone to poetry in seeking explanations: “The winds are key. It has to do with how the winds are dancing.” Generally, the collective scansion ran awestruck, grateful: the lightning was a beneficence.
Everything is a text! Everything is cipher. Everything is fungible. The strident or quiet morning, the forgetting or remembering wind, the trembling or capering leaf: every small thing presents an opportunity for reinterpretation. There are no final words. Tomorrow is an occasion for second findings.
Perhaps I am cottoning to this notion this week in particular, as I just submitted the second round of developmental edits on my manuscript to the editor. We are narrowing in on a final. I am thinking a lot about what it means to be a version, a final draft, something set and bound.
But more broadly, I am reading Catatumbo as an invitation, this week, to: read as you please, take a second look, dwell in possibility, write in pliable pencil.
Onward!
Reading Notes.
Selling you on next month’s book club pick in one line — “the room looked better with him in it.” (!!!!) Cinema! I am finding the book compulsively readable, but if you’re looking for something even lighter, Katie at Beach Reads and Bubbly was effusive about this romance, which I also ordered. Sidebar: you can’t see the full dress here, but below I’m wearing one of Mille’s airy Saffron caftans. Just the thing to throw on for a July afternoon fussing about the house and yard in bare feet. This brand runs big; go down a size.
Sunday Shopping.
MY FAVORITE SUMMER COCKTAIL NAPKINS // TOVE DRESS (ON SUPER SALE) // NEXT MONTH’S MAGPIE BOOK CLUB PICK // VIEVE LIP OIL // NICOLA BATHIE NECKLACE // ZARA TOP // DR. DIAMOND PLASMA SET // STAUD SANDALS (ON SALE!) // NEEDLEPOINT PILLOW
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