I call San Antonio (Texas) home. I spend a fair amount of time in Boston (Massachusetts) providing care for my two granddaughters. I love traveling by Amtrak across the northern tier from Portland (Oregon) to Chicago (Illinois). But on days like these, it's hard to say any of them compare to southern California, in this case, San Pedro.
San Pedro sits at the southernmost point of Los Angeles, on the Pacific Ocean. It is home to blue-collar dock workers and truck drivers working out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The ports sit right next to each other; two huge bridges connect the ports with the workers who live in San Pedro.
As usual, I woke up pretty early to check the news, some e-mail. And then I put on my backpack and walked to the top of the hill to have coffee, continue reading, and start blogging. The day was incredibly beautiful -- about like it is every day in southern California (forgetting about the recent rainstorms, somewhat of an anomaly).
I read while I walk. Right now I'm reading Leon Edel's
Bloomsbury: A House of Lions. It is, of course, the story of Virginia Woolf's group in London in the early 1900's that had a profound effect on modern art and modern literature. I have probably read as much as anyone (except graduate students majoring n the genre) on Virginia Woolf, her novels, the biographies, the anthologies. Every tme I feel I have seen everything or have read all I want about her, it seems I come across another great book on Virginia Woolf. Leon Edel's group biography is such a book: absolutely outstanding. I have always had a pretty good understanding of the Bloomsburg group, but never had a good feel for how it got started. Edel answers that question.
Understanding the personalities of the nine core members of the group is essential to understanding the impact this group had on the literary / art world. It's almost as of if Bloomsbury group was really one person with nine personalities. I could enjoy talking about these multiple personalities and their relationships with a psychologist.
But in the meantime, I will continue the book, check some e-mail, check up on the snowstorm on the East Coast and enjoy a wonderful day in southern California.
