On Friday evening we went to town and watched the movie, then waited in community for our copy of the book. On Saturday morning I continued to re-read the sixth book while my youngest son continued with the seventh and last book that he had begun the night before. It would have made a funny, silent movie to have filmed us in all the many places we draped and curled ourselves to read and read the whole day long….tho’ the porch sofa was the spot I returned to most often. And of course, we had to have reading-meals because we couldn’t talk to each other for fear of letting something slip. Still the day was full of cosiness and shared smiles over the edges of our books.
…and wonder at the thought of so many people across the world reading along with us. I came quite late to knowing Harry Potter. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it, not being much of a fantasy reader. But I was convinced last winter by my children’s pleasure in the books to give the first one a try. I spent a delightful few wintery weeks reading the first six books-one after the other. It was a rich, savoring feeling knowing that I had another book just waiting for me when each one was finished. And how neat it was to be able to ask my sons so many questions that came to me while I read and have them tell me their thoughts and insights.
On this stay-at-home Sunday, I gave the sixth book that I had finished to my husband (who had yet to read it!) and my son gave the last book to me. This time, my husband and I would have made a funny, sped-up film as we read together …sometimes toes touching in chaise lounges facing each other, or side-by-side on a quilt in the woods, or on the porch. My youngest son appeared now and then, especially for the reading meals and we even talked on the phone with eldest son who is traveling across country and had acquired and finished the book already….and still none of the story had been revealed….just an excitement shared…to be partaking in it together.
I made the living room inviting with fluffed-up pillows and lit candles and prepared to read long into the night to finish the book….but I got sleepy and went to bed with it only half-finished. This morning and afternoon I did all that I should, including filling orders for several hours. I did read a chapter during lunch and have been reading steadily (on the porch sofa again) all the evening.
So, our interlude is nearly over. I have two hundred pages
left to read. I just got off the phone with eldest son and we
were oohing and aahing over the depth of feelings expressed in the book….how bright the happiness, how dark the despair….It brims over with goodness…and its opposite. And the struggles in the book, the losses, have even helped me with my own-as I get used to the world without my father in it. Look at the quote I discovered on the first page:
“Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still.” -William Penn
This has been said before, but he said it so simply and beautifully. And I am so grateful to have this…and so much more from these good, good books.
Tomorrow will see me back to everyday life and the wonder of this story will be past its first bloom for me. But its message of love will color my days, I hope.
Now it is time to put the kettle on and light a few candles
and kiss my family good night and settle in for a last few hours of enchantment.
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