This recommendation comes from a dear friend in Delaware. I actually met her partner first when I lived in Delaware from 2002-2005. We played DDR and ITG together. Towards the end of my time in Delaware, I would hang out with this couple, playing Settlers of Catan and other board games. Fast forward to today; I reestablished contact with them on My Roadtrip, and we’ve chatted a few times via text and video chat since I’ve been in New Zealand.

Recommendation #22 from Kristy Nichols

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Per Wikipedia – Prodigal Summer is the fifth novel by American author Barbara Kingsolver. Heavily emphasizing ecological themes and her trademark interweaving plots, this novel tells three stories of love, loss and connections in rural Virginia.

Being TrinityDreamer, I was immediately taken by the three interweaving stories of Deanna, Lusa, and Garnett. As I got to know the lives and minds of these characters, I loved experiencing the inter-connectedness of their world. It reminded me of how everything is connected in my own world and life. Even though I am traveling alone, I am never truly by myself.

“But solitude is only a human presumption. Every quiet step is thunder to beetle life underfoot; every choice is a world made new for the chosen. All secrets are witnessed.”

Here are 3 other quotes that caught my attention while reading.

“But he knew how to touch her, speak to her, breathe on her, to draw her out again. Physical pleasure was such a convincing illusion, and sex, the ultimate charade of safety.

“This night was out of control completely, she thought, but what could you do? We’re only what we are: a woman cycling with the moon, and a tribe of men trying to have sex with the sky.”

“What worse grief can there be than to be old without young ones to treasure, coming up after you?”

And the most impactful moment of the book was when I read about a loss that one of the characters experiences, because I’m experiencing the same thing as I record and air my podcast, as well as apply to grad school.

“But now I’m starting to think he wasn’t supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to ME. I’m so grateful to him for that.”

I am truly grateful to Tracy, my ex, as he was the doorway to ME. I wouldn’t be the path I am on today, nor would I be the person who I am becoming: Someone who can savor wine, coffee, and history, someone who is not afraid to be open, transparent and vulnerable, someone who knows his passions, priorities and path through life.

Thank you Kristy for this wonderful recommendation. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you, my reader. It is a delightful story that speaks about God, evolution, love, forgiveness, dependence, and the fact that we are all simple yet beautiful strands in the tapestry of life.

Enjoy this song by Sheppard, my favorite Australian band. It is the first song on my new ReEstablished playlist that debuted today (as it is the December 2018 playlist). We might be halfway to Hell, but the people around us are closer than they seem.