Every summer I spend a long weekend with one of my besties, who lives in Madison. We always have a great time but I’m always amazed at how different these trips are from other trips, especially the ones I take with YA.
On Friday night we went to Susan’s favorite Mexican restaurant. I’ve been there before with her and it’s nice. On Saturday we went up to the capital building early for the Dane County Farmers Market. I got my five loaves of Chili Cheese bread, a bunch of corn, a slice of purple yam pie, squeaky cheese curds, a massive cinnamon roll and a dozen peanut coconut donut holes. Sunday night we went to her favorite pizza place – I got a tomato pie (similar to a margarita) – yummy.
That’s the most active we were. The entire remainder of weekend was reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, yakking and then more reading and yakking. I probably spent 10 hours sitting in a big comfy chair with my books. I finished two books, well actually three if you count the CD that I listened to in the car on the way there and back.
Compared to my usual travels, it was a lazy lazy trip. And I loved it. No to-do list, no normal daily stuff. Just relaxing. As I was doing some errands Tuesday morning, I was already missing that comfy chair!
Where do you like to read?
Trail Baboon 
I used to live just down the hill from the Madison Farmer’s Market. That hardly seems possible now. Also could see Lake Mendota from my kitchen window. Haven’t thought of that in ages!
My “reading” these days is mostly listening to books on my phone while working at the knitting machine.
Looks like another great day!
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Yes, these are a couple of what tim calls the 10 perfect days of the year.
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Agreed!
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My own platform rocker in the living room, with all the accoutrements right next to it (coffee cup warmer, water bottle, lotion, glasses lens cleaner…) I also enjoy reading out at the patio table on a nice day, if the neighbors are at work. (The patio is adjacent to their driveway…)
Or on a park bench if I’ve remembered a cushion.
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I often read standing at the kitchen counter. That used to be my place for newspapers, now it’s where I read before going to bed at night.
Course the bathroom…I think I learned that from my dad. Is that a learned behavior?
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Could be. Or not. I rarely read in the bathroom. We had one bathroom and no one was allowed to take up time there.
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Anywhere that is comfortable and has good light. One of my recliners, the kitchen table, near a window, outside in my grandpa’s antique patio rocking chair.
It’s been so quiet up here this week. I’ve done a lot of reading. The people who are usually above me didn’t arrive until yesterday afternoon. They’re noisy, and the way this place is constructed allows me to hear every step they take across the floor above my head. That’s disappointing, because it really was very quiet. I just soak in the peace and quiet, the sound of the waves on the shore, the pair of loons in the bay, and the family of Canada geese swimming here and there across the bay.
The air really cleared up too. The fire crews have swelled to nearly a thousand fire fighters and they’re getting containment around many of them. Some of the smaller ones are 100% contained. They’re concerned about the warmer, drier weather returning.
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I am glad to hear the fires are reduced. They also had some rain last week that helped the cause. The pictures of downtown Ely with smoky haze were sad–that is such a lovely town.
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This is my favourite kind of trip — where the most active you got was a farmers market haul of chili cheese bread and squeaky cheese curds! We spend so much of our travel chasing sights that a lazy weekend of reading, jigsaws and yakking in a comfy chair sounds genuinely restorative. In answer to your question, a shady porch with a view is my happy reading spot. Which book won the weekend?
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Welcome to the Trail! The winner was hands down Unruly: The Ridiculous History of the English Kings and Queens by David Mitchell, the English comedian/actor. Nice history and written in a very casual and funny style. Only downside was that it ended at Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
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On the bed. If the story is interesting, I’m awake. Otherwise…
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If I read in bed for even a little while, it has to be sitting up on the edge…
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Pick up a Book, Baboons,
When I visually read a book, I sit in my recliner or the glider on the 4 season porch. The recliner is especially comfortable. Sometimes McGee assists by sitting on my lap. I have to have music on in the background. Otherwise, I listen to audiobooks doing everything. This morning, in this lovely weather, I was out weeding 2 gardens while I listened to our Blevin’s selection, The First Ladies. I finally got it from Libby on Monday after waiting many weeks (I reserved it when I arrived home from the last book group) so now I am listening as much as possible. I am 81% done with it according to Libby, so I know enough to discuss it.
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I am a distractible reader. I require relative silence if I hope to absorb what I am reading. Instrumental music is OK but I can’t tune out voices. If a television is on somewhere else in the house or if Robin happens to be on the telephone in another room I can’t ignore it. If I were to try to read in a public place, any conversations taking place would likely sidetrack me.
Consequently my most productive reading times are early in the morning and late in the evening. We have matching Scandinavian recliners that our daughters bestowed on us for our fiftieth anniversary and they are ever so comfy.
I rarely do audio books. I suspect a lot of the books I choose wouldn’t have an audiobook counterpart.
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I like to read in bed.
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… but one of my favorite places to read is on a train.
VS – the photo up top reminds me a lot of one I took in Paris in 2015…
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There was a segment, apparently, on MPR today about the decline in reading among Americans:
Check out this episode from MPR News: https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/07/21/why-americans-are-reading-less-and-how-to-pull-out-of-the-reading-slump
Not reading, to me, is unimaginable.
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Ditto
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I like to read in bed, but staying awake for a long enough time to make progress is a challenge.
I have a medical device that limits me to my left hand for the length of the therapy, so an e-reader is better than a physical book, and an audiobook is a true blessing.
A restaurant patio is a really good place to bring a book, if the light is good. The downtown St. Paul airport has a restaurant with outdoor seating, and it can be quite private, with the occasional landing or takeoff providing a brief distraction.
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