All Done!

Let it be known that I finished something.

I finished reading "The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton" by Jane Smiley.

I loved the first half, especially all of the pre Civil War history from Kansas and Missouri.

Then, in the last half I just plain quit caring about whatever happened to Lidie.

That was about a year ago. I picked it up again this week and found the last chapters to be rewarding. In particular, the last two pages contain some of the best paragraphs I have ever read.

So I'm glad I did not leave Lidie to wander around Missouri for all time and eternity. But I'm happy to be done with her.

I leave her back in Illinois, with family that never understood her in the first place.

I just cannot decide how I feel about ambivalence.