Today, we met Cody, a Maltese, while lounging at the pool as he was having his swimming lesson.

Constantly busy in my “old life” I seldom took the time to get outside my head long enough to read a novel. I always felt compelled that reading time “must” be reserved for educational nonfiction books.

I learned a lot but never allowed myself the luxury of curling up in a comfy chair, legs wrapped in a soft fluffy afghan along with a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee or tea at my side. Would those days ever come?

As you can easily gather from reading this blog, which many of you relate to, that the pace of my life was comparable to being in a race, a continuous mission of beating my last record. Ultimately in time, frustration surpassed endurance, and frustration won. The record could not be broken.

We saw this iguana today.  It was about 3′ long.

That life was full but surprisingly rich with love, times of great pleasure and a general sense of contentment. I assumed “this is who I am” and “this is who I will always be.” 

Not the case.  Everything has changed.  I read novels.  Which novels?  Irrelevant. I simply read novels on the Kindle app on my Android phone, by the pool, in bed at night, when awakening too early in the morning to get up and often while sitting on the veranda in the shade, the sound of the sea, nary a distraction.  Tom reads novels on his phone as well.  How did this happen?

Away from the self imposed flurry of excessive activity, I am finally free to indulge myself in this seeming luxury. I will admit, I’ve recently enjoyed reading mindless drivel, not necessarily novels of great esteem but novels that merely hold my interest, able to release me from the endless stream of thinking and planning, analyzing and studying and sorting and categorizing. 

As a fast reader, I could easily consume an entire novel in three or four days but I choose to savor it, spreading it out over six or seven days, to avoid the average $10 per downloaded book resulting in over $100 a month, not a practical expenditure in our current lifestyle of ongoing world travel.

No books to haul around the world, no bookstore to drive to, no tax to be paid, no bookcase to fill with completed or partially completed books to eventually be sold at a garage sale. The drawback? Not easily returned. 

The solution to avoid partially read books? Taking advantage of the “free sample” of the books offered at online bookstores (I use Amazon.com), reading the story line to ensure its to one’s liking and most of all, reading some of the 100’s of reviews online. Yes, I know, every one’s taste is different. But, if a book is rated at “one star” by 600 readers, the handwriting is on the wall. Don’t bother.

The past several days while recovering from our near disastrous fall on the collapsed steps, my most recent novel, has made the required icing and resting easy at best. Still able to read on my newly cracked phone, has not held me back. 

Mindless drivel? Yes! The resulting relaxation, stress reduction and escape from my overactive thought process has brought considerable pleasure as well as this new way of living, in the world, on the move with my equally well read travel companion, husband and friend. 

We read different books but we’re on the same page.