During a pandemic, some find solace in comfort food. I find solace in comfort reading. So my first vacation reading selection is Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.
Yes, I know it’s a book for children. But it is also a timeless tale of the pleasures of home, the lure of adventure, and the consolation of friendship in times of plenty and times of need.
There is also the beauty of Grahame’s language. When the Mole, tired of spring cleaning, ventures out into the great world, he encounters a river for the first time – “All was a-shake and a-shiver – glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated.” And then he meets the Water Rat….
Did I also mention that the Great God Pan makes a guest appearance in the story?