Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Bloor Line, jacket shed and draped across her lap.

Caucasian woman, early 40s, wearing grey dress pants, black sweater and a purple headband.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka (Penguin)

Page 113:

Valentina relents. They will go to a different doctor instead. Valentina and Mrs. Zadchuk bundle my father into Crap car. They are in such a hurry to get to the surgery before he changes his mind that his coat is buttoned up out of kilter and his shoes are on the wrong feet.

Her mother was always good about picking us up. From the movies, a school dance, a Hallowe'en party. We typically waited a block from where we'd started, looking down the street for one headlight, followed by the sound of a knocking muffler. Her approach was slow enough that she didn't need to stop, we could have stepped in without missing a beat. But stop she did, and hard, the tire farting a sharp squeak. We held our laughter and got in back. The station wagon smelled like urine, but it was a ride and we were polite, raised to be thankful for her efforts. We were buckled and ready. Half a minute later we finally lurched forward, rumbling home fifteen clicks below the speed limit. We cracked the window and held our noses to the night air, sending out a collective moan as we approached a stop light. It was green. We stopped. Cars piled up behind us and the honking began. We rolled up the window and sank down making more contact with the seats than we'd like. It was a green light and we were stopped. Because she knew it had to turn red sometime.

4 comments:

Wisewebwoman said...

Gee Julie, did my chocolate box thing with you again, great writing.
What on earth time do you get up? I notice your postings are very early so your readers must be early birds too?
I'm such a night hawk and try and fight it sometimes, but do my best work in the three ayem moonglow and often city-prowl late at night.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this book!!! It's hilarious, very ironic. Recommended it to a friend and she's loving it too. I really really recommend this one!!

Julie Wilson said...

Hey WWW! Nice to see you again.

I am, it's true, an early bird. I think I was a farmer in a past life. Perhaps, I'm meant to be one in this one. I love chasing the sunrise and the first chirp of birds. I'm often out with the dogwalkers. I post before getting ready for work, too, so I figure, "I'm up anyhow, why not git this party started?!"

Julie Wilson said...

Shannon, every once in awhile I luck out and sight a book that I actually own. This is one of them and I can't wait to read it. Yours is adding to the glowing reviews I keep hearing from others. (And what a title, hey?)