A Toast to Amelia Peabody & Elizabeth Peters

Journal except 2/29/09

...Thanks to Amelia Peabody for introducing me to Whiskey & Soda – it really is as refreshing as she said. I was surprised when ...I tried it. She does not mention ice. I doubt they had any in Egypt circa 1894 to 1919.

...Recently laid off, I needed something to occupy me after a long hard day searching for the next job; sending out queries in hopes of a new freelance assignment; painting in hopes of hanging a show soon; and etc., etc., so I picked a prolific author I’d heard about to read from start to finish. I chose Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody series after thumbing through book one: Crocodile on the Sandbank. I read it straight through, and I was hooked. I figured 18 books should keep me occupied for a while. That was October 30th, my last day at Jefferson title. Thank you Elizabeth Peters, and thank you Birmingham public library. I finished book 18, Tomb of the Golden Bird, Thursday, February 15, 2 a.m. as the ice from my whiskey and soda sat melted with only a hint of the drink left behind.

...Obviously, being out of a job, I was not going to be buying anything non-essential. I’m not saying that books are non-essential. Books are essential, but Birmingham’s library system has almost every book I have ever requested. I can order them on line and have them sent to my convenient Southside location – walking distance (gotta get those daily steps in).

...It’s been a pleasant ride. Ms. Peters, with a PhD in Egyptology, weaves her knowledge of Egyptology into the plots so well, I feel I’m getting a bit of archaeological and anthropological knowledge while I'm being entertained.

...Books are doors into other worlds, people’s lives, and experiences. I am sorely tempted to start the series over again from the beginning, just to visit with Peabody and her entourage, again. People wonder (people who aren’t readers) why anyone would re-read books. To me a book is a friend, and re-reading is just like visiting with an old friend. They tell the same old stories, tell the same old jokes, and behave just as they have always done. Comforting, somehow.

...Cheers.

© Perle Champion