English Magazines Offer a Glimpse Behind the Clouds

Living abroad has its highs and lows.  No matter how many English bookshops you find, there will never be the types of books you truly crave.  I tell myself it’s the perfect opportunity to expand my reading.  There are plenty of classics, “chick lit” options, and memoirs by American presidents, but I can’t convince myself to expand in those directions at 16 euros a book (currently $20.59).  Back in the US, I went through dozens of books.  I knew where to get the best used books in town or online.  I went to the library every week.  Now the literary deprivation is hard.

booksThe current remedy at our house are two magazines that transferred our subscriptions to overseas with no charge.  It helps to think about these little things as luxury.  They are like fine pieces of chocolate and a bathtub filled with bubbles.  I feel like I can enjoy these subscriptions without evaluating cost per page or future usefulness on our shelves like I do with my book purchases here.  I can savor them for the delicious English words they offer.  

And let me just say that you never know how fascinating a science magazine can be until you can’t even read the cereal box in your own cupboard.   And a man will never love Martha Stewart Living like he does in another country.  (People do crazy things in foreign countries, after all.)

I’m amazed by how the everyday items of my former life have become such treats.  My reading materials don’t come tied in big beautiful ribbons, but in my mind, they are a huge bouqet of fresh tulips brightening my world.  

Do you find treats in your life that feel like deep pleasures as well?  As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his poem, The Rainy Day, “Behind the clouds is the sun still shining.”