Approaching storm

Monday June 13
I was out at Book Club this afternoon, where we welcomed another new member. The book was Nomadland, a 2017 nonfiction book by American journalist Jessica Bruder about the phenomenon of older Americans who, following the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009, adopted transient lifestyles traveling around the United States in search of seasonal work.
“From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves “workampers.” The book was made into a film which we had seen a few years ago. The book was somewhat “heavier” than the film, containing a lot more facts and figures, and I found it rather slow going, and hadn’t in fact finished it. It showed how easy it can be for people who have led a comfortable life to suddenly find themselves homeless (or as they make the distinction in the book, houseless), and it certainly made you count your blessings. It also made you see Amazon in a whole new light, and far from a glowing one! The general consensus seemed to be that it wasn’t a book you would say you enjoyed, but it was an eye-opening read. On the way back home I stopped at the library to pick up next months read, but sadly and inexplicably discovered it was closed, which it shouldn’t have been. Since We are off again tomorrow, I really wanted to get it before we went, so when I got home I discovered it was available at another branch, not too far away from the YMCA sports centre which Roger was about to leave for, so fortunately he agreed to pick it up for me. Since I had left Book Club, the skies had been getting progressively darker, and just after Roger left, the storm really hit. The sky turned really dark, and the wind was gusting really strong. There was some torrential rain and thunder and lightening, and a lot of twigs and branches and debris from the trees came down and littered the grass. Fortunately we retained power, but many didn’t, especially to the east of us. Roger stayed safe fortunately, and was able to get my book, but by the time he got to the sports center, they were closed because of loss of power!