It’s a bit crazy here tonight. The kids are really carrying on. Their mother is currently working on rounding them up and sending them to bed. As I sit here listening to their insanity, I find myself wondering how long it’s going to take them to calm down and actually fall asleep. I half suspect that we’re going to end up wishing that we had some tranquilizers or something. Ah well, hopefully I’ll get a few quiet hours before I head for bed. Besides, I got plenty of quiet time earlier today. So I can’t complain.

When my sister was getting ready to go to her in-laws, I decided to take a quick nap. I figured that I needed it after staying up until after 1am. I was planning a nice short nap, but I ended up dozing for a full two hours. Oops! But I think I needed it, so it was all good.

Once I got done napping, I decided to read Witchcraft Today. I had three chapters left to read and I decided to finish it tonight. That way, it’s all fresh for the book discussion. I do need to reread chapter two though. I plan on rereading each chapter as we start to discuss it, and Brian just called for the start of the chapter two discussion.

I’ve enjoyed reading the book this time around. Last time I read it (I think that was back in this past winter), I didn’t get as much out of it. I guess I’m just in a better mental space to be able to appreciate what I’m reading this time. (I remember reading many of the quotes from the “What Gardner Said” site I love and being surprised at what I didn’t remember, so I was glad to reread it anyway.) One of the things that I’m really noticing this time around is the number of times he repeats certain things. He tells about certain beliefs or about certain practices multiple times. In fact, there were a few times that I had to make sure I didn’t accidentally “jump back” in the book because it sounded so familiar. Though each time he repeated something, I usually noticed he phrased it a bit differently or seemed to almost look at “another angle.” (Not exactly, but I don’t know how to express it better.) I’m thinking that these repetitions and the subtle differences in the presentation might be good to look into. I’m thinking at some point, I might reread with an eye to writing down the repeated material, copying what is said each time to look at it all side by side at some point. I’m not sure if it’ll prove worthwhile, but I think there’s only one way to find out.