La Peste

For anyone who knows me, I am not one to bother people I don't actually know. The only exception to this, of course, was when I was doing that whole writing thing. During that time period, I bothered everyone and anyone I needed to; in fact, I even created a little template for it. A friend of mine — and a brilliant writer himself — once mocked my routine rather well. It was just that scripted.

But a few months back, I did, in fact, bother someone I don't know. Over email. A few years back, I became an avid reader of The New Yorker, and one of the first articles that I remember reading was one about Russia and the ice palaces there. It was early summer, and I was still writing — or attempting it — when I stumbled upon this article. Now, in all honesty, I forget the name of it, but I do remember how well it was written and how often I brought it up in conversations for months after I read it. There are some things you just casually read in life that end up sticking in your mind; this article was one of them.

I was quite surprised that, while reading an exceptionally interesting blog, I would discover that the writer of this blog was also the writer of that article. Needless to say, I ended up emailing the writer, Elif Batuman, about that article I read a few years back that still sticks in my mind from time to time.

I was also quite surprised that within an hour of sending my email about how much I appreciated the article, I had the following reply:

Dear Ms. (Name withheld),
Thank you very much for your kind message. I am touched and gratified
to learn that there is at least one reader who now thinks about Anna
Ioannovna's ice palace on a regular basis.
I am sorry to hear about your writer's block/ burn-out. To be honest,
I have felt a bit burned out myself, ever since my dissertation. But
I hear that these things are temporary - and I hope this will turn out
to be the case for you as well.
All best wishes,
Elif Batuman

And that was the first and last time I will do that. But I am certainly glad I did it.

Anyway, in the Mid-Atlantic, it seems that spring has briefly sprung, and now we are in the throws of early summer. And it is lovely. But in another month, I will be cursing the heat, humidity, and sun. It always seems to happen that way.

But maybe this year will be different.