I just finished my maternity leave.
Back to work, at last!
Yup. I’m alternately in tears and as content as can be. Missing your baby and enjoying an iced latte at your desk (with a WINDOW!) is a strange feeling, y’all.
How amazing is it to be blessed with two wonderful realities to be torn between?
Incredible.
But, I did have three months off to simply enjoy my baby, cuddle, and oh yes, also read until it felt like my brain was gonna ooze out my ears like slime.
Yup. Gotta get that mental stimulation somewhere. Otherwise, you start gnawing on the walls, and that is frowned upon.
I decided early on, before I jumped into postpartum and everything that entailed, that I was gonna have to choose what I spent my time off on carefully. I’ve had postpartum depression in the past, and three months of not doing a whole lot with a new baby can mess with your head.
That meant reading instead of TV. Outside time instead of rotting in bed (obviously, once I was healed enough to get OUT of bed). And lots of zoo visits, library mornings, etc, with my son.
We had a blast.
I read so many books. So many.
One of my favorites was this one. Dreadnought. A 900 page exploration of European politics – particularly in regards to naval strength and foreign policy – in the lead up to WWI.
I told you. My brain was chewing on the walls. I had to do something to keep it occupied. It needed a challenge.
Also, I actually understand what tariffs are now.
Almost. Most of the way. As much as any normal person does.
Ahem.
Intimidating summary aside, this book was wonderful. Yes, it was complicated. Yes, there were parts that were a little dry. But the real soul of it?
Fabulous.
I loved the snarl and bite of naval politics, the sharp, dynamic personalities clashing over the defense and morality of a nation rooted in their souls, the proud, sometimes laughably petty arguments and grudges of 19th and 20th century royalty. And, woven through it all, was the slow, somehow inevitable descent into what would become one of the worst tragedies to touch European shores – and the rest of the world.
Absolutely amazing.
My favorite line in the book – and the one I will leave you to ponder over as well – was in the very last pages, as one of the central figures is standing at a window, watching the lamps being put out in the street below as he realizes that Britain won’t be able to avoid the coming war.
It was then that the unpoetic Sir Edward Gray uttered the lines which memorably signaled the coming of the First World War. “The lights are going out all over Europe,” he said. “We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
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