The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party

Let's start with a photo I took just last night - fall is nearly upon us:

Fall foliage in Kalamazoo - already!

And now, another recent read.

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party is another delightful entry in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, by Alexander McCall Smith.

Mma Ramotswe puzzles over three challenges: Who killed Rra Moeti's cattle? Is the ghost of her white van driving around Gabarone? And what should they do about Charley? Besides all this, there are preparations for Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti's wedding - finally!

While I enjoy the storyline in McCall Smith's books, I also enjoy the insights into life and human nature. Here are a few examples from this book.

"One or two people had witnessed the tragedy, or at least had seen part of it... But they had only seen a woman racing after a white van and then stumbling; they had seen her bend down and change her footwear before walking off towards the main road. So might we fail to see the real sadness that lies behind the acts of others; so might we look at one of our fellow men going about his business and not know of the sorrow that he is feeling, the effort that he is making, the things that he has lost."

"...those who have a great deal to complain about are so often silent in their suffering, while those who have little to be dissatisfied with are frequently highly vocal about it."

"She looked at [Mr J.L.B. Matekoni] fondly; that he had been sent to her, when there were so many other, lesser men who might have been sent, was a source of constant gratitude. That we have the people we have in this life, rather than others, is miraculous, she thought; a miraculous gift."

"He had clasped his hands together, his fingers interlaced. It was a gesture, she thought, of unequivocal pleasure - pleasure at hearing what all of us wanted to hear at least occasionally: that there was somebody who liked us, whatever our faults, and liked us sufficiently to say so."

In these books, there are friendships and family; there are problems and puzzles. But mostly, there is simple kindness and thoughtfulness, and I enjoy that.