Labyrinths, Virtues, and Scotch Tape

I have read some gems this week. It's hard to turn the pages of the Institutes without reading something new and powerful. And so far (two weeks into the year), I'm keeping up with the reading schedule. But my favorite passages this week come from some other sources I've been reading. The first is from the novel I've been reading for my book group, The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. As a novelist, Setterfield masterfully uses literary elements like setting and narrator in weaving her suspenseful story. But she's also a wordsmith, creating word pictures beautifully. I actually underlined these lines in my book and wrote "nice!" in the margin. Two of Setterfield's minor characters are the gardener and the housekeeper on the Angelfield Estate. The two work together for most of their adult lives and know each other well; they're dear friends. But the housekeeper is a bit older than the gardener, and since the story spans a number of years, both characters age. The Missus suffers from dementia, and Setterfield describes her state and the gardener's realization of her confusion:

"He [the gardener] continued to sit across the table in the kitchen, sharing his thoughts, his dreams, his worries with her. And when she [the housekeeper] answered--random, rambling drifts of words--he puzzled over her pronouncements, trying to find the connection between her answer and his question. But the labyrinth inside her head was too complex for him to navigate, and the thread that led her from one word to the next had slipped through her fingers in the darkness."

Nice!

My other two favorite pieces this week come from the pen of someone near and dear to me, someone with a sharp wit,a sense of humor, and a command of the language that combine for some entertaining email exchanges. The first has to do with a headline that I read explaining that of the jobs created by our president elect's economic stumulus package, 90 percent would be "created or saved" in the private sector.
Here is the email exchange:

Annette to Henry, subject line "Spin at its best": I have to admire this new "created or saved" angle. Although I'm not sure how you prove that you saved someone's job. But then I guess it doesn't matter . . . because all you have to do is say it, and it's true.

Henry to Annette: Unprovability is a virtue in the land of unlimited promises.

And the second email exchange actually resulted from a book I've been reading, a biography by a widow writing about her deceased husband. At one point the author described the nature of their passionate relationship by saying that their souls were cemented together. You can imagine the fun we've been having with that all week.

Annette to Henry, subject line "Could we?": From now on, do you think we could just scotch tape our souls together rather than cementing them? All the little concrete remnants are such a mess, and I feel a little sore today. But I do love you very much!

Henry to Annette: How picturesque! Annette and Henry shared a bond of love as strong as scotch tape--not the new, fancy kind made from acetate, but the genuine, original kind made from cellulose--which had yellowed significantly over the years, and had begun to curl at the corners, but was on the whole still sticking quite well, except for those areas where the tape had pulled back, leaving a gooey residue that seemed to attract dust."

I really think he needs to submit that one to Bulwer-Lytton, but I haven't convinced him yet.