thank you, John Updike

(User error, this was not posted on the day it was written)

Yesterday morning I read about the death of John Updike in the NY Times.

During the day I received this beautiful email from a list serve:

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The artist brings something into the world that didn't exist before, and he does it without destroying something else.
-John Updike, writer (1932-2009)

Updike was one of those writers I just "got" before I even understood a thing about literature or literary criticism. There was something about his poignant way of writing about the everyday and the mundane that made me tingle with recognition. It was melancholy and acceptance mixed with hope.

Its been years since I last read his work so I enjoyed reading some excepts online today. This one in particular grabbed my heart.

"A barn, in a day, is a small night. The splinters of light between the dry shingles pierce the high roof like stars, and the rafters and crossbeams and built-in ladders seem, until your eyes adjust, as mysterious as the branches of a haunted forest."

From the story “Pigeon Feathers.”

Thank you, John Updike.