When Wanderers Cease to Roam

"It's never too late to wear a Prom Dress dress."

I feel like I've met a new friend after reading this book.  Vivian Swift, the author, shares with her readers vignettes of her life in a small village on Long Island Sound.  Slowly and carefully, each chapter (divided into months of the year) reveals the intimate and candid details of Swift's environment, passions and opinions and highlights experiences from her days as a world traveller.
Determined to find meaning and contentedness in staying anchored in one place, Swift captures the beauty of rootedness with lively watercolour artwork and commentaries on everything from monthly weather phenomenon to all the types of mud found during springtime to her collection of teacups.  Two pages are entirely devoted to watercolours of all the black items found within her closet.
It may sound mundane but the loveliness of the book lies in its details and Swift's warm and optimistic character.  Plus the stories she tells of her former travels are often exciting, hilarious and shocking.

One of my favourite quotes:

"The Secrets to Staying Put: Cultivate a Secret Garden"

"My elderly neighbor is building a stone wall.  It all started when he widened his driveway a few months ago.  This caused a ruckus at the Village Supervisor's office because the new driveway was six inches wider than the building codes allowed.  There were Town Meetings, and more Town Meetings, about whether or not the new driveway had to be re-done, to be like the old driveway.  Almost everybody in the Village had an opinion about it, and plenty of nasty accusations and counter-accusations were made by supporters of the new driveway and backers of the old one.

In the end, the old man was allowed to keep his driveway but he was bitter.  So, to keep Village busy-bodies from ever nosing into his business again, the old man is building a stone wall around his property. (Strange that there doesn't seem to be a code against building a big spiteful stone wall).

If you came to my Village and you saw this big stone wall going up at the end of my street, you might think that there must be something wonderful behind it.  Perhaps a secret garden where rare orchids thrive, or a diving pool inlaid with Persian turquoise, or an aviary filled with ivory-billed woodpeckers. You would never guess that all that secrecy behind the stone wall was for a driveway.
Different people put different things in their secret gardens, is all I'm saying."