Today it was freezing rain. It took me 15 minutes this morning to scrape my car so I could drive to work. It was solidly encased in a nice layer of ice. When I came outside after work, I was met with the sound of ice scrapers scraping windshields. As I was working at unburrying my windshield wipers from the pile of frozen stuff they were in, my boots soaking through from the slush, it all struck me as quite funny and it was hard not to laugh out loud. People all over the parking lot trying to find their windows, the harsh notes of a scraping orchestra filling the air.

I have recently finished reading Life of Pi, a book I was given for Christmas. It's one that I've been meaning to read for a long time, as I've heard good things about it, but never got to it until now. Yann Martel is a fabulous writer, and it's a great book.

I especially enjoyed chapter 78, in which he describes the skies. "There are many skies", he starts, and goes on to beautifully describe all the different skies at sea. And it's explained in such a way that I know exactly what he's talking about. I've seen that sky. I know the kind he means. After this he talks in the same way of the different seas, and winds, and moons. He talks of being in a circle, and of opposites. Of boredom and terror. It's profound in a simple beautiful way. I have the urge to quote here the entire chapter. I smile as I read it.

There's another chapter that I also like, a little while later. It's about lightning. And while it too is beautifully written, I don't know exactly what he means. I've never seen a 'great celestial tree' standing in the ocean. But it's something I can imagine by the vivid description. Again the words cause me to smile.

I like books, or any writing for that matter, where the words make me smile. Where they are arranged in such a way that is unexpected and pleasing.