They should’ve trained you for this, and not for flower-strewn streets. They should have built your soul with truth, not led along with lies.

It is a quiet day. Cooler than yesterday but still unseasonably warm. I have slid into the new year without any preconditions. Expectations appear to me to be a luxury or a caprice. I am likely not well suited for either. I wanted to read more Steinbeck this year. The Moon is Down is timely. The focus is occupation. There has been an invasion and matters are afoot. Steinbeck captures this in small conversations in quiet rooms. It is winter and privation is the rule. Steinbeck is hesitant to employ types and he stops well before. There's a Grand Illusion sort of effect in the denouement but I found it honest and moving.