The wait is over at last. Finals are done and the black salt-ice blend has melted away into the streets, allowing students to pack up the down coats and head for the sun. Traditional pasttimes of summer take over, be it sailing on the lake or a quiet grill with friends.
I have also come out for action but-as you may have guessed-that action is reading. Reading outside for me is something close to a religious experience, the chance to get out there and enhance the words with sunlight and fresh air.
I can't really think of what it is that makes reading outside so positive, but I think a large part of it has to do with the sounds. When inside, your reading options are either deadly silent places like empty bedrooms and libraries, or constant chatter zones like cafeterias and lecture halls. When you're outside, you avoid all these extremes, getting a blend of wind and nature that induces an immediate calm.
So where to find this calm at UW-Madison? Bascom Hill might be the obvious choice-with wind blowing through grass and the quiet murmur of people walking by-but it rarely works out since it sacrifices reading comfort. I need lower back support when I'm reading and a steady source of shade, neither of which is offered on Bascom's rough slant.
If you want to be on the hill, I suggest you stick to one of the trees on the sides, adjusting slightly as the sun moves across the sky. If you can stand the bark grinding into your back it's a perfect spot to get in a chapter or two before class, and a great place to nod off after finishing the book.
Readers who like to have action around them may want to roll down the hill to Library Mall, where the open space and constant activity make a terrific short-term spot. The sounds of piccolo music and sparrow-filled bushes are mixed with Frisbee games and panhandling student organizations, creating an interesting sonic blend of calm.
Library Mall is the place for social readers, who want to be able to start something else once they've finished their reading. There's something to be said for any place where you can put down a chapter and go get an orange smoothie, a socialist pamphlet or a new book without walking more than fifty feet.
For those periods when I want to keep reading until the book is finished, I choose to drift north onto the shores of Lake Mendota. Between the Terrace and Picnic Point, there are dozens of rock formations where you can stretch out comfortably, as isolated as a locker in Memorial Library but far more inviting. I don't think there's any better background noise or setting for reading than waves beating against shore-it's my personal metronome.
There's plenty of activity here-not curious students coming to smoke or lost joggers, but animal companions. I've had squirrels, ducks, chipmunks and robins all drift around my Lakeshore spots, and at one point wound up throwing ants into a nearby spider web. It's a little jarring at first, but you eventually get used to having a silent audience that-in your mind-appreciates a book's jokes and plot twists as much as you do.
So get out there. The sun is up, the sky is blue and there's no valid excuse not to start turning pages.
Les Chappell is a junior majoring in journalism and mass communication. His literature column runs every other Wednesday.
