Shelly Reuben... appearing Thursdays in The Evening Sun... Tilting at Windmills For those unfamiliar with "tilting at windmills," the phrase originated in Miguel de Cervates's epic novel, The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha, when Don Quixote comes upon thirty or forty windmills. Sworn to fight injustice wherever he finds it, the chivalrous knight exclaims to his loyal servant, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them...this is a righteous war." Like Don Quixote, the targets of Shelly Reuben's column might be giants. Or windmills. She may muse about movies, the price of postage stamps, the use and misuse of words, or why she has to do in depth research on the care and feeding of pygmy goats. Her goal as a columnist will be the same as it is when she writes books To entertain. To precipitate thought. To view things from a different angle. And most of all, to have fun. Shelly Reuben is the author of six books. Her most recent novels, Tabula Rasa and The Skirt Man, were set in Chenango County. She is a licensed private detective, an IAAI Certified Fire Investigator, and a court qualified expert on the origin and cause of fire. Read Shelly's weekly column at The Evening Sun. Some column titles: |
