I AM reading a book. I mean, I am trying to read a book. “I’m Homer, the blind brother. I didn’t lose my sight all at once,” I read, and then I think, what is that smell? It smells like mold. It is the rainy season, which is why it smells like mold, and I shouldn’t worry about it because it is not mold. But what if it is mold, and will it be one of those ones that sprouts like a giant black mushroom and threatens to take over the house and emit off-gas toxins that kill us in our sleep?

I look at the book in my hands and think, where was I? I re-read: “I’m Homer, the blind brother. I didn’t lose my sight all at once.” I could really go for a bowl of soup right now. Or chili. Chili is very warming during the rainy season when you are cold. Also, it probably has mold-fighting capabilities, like garlic. Or vitamin C.

I try again: “I’m Homer, the blind brother.” Vitamin C is a fraud, though. Who was that guy back in the 1960s who thought it would cure everything, even cancer? I put down the book for a moment and search Wikipedia for “Vitamin C.” Then I check my e-mail, because I have not done that for at least 10 minutes. Then I hear a friendly chirp, from my iPhone, which signals an incoming text message, so I read that and send a reply.

I look at the clock. And then, casually, I put the book that I have been assaulting for nearly a half hour, getting nowhere, onto the coffee table.