Claudia — Page 1092

Flocks, Murmurations, and the Radio

October 23, 2015 at 9:17 am by Claudia

10-23 canadageese

It’s that time of year when I can hear the honking of the Canada Geese overhead. If I happen to have a camera nearby, all the better. They gather by the river that’s just down the road; hundreds and hundreds of them.

The other day, we experienced another fall event: a murmuration of starlings. As I was sitting in my chair, I caught a glimpse of several starlings flying and landing, taking off and soaring. Then I heard them. I quickly got up and went to the kitchen window and there they were: hundreds and hundreds of them, landing on the grass, then rising into the trees, then flying in a circular, soaring swirl.

It’s amazing. And it doesn’t last long, so you have to drop everything and watch.

10-23 horsesinthedistance

I listened to my husband being interviewed on the radio last night. He was on Radio Woodstock. The show was hosted by Lisa Wexler, a musician and the daughter of the incredible Jerry Wexler, one of the most famous producers in the history of the recording industry. Google him and you’ll see what I mean.

Don was on between 10 pm and midnight. I grabbed a portable radio, ran a bubble bath and listened to a chunk of the show while immersed in bubbles. And then I listened to the rest while reading in bed. It reminded me of those days in my youth when an ever-present transistor radio was at my side, always tuned in to our local radio station. There’s something really wonderful about listening to the radio without earbuds or a computer. Just low-tech. The way it used to be.

Don was great, as was Lisa. He talked about his life, Lisa played tracks from the new CD, and he sang live. He also shared five songs/recordings that had had an impact on his life. In Don’s case, most of them were recordings that he heard when he was 12 or so. It was fascinating. As he said, it wasn’t so much that the records were incredibly good or huge sellers, but that they came into his awareness at a point in his life where they resonated with him on a very powerful level.

I love hearing his new CD being played on the radio. It’s as it should be, especially since the title is Ready for the Radio. I love hearing his voice coming out of my portable radio, knowing that everyone listening is getting the chance to get to hear him speak and share his warmth, compassion, wisdom, and great sense of humor.

Good job, Don!

Happy Friday.

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Mother Nature is Playing With Me

October 22, 2015 at 8:58 am by Claudia

10-22 leaves

In the middle of my hours spent with the leaves, a rake, and a tarp, I thought I saw something.

10-22 tiny yellow flower

A yellow flower. On closer examination, a yellow day lily. What??

10-22 tiny yellow flower 2

The particular plant hasn’t bloomed in about 2 – 3 months.

Mother Nature is playing with me. An early frost, dead plants, and then this.

10-22 tiny yellow flower 3

It looks like there might be at least another blossom waiting to open.

What a treat! Especially in the middle of raking an endless amount of maple, black walnut, and giant catalpa leaves. I must have filled the tarp up 9 or 10 times. Then Don came home later in the day and filled a few more tarps. The leaves were deposited on the edge of the woods, where they will decompose and nourish the soil.

Tired, of course. But we got a lot done.

10-22 clematis

This is what the clematis looks like late in the season. Beautiful, don’t you think? Like little feathers swirling in a circle.

Later in the day, the UPS truck pulled up with a box for me. I have a separate twitter feed for Just Let Me Finish This Page and I follow a lot of writers and publishers. One day a few weeks ago, I really can’t remember when, Random House tweeted that they were having a contest in conjunction with the publishing of Ruth Reichl’s newest book, My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life.

Reichl was the Restaurant Critic for the New York Times for a number of years before moving on to the Editorship of Gourmet magazine. When Gourmet suddenly folded, she found herself trying to deal with an enormous sense of loss. She coped by going into her kitchen and doing what she loves – cooking. The book chronicles that year and offers up all sorts of recipes, as well.

Well, I quickly entered the contest, then promptly forgot about it until I received an email the other day telling me I was one of the winners.

10-22 ruthreichl win

Goodness! I received a copy of the book – can’t wait to read it – and six tins of a special edition Ruth Reichl Apple Crisp tea by The Republic of Tea, and three mini cocottes (damn that autocorrect – it spelled it as coquette – it’s cocotte as in casserole) from Le Creuset.

Wow! I rarely win contests, so this was a wonderful surprise. I’ll be having some Apple Crisp tea this afternoon. A big thank you to Random House!

Happy Thursday.

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Manhattan: Coaching, Book Reading, Book Buying

October 21, 2015 at 9:29 am by Claudia

I’m late to my laptop this morning.

Blame it on this:

10-21 lee child make me

I read it on the bus to NYC yesterday. I read it on the way home. I read it in bed last night. And I read it this morning. I’m getting very close to the end. But, as with all good books, I don’t want to race through the final pages. I want to savor them.

Because I know the final pages will be unputdownable (my new word) and I also know that it will be another year until a new Jack Reacher adventure arrives in the bookstores.

Tom Cruise? What were they thinking??? Don’t answer. I already know. They were thinking box office.

I got into Manhattan a little early yesterday and I had to walk from the bus station to East 59th Street, which took me up expensive Fifth Avenue, past Bergdorf Goodman and Tiffany and the Plaza. Along the way, I stopped at Barnes & Noble because who can resist a bookstore? Not me. I saw many books I wanted, but didn’t bite. Except for one: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes. I read about it last year and tried to get a review copy but I was too late, it had already been published. It takes place in Detroit, which always draws me in because it’s my hometown. While browsing in the Mystery Section yesterday, I remembered the book and tried to find it, but I wasn’t sure of the author’s last name or even the title. I figured I’d see the last name and find it that way. No go. I finally resorted to signing on to NetGalley on my phone so that I could find the rejected request for an advanced reader copy. Ah, Beukes! As sometimes happens, it wasn’t under mystery but it was under literature.

Like I need another book on my To Be Read pile.

Anyway, it was a lovely day and I was on the edge of Central Park, but had no time to explore it. People were everywhere, as you can imagine, and I find I am always amazed at how many wealthy people there are in this part of Manhattan. You can see it in the clothes they wear, in the way they carry themselves. And there are many, many wealthy tourists. Where does all that money come from?

And then there’s me, in jeans and sneakers, wearing a sweater and a funky jacket that’s more than twenty years old. More like twenty-five.

My coaching session lasted twice as long as I had planned and was a difficult one, and I was hungry and dehydrated when I left the theater but, you guessed it, I had to walk about 25 blocks back to the bus station in order to grab the next scheduled bus, so I grabbed something to go and ate it on the bus. New York is lovely, or can be, but I’m usually racing through it on my way to and from some point in the city.

10-21 red leaf

We have about a gazillion leaves to rake over the next few days. They are everywhere. Did I mention I don’t like raking leaves? When you’ve got as many trees as we do, it loses whatever appeal it has very quickly. And we don’t even tackle the back forty.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page with some links for your reading pleasure.

Don’s CD is back in stock at CD Baby. You can either click here or travel over to my sidebar and click there.

Happy Wednesday.

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Flocks, Murmurations, and the Radio

Mother Nature is Playing With Me

Manhattan: Coaching, Book Reading, Book Buying

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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