books — Page 153

Wednesday Thoughts

March 23, 2016 at 10:16 am by Claudia

3-23 moon

Last night’s moon rising over the back forty. It was so beautiful!

3-23 hollyhocks

• Dare I hope that the self-seeded hollyhock is coming back? It sure looks that way.

3-23 lilacs1

• Checking in on the lilac bush: leaves and buds.

3-23 lilacs2

3-23 lilacs3

• I know the calendar indicates that Spring has arrived, but I always check my gardens to confirm that fact. The Day Lilies, Sedum, and Catmint are all showing new growth. But it’s not yet time to uncover the garden beds, which are covered in leaves and mulch. In a couple of weeks, yes. But not yet.

• We went to the bookstore yesterday because I wanted to find an adult coloring book. Don already has one, courtesy of my sister. More colored pencils were purchased at Michael’s. As I walked around the bookstore, I saw two books that have just been published – both by rather well-known 30-ish bloggers. They are beautifully designed and I’m sure the authors are thrilled, but once again, I looked through them and saw nothing I didn’t already know. They’re supposedly full of tips and helpful ideas about decorating (in one case) and living a simple life in a small apartment (in the other.) I can only conclude they are meant for a younger generation of readers who haven’t yet discovered these rather rudimentary facts. I must confess, I don’t get it. I suppose it’s part of the cycle of life.

I guess there’s nothing new under the sun?

3-23 confederateflag

• From our road trip: Really?

This was in Virginia and I thought I saw a sign that said something about the Confederate States of America…so maybe it’s considered a historic site.

Nonetheless…

3-22 me and Z

• For Meredith, who didn’t like yesterday’s picture which showed her in pajamas (not that anyone would have known that.) Here’s one you took of me in my pajamas with Little Z. It’s blurry, but now we’re even.

• I usually showcase my eggcup collection on the blog at this time of year. This year, I’ve been sharing a few favorites on Instagram. You’re welcome to follow along if you’re not already a follower. Click here.

• But all this seems trivial when I think of the tragic events in Brussels. My heart breaks for all those who have suffered loss and who saw things they should never have to see. Prayers and hope for peace. That’s all I can say.

Oh, I can say one other thing. Seizing on that tragedy and using it for fearmongering in order to drum up votes? Despicable.

Happy Wednesday.

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Monday: Reading, Weather, Scout

March 7, 2016 at 9:39 am by Claudia

It’s early March, right? I live in the Northeast. Yet, the temperatures are going to be in the high 50s, the 60s and even 70s this week.

As Don said, “I want to go to Florida when it’s really cold at home.”

That might not be the scenario, sweetheart.

My sinuses are wondering what’s up, but other than that, I’m thrilled that we can open the windows and maybe, just maybe, smell a little spring in the air.

It’s a month today since we said goodbye to our girl. In the midst of the hundreds of reminders of her that we have each day, this morning I was enveloped in sadness at the thought of peanut butter. She loved peanut butter and we would always use a dollop of it to disguise her pill. No matter how badly she might be feeling, no matter how sleepy, she always wolfed it down. Oh, my girl, I hope you can eat all the peanut butter that you want now that you’re free.

I could write a week’s worth of posts just on the many reminders that come to us throughout the day. Each of them makes us stop in our tracks and, more often than not, tear up.

We miss her so.

3-7 patconroy

I’ve been thinking about Pat Conroy since I learned the news of his passing. At the age of 70, he was too young. He had a lot more stories to tell. Don was going out yesterday, so I asked him to stop at the local bookshop to see if they had any of his books on hand. I simply needed to drop everything and read some Conroy. In the meantime, I looked online at what might be on the shelves at our little library. South of Broad was available, so I figured Don could go check it out if there was nothing in the shop. Wouldn’t you know it? Don walked in the door with this hardcover copy of South of Broad – he got it for $5. Much better to have my very own copy.

I cracked it open and was immediately plunged into the gorgeous prose of Mr. Conroy. I had to reread the first page, simply because it was so beautifully crafted and the images so dense and rich that I was stunned. I liken it sinking into a hot bubble bath. Ahhh. A familiar friend is back and I can relax and let myself go, to be taken away to another world.

That is why I have always loved the novels of Pat Conroy and why I mourn his absence. He leaves an empty space that no one else can fill.

Happy Monday.

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Curses, Pat Conroy, and Instagram

March 6, 2016 at 9:53 am by Claudia

3-6 sunset

Beautiful sunsets make me smile. This one graced us with its brief presence last night.

I told Meredith we were planning to leave on Tuesday. Hopefully, that’s still the case, but I tweaked my back (which was SO much better) yesterday and I’m hurting again. In fact, I had to get up during the night and come downstairs to the den where I used some Tiger Balm, turned on the heating pad, and proceeded to sleep sitting up for the rest of the night.

It amazes me that I actually pulled that off.

May I take a moment to say how frustrated I am with this whole thing? Just think of all the curse words you can and you have a pretty good idea of what I’ve been saying.

I actually like the smell of Tiger Balm, but I’m getting tired of both it and my heating pad. But ever grateful for them because they’ve really helped. (I always run these things by Mer, since she’s a therapist and my brother-in-law is a chiropractor. They know their stuff.)

Anyway, I’m going to be positive. I’m determined to get on the road sooner rather than later.

I briefly wrote about the passing of Pat Conroy yesterday. I truly loved his rich and beautiful writing style. He was an artist with words. One of my favorite blogs has a tribute to him today, which includes a short video of Conroy speaking to a group of his readers. What an amazing man he was. It’s here at Jungle Red Writers.

I need to read some Conroy ASAP.

I’ve been meaning to share two of my favorite Instagram accounts with you; both of them have to do with animals.

Black Jaguar White Tiger – Run by an incredible man who rescues animals, including lions and tigers. He is based in Mexico and the work he is doing is of the utmost importance. He posts lots of videos of these incredible creatures – the latest is of a baby tiger drinking milk from a bottle. Oh, heavens. Beautiful. The Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation does essential work for the protection of our wildlife.

Pumpkin the Raccoon – a Bahamian raccoon that was rescued by a family and now lives indoors with his dog buddies, Toffee and Oreo. I love this feed.

I find Instagram intriguing. Most of us post brief descriptions of our photos, but then there are those who treat it like a blog, with long descriptive passages. Some of those IGers have blogs as well and they’ve, for whatever reason, turned predominately to IG. Others have never had blogs, so IG seems to be their version of a blog. Since Instagram is meant to be something you can scroll through rather quickly, I tend to avoid paragraphs of writing. I’ll look at the photo and continue on my way. Maybe because I also read blogs, I don’t have too much patience with lots of words in this particular form of social media. But I am equally sure that a lot of people tend to spend most of their social media time on Instagram, so they have no problem with that.

It’s free. It’s fairly quick. Maybe that’s the attraction in this time of short-attention spans. A blog post takes time to craft. IG is much faster. Though yours truly, not especially a whiz with a phone keyboard, finds it takes time enough with lots of curses along the way as I retype words, correct auto-correct and insert the dreaded hashtags.

By the way, whenever the heck we leave for Florida, I may not post everyday but I will do my best to post to IG as we make our way South. So follow along on my IG account.

New post on Just Let Me Finish This Page: Gone But Not Forgotten: Harper Lee and Pat Conroy.

Happy Sunday.

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Wednesday Thoughts

Monday: Reading, Weather, Scout

Curses, Pat Conroy, and Instagram

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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