Tempus Fugit

Blossoms

Here we are and it is almost Spring and looking back I see I haven't blogged since the Summer. Well my friends it has been a long hard winter. I, like so many of my countrymen, got consumed by the Presidential Election back in November. I was disappointed in the results, not because the candidate I favored lost, but because a candidate, to my mind, who represented the worst we are as a country won. I had hoped we might have been turning a corner in race relations, and protections for those who have suffered abuse. It hurt to see a candidate who espoused bigotry, and misogyny come to the fore It hurt as a survivor of abuse to see an abuser take the highest office in the land. It hurt as an immigrant to see someone soon to be our leader calling for border walls and advocating the separation of families. It hurt as the widow of someone who had a 'preexisting' condition to see a person who wanted to go back to the way things were in healthcare be put in charge.Unfortunately that is where we are as a country. I spent a lot of the winter angry, frustrated and hurt. I couldn't understand how so many of Christian friends and neighbors could have voted for someone who seemed to be the antithesis of Christian values. Along the way something happened I started putting my anger to use. I attended a protest for the first time in my life. I started emailing and calling my representatives in Congress and I got down on my knees and prayed. I didn't pray for things to turn out the way I wanted; but I did pray for what I needed to do. I put everything back in God's hands and stopped trying to wrest the control away from Him. I live in a country that despite its flaws, still allows me to speak freely. I have learned to take extra care with my speech so my words are a reflection of my faith. I have learned to take extra care with my actions so they too are a reflection of my faith.

Winter is almost over. Spring is coming and I have a bunch of projects, books, and travels I want to share with you. I have many of the Bumper's adventure's I want to share with you. I have missed blogging. I am glad to be back.

Reading in Bed

Enough already! I am seriously sick of being sick! I feel like every other blog entry goes something like this: Hi, I'm back. I was sick. Today I took a walk. Six months later. Hi, I'm back. I was sick. So on and so forth. Urgh. On the other hand being bed bed ridden  does have it's compensations. I got to catch up on my reading list. Here is what I have been reading in the last couple of weeks or so (honestly I've been sick so much I've lost track of time)

1. Booker T. Washington: Black Leadership in the Age of Jim Crow by Raymond W. Smock.
 This was one of my Black History Month Reads. It turns out I knew next to nothing about this pre-civil rights era leader and founder of the Tuskegee Institute

2. 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup.
 To find a narrative written by a man who had been born free and sold into slavery is nothing short of a history buffs dream. It did not disappoint.

(Yes I know we are well into women's history month, but I have been sick so a little slack is warranted.)

3. Susanna's Dream by Marta Perry
An Amish romance. Well written, not heavy on the mushy stuff.  The story focuses on family connections and community, while the romance is in the background. Great if you like that sort of fare, which I do.

4. Missing Your Smile by Jerry S. Eicher
Another Amish romance, I'm on a roll here, again well written and it deals more with faith issues, plus reading romances written by a man offer a different perspective.

5. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
This is the second in the Outlander series and I am hooked. I am such a sucker for historical fiction. The writing is fast paced, intricate and character driven with enough history to keep it fresh and interesting. A little graphic in the sex department more my tasted, but I just skip over those parts if I find them disrupting or repetitive. 

6. The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot
A classic that has been on my to read list forever, because it is one of those works of literature that as an English major I'm supposed to have read but hadn't gotten around to reading. Getting used to the style is the hardest part, mid-nineteenth century affectations get on the nerves of this post Hemingway reader. It does make me very grateful to have been born in the twentieth century where my options as a woman are far less limited.

So what is on your book shelf, or night stand or bathroom counter dear readers?

Peace

Kim

Catching Summer As She Hurries By

Marigolds are loving the rain!

They say time flies when you are having fun, well it also flies when you have an active four year old. This summer has been all about ice-pops, sprinklers and parties. We are enjoying ourselves tremendously, but it has left very little time for blogging. The Bumper is in summer camp every morning, swimming three times a week and digging in the dirt with Nana. We have also been making the birthday party rounds. So far every weekend in July the Bumper has gone to a party and there is no end in sight. Superheroes are the theme among the pre-school set, but Bumper has wanted to wear princess dresses. When one of her friends challenged her about her choice, she promptly replied "Princesses are superheroes!" I am not going to argue with that.

Because one thing at a time makes too much sense.

I have been busy writing on my novel and I am super excited, the writing is going well and I am starting to like my characters. I am still working on my second sock; I started a dishcloth, and a blanket. 

This Sunflower says perfectly how we feel about the heat!

The weather here has been hot and muggy. We have had lots and lots of rain, great for the grass; not so much for the mower. Remembering how cold it was this past winter, however, I am not complaining!  For the most part the past few weeks have been too hot to play in the day, but since daylight still lingers past seven in the evening, there is plenty of time to go outside once things cool down. Bumper loves stalking fire flies in the long tall grass at the back of our yard. I like watching her, it never fails to put a smile on my face. This is also prime reading weather, and while I have been indulging in a marvelous mystery series revolving around knitting, Bumper has been patiently listening to her read along books and coaxing extra bedtime stories out of me!  Bumper has told me she can't wait for winter to comeback so she can play in the snow and eat maple sugar candy (syrup snow). As for me I am enjoying these rapid fire days as best I can, even if it is when I flop into bed sweaty and exhausted.

Hope, wherever you are, your summer is going well.
Kim

Sick Day -- er-- Week

This Blog postponed due to illness.
See you when I get better. I have been to sick to even knit, crochet or read ( if you know me in RL you know how serious that is).
I'll be back next week.
Kim

Friday Focus - Books

As usual I have more than one book on my nightstand. This month it has been a mix of devotionals, non-fiction, and book club choices.  Since the first day of spring is cold and rainy, it gives me the perfect excuse to cuddle up with a pile of books and read (At least until the Bumper comes home from school).

1. Beside Still Waters is a monthly Bible devotional that I have been reading during Lent. It has the days readings on the top of the page and a short one page application story. This has helped me in taking that extra time out to spend with the Lord each day.

2. Falling Upwards: How we took to the Air by Richard Holmes charts the development of hot air balloons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  Since I generally like history I am enjoying this, but I am really interested in the technical aspect for my next novel.

3.Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty this was my book club's pick for the month of March. It starts out as telling the rather banal stories of upper middle class housewives, but turns into a riveting exploration of infidelity and domestic violence.

4.  Quinine: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure that Changed the World by Fiammetta Rocco. I had never before realized the importance of the tiny little pill we took as a matter of course in the Peace Corps. This is worth a read for both students of history and medicine.

Happy Reading and Happy Week End
Kim

Friday Focus- Books

For the last couple of weeks I have been reading an eclectic variety of books. Everything from Amish homespun wisdom and 19th century letters to wild romp into a Parisian family's past. When I am writing I tend to read non-fiction or out of my genre fiction, right now I am looking for a book on hot air balloons and dirigibles. Here is what was on my shelf this week:

1.  Traces of Wisdom: Amish Women and the Pursuit of Life's Simple Pleasures by Louise Stoltzfus

While the book was a refreshing look at the small joys in everyday life, I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been interviews with the women themselves, rather than a commentary by a former member of the community.

2. Hidden America ; From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This County Work by Jeanne Marie Laskas

The book was at turns raw and introspective, giving a reader a glimpse into the private lives of some of the people who do some of the jobs the rest of us would rather not think about.  I learned more about the people than the work they do, but I think that was the point-- to make the reader see people rather than positions.

3. Women's Letters: America from the Revolutionary War to the Present Edited by Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler

I am still only in the first section 1775-1779. Ladies back then wrote very long letters, but the perspective is well worth the antiquated English. I am enjoying this walk through history very much. Already I have learned things about the Revolutionary War that were not taught in school! Since this is a library book it will definitely be renewed.

4. Stella!: A Treasury by Marie-Louise Gay

I can't decide who is enjoying this collection of stories about a fiesty big sister and her little brother more; the Bumper or I.  Charming and imaginative this collection has found a welcome place in our bedtime routine. The title character has fun and inventive ways of answering her younger brother's steam of seemingly endless questions. I have even borrowed a few!

5. A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay

This story about a middle aged Frenchman coming to terms with his mother's death and uncovering family secrets along the way was one that captivated me from the start. I found my self at turns sympathetic and repulsed by the main character. It is not a book I would have read if a friend had not loaned it to me, but I think I have discovered an author I will read again.

What have you been reading this week?

Happy Reading and Have a Good Weekend

Kim

Happy New Year

I love the first day of the new year, when everything stretches out before me like a blank page pregnant with possibility. I love the chance to start over or reinvent myself if I choose or I can stay just the way I am. I can try new things or  perfect old ones. Acquire good habits and leave behind bad ones. Take a class, learn to dance, draw, cook, sew, spend time with family and friends, grow closer to the Lord,  all or none of these things. A brand new year with no mistakes in it.

Yes I know I carry some of the baggage of the previous year with me, after all I am still me, but it is the possibility that intrigues me. Also as a writer I love that in January I can set a goal of and writing a page a day and at the end of the year I will have a novel length manuscript!

The New Year will have some of the same: the comforting routines of housework, breakfasts,  lunches, suppers to plan and cook, laundry to be done, school time, bath-time, playtime, story-time, and bedtime prayers. There will likely be times of happiness, sadness, worry and laughter. A bright new tapestry to be woven and maybe just maybe an Adventure to be had.

Happy New Year!
Kim

Friday Focus - Books

This is what is on my reading list this week:

1. Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. A sort of you-can-make-it-in thirty-minutes-or-less for the veggie crowd.
2. Better Homes and Gardens October 2014- lots of neat decorating ideas for Autumn
3. National Geographic November 2014- armchair traveling at its best.
4.  I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai - Her story is a good read for those of us who take the right for an education for granted.
5. The Bible- a special focus on Matthew 5:1-12

What are you reading this week?
 
Have a great weekend
I will be trying to finish Nana's scarf this weekend.

Kim

Wishful Thinking

The Bumper goes back to school, how odd that sounds given she is only three and a half, on September 8th. She and I are both excited, but for very different reasons I suspect. We met with her new Teacher today, but the Bumper was more impressed with the classroom toys! Much to the Bumper's delight many of her classmates from last year are with her in the new class so she already has lots of friends. There will be some changes this year as she will be attending three days instead of two (one more day is quite a lot in the the eyes of a child). This year she gets to participate in the Thanksgiving play and the Nativity play, plus her class will be taking trips to the local gymnasitics studio, the zoo, and the dentist.
Now that we have only two more weeks to prepare the pressure is on to re-establish some routines that were left by the wayside during these carefree summer months. The Bumper will have to start getting up early again, which means (insert dramatic drum-roll) she will go to bed early and I will have some extra free time in the evenings.  At least that is my plan, we shall see because last year the
only thing I felt like doing during that extra time was sleep.
Of course I can not help planning all of the wonderful things I want to do with the six hours a week I  will have to myself: work on my novel, finish the housework in a timely fashion, write my graduate school essay, actually have time for morning prayer and Bible reading, blog, knit, crochet, finish, my two pending short stories, bake bread, sew, do the grocery shopping, finish the books I have been reading, meal plan, eat my breakfast without interruption -- ooh I get giddy just thinking about it all! Or I might just catch up on some sleep.
At the moment though all these plans will have to wait as I am on my way out the door, Bumper in tow,  to go to Yoga and Zumba class.

Kim

Friday Focus - Books

I started reading when I was three, and  I read my first "grown up" novel Charlotte's Web by E.B. White when I was seven; somewhere in between I fell in love with books and with reading. I will read just about anything at least once. Yes, this includes the backs of cereal boxes. I have no shame. I am also the sort of person who often reads more than one book at a time. That particular habit used to drive my family bonkers.
Right now this is what is on my reading list:

1. The Bible - always, so I am only going to mention it this once.

2. Where God Was Born: A Daring Adventure Through The Bible's Greatest Stories by Bruce Feiler - I am enjoying this one and finding it eerily relevant given current events in Israel.

3. Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - I bought this thinking it would be a book of patterns to teach me to knit. What I found was a laugh out loud look ( with some patterns thrown in) at knitters and their peculiarities.

4. How to be Vegan by Elizabeth Castoria - A nifty practical book that dispels the myth that vegans live off of iceberg lettuce and hothouse tomatoes.

5. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain - I just finished this one. A fascinating and in-depth look at the rise of the written word and the connection with patriarchy. Not light reading. It took me several weeks to complete.

6. The Sleep Book by Dr. Suess - The Bumper's current bedtime favorite. I think I have it memorized!

So what are you reading this week?

Kim

Book Nerd

I am, as the title suggests, a proud book nerd; yet so far I have not said a word about books or reading. Why? Well as a new mother I am rather, understandably, obsessed with my little Bumper. I also have not had time to read anything, as I have been too busy catching up on sleep! This is shame because I am addicted to books. I love, love, love them!  I love the way they look, the way they smell, but most of all the way they can transport you to far away lands or teach you things you never knew. If anyone has ever seen the anime "Read or Die" I am that girl.

When I was first pregnant, I was placed on bed rest and had plenty of time to read. Unfortunately because I was so nauseous I had a very short attention span, so The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan had to be put on the back burner. Instead I found myself revisiting old childhood favorites. I  once again explored the American frontier with Laura Ingalls Wilder, I peeked into familiar haunts on Prince Edward Island with L.M. Montgomery and I journeyed past a lamppost in a forgotten wardrobe with C.S. Lewis.

I discovered something in those beloved, worn pages that surprised me: There was a time when society expected more out of children than we seem to do now. For example Ma Ingalls expected her girls to make their beds, and wash their cups and plates, and help with simple household chores at an early age, Marilla expected Anne to have some basic knowledge of housekeeping, and Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were expected to be able to entertain themselves. The authors also had expectations of their young readers. In each of these works I found references to Tennyson, Emerson, Greek Mythology and the Bible. Children and adults were supposed to be able to understand these references, many of which I did not understand until after I went to university.

I want my little Bumper to grow up literate I want her to come to know God (and what better way than through his Word?).  I want her to have curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and a practical knowledge of homemaking, crafting, and gardening. The best way I know how to give that to her is to introduce those long cherished volumes to her and watch  her take off in her own direction with them.

The joy of reading. It is truly priceless.

God Bless.
Kim