Spiritual Journey First Thursday: New Beginnings

Julianne at To Read To Write To Be has selected the topic, new beginnings, for our post today.  I love the idea of new beginnings.  Even though I'm retired, I still feel new beginnings stirring as the summer draws to a close and school supplies begin appearing on store shelves.  I tried Irene's suggestion from her Smack Dab in the Middle post to list ten words that describe the topic we're writing about and then to scratch through those words.  (I have to admit that I couldn't scratch through them. But I did make two additional lists.)  "Let's move on to the next ten, and the next! Digging deeper, past the cliches, past the expected, is where all the best poems are buried."

And after I made three lists of words, I turned to the internet where I read quotes about new beginnings.  So today's musings are a blending of my thoughts and quotes that spoke to me.  Thanks, Julieanne, for this time to reflect on new beginnings.   

Sunrise

a new day

a new month

a new story.

A time for turning

a time to be hopeful

a time to keep striving and 

reaching for who we can become.  

While always feeling brim with joy

that He loves us just as we are

with encouragement to become more

as we journey with Him by our side.

And so we open our hearts to 

possibility and embrace the 

opportunities and magic 

of new beginnings.

Slice of Life: Bookshelves!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

If you're like me, you can't resist peeking at the bookshelves when you're in someone's home.  We stayed in a cabin in Park City for a few days in July and the bedroom where I slept had wonderful bookshelves.  I love that the book offerings included children's books (but no picture books!) as well as the usual adult books.  This would be a fine place to be stranded during a blizzard.  While I don't typically reread many books, there are several that I would enjoy rereading.  Here are some of my random bookshelf musings, shelf by shelf.

•  This shelf has two books that I've read:  The Pilot's Wife which always wins our book club's query, "What is the worst book we've ever read?"  and The Picture of Dorian Gray which we recently read (not one of my favorites).
• I've never read anything by Fern Michaels, so I might give that book a try.  I also might try Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter. Delicate Edible Birds looked intriguing and History's Trickier Questions would be a nice nonfiction foray.  

•  Sibley Birds is a wonderful nonfiction resource book for vacation (though perhaps not as useful during that winter snowstorm).  
• Children's book favorites include The Little Mermaid, Green Eggs and Ham, Curious George's Dream and Little Bear's Friend.
• This shelf includes a couple of middle grade titles that I would like to read:  The Maze and Kenny and the Dragon (which a former student loved and wanted me to read).
• I would definitely reread The Poisonwood Bible from this shelf.  If the blizzard lasts long enough and the hot chocolate stash holds out, I would dive into Wolf Hall, something I've wanted to read for awhile.  I might even dip into Walden (having only read excerpts from it)!

• Of the three John Grisham titles on this shelf, the only one I've read is A Painted House.  
• Our book club's discussion of The Da Vinci Code holds the record for most attendees in attendance.  We used all those in attendance to wind yarn for my daughter's Gold Award Girl Scout project which was making hats for the homeless.  
• I would like to reread Peace Like a River, Macbeth, and The Screwtape Letters.
• This shelf wins the award for the most classic titles (5).  Given enough time, I might finally read For Whom the Bell Tolls and Uncle Tom's Cabin.   The book I would definitely NOT read is the Stephen King title.  Who needs to be scared to death while stranded in a snowstorm?

Do you enjoy looking at other people's bookshelves?  What titles would you be sure to have on the shelves of your cabin?  I would definitely add Beach Music by Pat Conroy, Christy by Catherine Marshall, and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

Celebrate This Week!

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.

When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

 

   A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember.

Jack has reached a milestone.  He sits up all by himself!

Teddy and his mom are still enjoying summer in Utah.

I love these pics of him in a little red wagon.   

My tomatoes are ripening!  This week I'll have my first taste.  

I finished an absolutely delightful adult read.  News of the World by Paulette Giles is short (just over 200 pages), beautifully written,    and was a finalist for the National Book Award.  Perhaps some of my fascination with the title is because I know Texas.  I loved the map that allowed me to trace Johanna and Captain Kidd's journey. 

Gorgeous hydrangeas and hanging baskets fill me with joy.

So I pause to snap pictures that I can revisit later.  

We had a gray, misty morning.  I've missed those lately!  

I love this opportunity to pause and find the joyful moments.
Thank you, Ruth, for this community of friends

and the opportunity to celebrate each week.   

Slice of Life: Infinity Mirrors Exhibit at Seattle Art Museum

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

We arrived 30 minutes before our ticketed time.  Imagine our surprise when the line extended for an entire city block!  As we neared the end of that block, we realized that this line was for people hoping to get "day of" tickets to the exhibit.  In fact, there was a much shorter line queuing up for the 10:15 admission.  My husband knew this would be a popular exhibit, so he procured our tickets on the first day they became available to museum members.  I'm glad that he was prompt to purchase them.  There were six in our group + Jack, our almost six-month old grandson.

The exhibit, Infinity Mirrors, features the work of Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama.  Her work was featured in a solo exhibition in Seattle at the Zoe Dusanne gallery in 1957.  The current exhibit is playful, colorful, and thought provoking.  Future stops for the exhibit include  The Broad in Los Angeles (October 2017–January 2018), the Art Gallery of Ontario (March–May 2018), the Cleveland Museum of Art (July–September 2018), and the High Museum of Art (November 2018-February 2019).

It was the perfect introduction for Jack to the world of art.  I couldn't help but reflect on a memorable visit to an art exhibit in 1988 when Blake and Sara were not quite two and four.  We drove from Houston to Dallas to see a centennial exhibition of Georgia O'Keefe's work at the Dallas Museum of Art.  It's an almost five hour drive, and we went there and back on the same day.  Watching the awestruck faces of our young children made the long car trip worthwhile and is a memory I still treasure.  

So with no further ado, join us on a brief stroll through our pictures from the Infinity Mirrors exhibit.  

 Jack and his mom framed in the sun

 Love the colors on this sculpture

 Who can resist smiling with color like this?

 A recreation of Kusama's original 

1965 Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli's Field

 My favorite Infinity Mirror - 

Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity 

features lights that dim and illuminate again.

 Jack and Grandma hang out

in the Dots Obsession -

Love Transformed into Dots room.

Our friend Ryan peers into the 

Infinity Mirrored Room - Love Forever

to snap a pic of Jack and his mom

at another window.

The Obliteration Room, originally 

created in 2002, where participants

are given dots to transform a white room

and its furnishings.  Jack and parents loved it.

These paintings and sculptures are 

featured at the beginning of the exhibit

and they can be revisited as you finish the exhibit.  

The 87-year old artist continues to work in her Tokyo

studio.  This series, My Eternal Soul (2009-present),

is making its North American debut and is my

personal favorite from the exhibition.  

Celebrate This Week: Grandchildren!

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.

When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

 

   A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember.

Last week we were in Park City, Utah spending a few days with our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.  They're in Utah visiting her family and we escaped to a cabin in Park City for a few days.  

Everyone asked what we did.  Our main activity was playing with Teddy as you can see from the pics I'm sharing.  The thing that surprised us most about Teddy's growth since his visit to our house in April is that he's chatting all the time.  He's at the stage where you have no idea what he's saying, but you know that he's carrying on full conversations!  His current favorite toy is a red ball purchased by Grandma Barb on a Target visit.  

 Balancing the big red ball

Hanging with Grandpa on the deck 

Playing with Grandpa at the park

Shopping at the Outlet Mall with Dad

 Clapping with Mom

Chatting with Grandma 

Teddy was napping & Grandma was visiting a 
friend when these moose came chomping
and clomping right beside the cabin.

I enjoyed a visit with my good friend Renae 
who now lives in Park City (and Arizona).
We connected with our friend Coleen
for a book club google chat.

Maybe if I take Grandpa's shoes he can't leave! 

Playing with the wire basket from Grandma's lunch

just before she and Grandpa leave for the airport

We love this pic that Stefi took
of the four of us on the deck.

 When these hydrangeas bloom just outside

our public library, then I know it's mid-summer.

I returned just in time to spend
Wednesday and Friday with Mr. Jack.

Admiring that boy in the mirror

Not sure who's happier, 
Jack or Grandpa!

Slice of Life: An Ordinary Bookstore Stop Turns Extraordinary!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

There was nothing special about this stop at my favorite indie bookstore, Island Books.  I was picking up a new picture book favorite. My husband reads the library copy to grandson Jack all the time. (Jack's mom has already told me that she wants her own copy).  I wanted to purchase a copy for Teddy, our other grandson so we could share it with him when we saw him and his parents on our quick vacation to Park City.  I know you're curious.  This new favorite book that will be in both grandson's libraries is Together by  Emma Dodd.  If you haven't seen it yet, stop now and request it from the library or check with your favorite indie bookstore to see if they have it in stock.

Like I said, there was nothing special about this stop at Island Books UNTIL . . .  Lillian reached under the counter and handed me an advance reader copy!   And not just any ARC,  but the ARC of a book that I'm eagerly anticipating that doesn't come out until this fall.  I fairly danced out of the store with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War I Finally Won tucked under my arm.  I read it on our short vacation. Tomorrow I'll drop it off to my daughter, Sara.  She's a fast reader and will be able to finish it in time for me to return it to Lillian so it can continue to make the rounds of other lucky readers.  Thank you, Lillan, and thank you, Island Books!  I love this sequel as much as the first book.  And thanks to Emily Brubaker Bradley for this continuing story of Ada's life.   

Celebrate This Week

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.

When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

 

   A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember.

I stepped out of the meeting room and into the main part of the library. A father and son were playing chess just outside our gathering.  I asked them if we were being too noisy. They assured us that our noise level was just fine.  I stood for a few moments, happy to savor the babble coming out of the room from members of our book club.  It was delightful to listen to the cacophonous chatter from this group of fourth to ninth graders who chose to gather and talk about books during the summer.

It was our first summer meeting of Books, Brownies, and Beyond.  Our group included regulars from the past year, a cousin of one of our members, friends of members and new book friends.  We welcomed Ms. Cifu to our gathering who will be in the library at IMS in the fall.

We began by going around the table, introducing ourselves, sharing our favorite genre(s) and what we've been reading so far this summer.  Ms. Bowman and I filled the table with book ideas for summer reading.  But the best suggestions came from fellow readers.  And everyone took advantage of a blank summer reading list page to record possible titles for future reading.  

Almost everyone present experienced book envy because Katie had the final installment for the Land of Stories series which had just come out that day.  

Everyone  chose a free book, compliments of Island Books who shares their ARCs with our book club.  And of course, we had cookie bars.  Here’s our parting shot that captured most of our attendees for our first summer meeting. 

Happy reading until we meet again on August 22 in the small library meeting room from 4-6 pm!