Ordinary Time

Having finished Moby Dick, I wanted to talk a bit about reading the classics. I try to read a couple books a year that would fit into this category. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, I know there are books out there that I haven't read and I want to. I think Huckleberry Finn will be next on the list. (No, I never read it in school, just as I never read To Kill a Mockingbird. The honors English classes read things such as The Odyssey and Don Quixote.) J. read the book James earlier this year and I want to read Twain's version first.  The second reason is that I find if I read too much contemporary fiction, my concentration and reading skills become... less robust. Sentence length and grammatical complexity are much, much simpler in the majority of books written in this century. While it can be relaxing to whip through an easy book, it is too easy to lose skills if that is all you read. I do worry that older literature, which includes truly excellent books, will beco...

I am happy (thrilled? relieved?) to report that I have finally finished reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I started it last year, got about halfway through, then set it aside for the lighter, easier books that were arriving (sometimes daily) at the library. This continued for about a year. Then last week, I had many books that I was waiting for, but none that had arrived, and I looked at Moby Dick next to my bed gathering dust and decided that I was tired of seeing it and needed to finish it. It took me about five days to finish it off.  If you had asked me what I thought about Moby Dick before this week, I would not have been overly excited. There were a few amusing bits, but there were an awful lot of bits that felt like a slog. I was worried that the rest of the book was just going to be a three hundred page slog to the finish line. It wasn't. In fact, I actually ended up liking it. Kind of a lot. And the ending was particularly satisfying. I was surprised by my reaction, ac...

One of my birthday gifts was the book, Art Cure: the science of how the arts save lives by Daisy Fancourt. If you are interested in the arts and also interested in reading about various brain studies, then this book is for you. I will admit, that it is kind of preaching to the choir for me, but it is nice to have it all in one place. Really, I can sum the entire book up into one sentence: Participating in the arts is good for you in terms of physical, intellectual, and emotional health... plus, get some exercise.  To give you a taste of what's in the book, read this exerpt. "What, then, makes some people more resistant to the symptoms of dementia, despite physical evidence of changes in their brains? And why do some people experience gradual decline in their cognition with dementia, like walking down a gentle slope, while others are seemingly fine and then have a rapid decline, like falling off a cliff? The answers lie in the concept of reserve. Reserve comes in two forms: har...

Today is J.'s and my 35th anniversary. I don't know how that number got so large, but it did. The past 35 years have been an adventure. There has been a lot of good times and a lot of hard times. As J. says, when you have this many children, you're going to see stuff. One thing it hasn't been is dull. I can't imagine even attempting our unconventional life with anyone else. J. is the calm, reasonable part to my often reactionary nature. He is an amazing husband and an amazing father who probably does not get as much due here on the blog as he should. So happy anniversary to my best friend and the love of my life. Here's to 35 more. 

There was a lot going on this weekend... Two birthdays, Father's Day, a big family party hosted by W. and MC, and a surprise gardening event. The birthdays were D.'s and J.'s.  D.'s birthday was yesterday which coincided with the party. Last year W. and MC decided to host an extended family party in June because the stretch between Easter and Thanksgiving, when we usually all gather, seemed like a long stretch. The P. Family were invited, too, because they are pretty much family at this point. Someone decided that D. needed to be sung to, at which point K. got this awesome picture. It's too bad we don't have any fun when we're together, huh? (l-r: a P. Family daughter, P. Family Dad, W. and D.) Also yesterday, TM and JH came but with a tree for me. JH works for a large plant growers and loves plants. The last time they were here, I was asking JH about recommendations for what to do with the front of the barn because I was tired of it looking... abandoned.  ...

The Internet is really a mixed bag as to its societal benefit, isn't it? I personally think that one of the really great things is people creating videos showing you how to repair things. Things such as your KitchenAid mixer that stopped working after 33 years of service.  I had mentioned that J. had taken it apart and figured out what parts needed to be replaced. To get everything he needed to make it work again, we were out less than $50. The parts arrived and J. worked on getting it all put back together this afternoon.  It's now good as new! While he had it all disassembled, he also scrubbed all the parts clean. It truly needed it, especially after 33 years and many children using it. It's positively shiny!  I'm very excited to have it back and working. This is mainly because it is what I use to make applesauce and I couldn't imagine even attempting such a feat without the food grinder that attaches to the mixer. I've made applesauce using a hand crank food ...