Tag Archives: books

The enchanting garden

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One of the days my husband and I were out in Oregon, he came back from his morning run very pleased. He had a surprise to show me on the campus, one that he knew would delight me. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, though, not wanting to spoil the surprise.

Let me back up a moment to remark on the beauty of the University of Oregon’s campus. Both my husband and I attended universities that were of a mostly utilitarian, bricks-are-best style, and while in Eugene, we found ourselves commenting again and again what a pretty campus it is.

While my alma mater has an arboretum near the main campus, UO’s website boasts that its campus “is an arboretum” (emphasis mine). To call it an arboretum isn’t a stretch, considering the rest of the campus description: “… with museums, libraries, laboratories, and lecture halls situated among over 3,500 trees of more than 500 species. Bring in the harvest at the urban garden, explore the nearby historic cemetery, or walk along the banks of the Willamette River” (Source). They’re not exaggerating about the nature that is an integral part of the university.

Back to the day my husband took me off our usual path through campus. Here’s where our journey took us: Continue reading →

Aunts (lovely and vile) in literature

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I hope you won’t mind a lighter post today. I’m flying back from my vacation in Eugene, Oregon, where I spent 10 marvelous days watching the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. If you missed the trials and want to know who made the team for London, check out my favorite running site: Flotrack. I’m sure there are some proud aunts (not to mention moms and dads, too) of our US athletes.

For today’s post, I wanted to mention some aunts in literature, some that you’d love to have as your own aunt and some that are vile, ornery or downright evil.

I owe the inspiration for this post to a fellow blogger Jodi Chromey, whose post about Beverly Cleary’s Ramona and Beezus (and their aunt Beatrice) got me thinking about other aunts in literature. Check out her post. It’s a lovely tribute to Cleary and the power of literature in a child’s life. And Chromey describes in moving detail why Aunt Beatrice means even more to her now that she’s all grown up and a woman without children of her own but a niece and nephew to adore. Continue reading →

Springing into a good book

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I’ve mentioned before that this first week after the time change isn’t my most favorite one of the year. Maybe you feel it, too? The body’s confusion about why all of a sudden we have to get up even earlier than usual. Even my dog isn’t ready to get up first thing, but she has enjoyed getting dinner earlier than usual.

The weather is gorgeous, though, and Spring is definitely here, making it practically impossible to sit inside for long lengths of time. And the light lasting longer in the evening means I can sit outside and read. Here’s a list of some of my favorite reads from the last few months that might inspire you to grab a cold Izze and head outside to read.

A few of the books I've been reading, along with my favorite soft drink: grapefruit Izze!

Continue reading →

The power of paper

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Back in March, I wrote about why I love paper and real books more than e-readers. In that post, I shared some of the artwork of a book artist, Brian Dettmer, who takes a scalpel to books and transforms them into works of art.

This past weekend, I got to see Dettmer’s work in person at Pulse Miami, just one of many art festivals that took place in the Miami area as part of a larger celebration of art, Art Week Miami.

Now, I love art, and experiencing art is one of the ways my life flourishes. But I don’t generally love ultra contemporary art, and since Pulse Miami is billed as a contemporary festival, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As my husband and I walked through the expo halls, we were wowed by some of what we saw, unimpressed with other works and horrified by others that seemed nightmarish or vulgar only for the sake of being nightmarish or vulgar.  Continue reading →

Defeating the green-eyed monster

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I promised in last week’s post to talk with you about jealousy today. But first, would you mind a quick update? Both twigs of the baby elm tree have already sprouted new leaves, and I’m hopeful the wire cage and the Irish Spring soap, along with the beginnings of some lovely fall weather, will all keep that little tree thriving.

Let’s take a look at where that little tree is growing:

^ The little tree is growing right there …
in the shadow of its much larger parent tree.

You really can’t even see the little tree, can you? It’s so small and easy to miss. If you get down to the tree’s level, here’s what you’ll see:  Continue reading →