Monday 4 July 2022

Books and things

There are any number of things I could write about: half finished thoughts that start as a comment on something, then lead me to realize I have a lot more to say. That’s kinda cool. But summer is so new, and I’m not much in the mood for anything too serious yet.

I have been feeling a bit of unreasonable irritation toward people who too enthusiastically wish me a happy or fun  “summer vacation.” I am dealing with a few things that are neither particularly happy, fun or “vacation” oriented. Yeah I’m not teaching right now but life is still going on. The stress hasn’t just melted away.

But in all fairness there are happy and fun things happening too. I’m not miserable; I’m just oscillating a lot between happy/grateful and overwhelmed/grumpy.

Something lovely coming up is my friend/colleague’s wedding. Our friends and family who intended to marry all tied the knot between 2005 and 2015, so I wasn’t expecting to go to any more weddings for another decade or two. But here we are. Also my girls will have a chance to see a wedding, which is nice.

My friend has an attachment to stained glass because her late mother created art with it. So I made her a stained glass cookie window. (Gluten free too.)



The vision was bold, the execution was decent and the cookies taste good. I had hoped it would stand upright but it was not quite sturdy enough haha. The recipient (and her nephews and niece) were delighted.  I appreciated the “good stress” of figuring out this project. As opposed to the stress of things just coming at me.

Other than that, and many many cleanup jobs around the house and yard*, it’s summer so time to try to read some more books I guess. Here’s what I’m thinking: 

Historical(ish?) fiction from Paul Kingsnorth, whose essays I’ve enjoyed. First of a trilogy so if I like it, that’s great



Re-read a classic from my childhood. My oldest brother bought this for AJ a while back when he travelled to PEI. It has been chosen for a Facebook book club. My Facebook activity is very limited but I figure I can login a few times to keep up with the club. Also AJ might be old enough that I could read it with her. That could be fun.



I re-read parts of Anne of Green Gables not too long ago; it might have even been last summer. It was interesting reading it from an adult mid life perspective. I love Maud Montgomery’s work and can easily get captivated by any of her stories, even starting randomly in the middle of something. I’ve read most of everything she wrote, multiple times.

However, what struck me as unique about Anne of Green Gables is how much of the story is told through dialog. None of Maud’s other books rely so much on conversation. The story is basically different kinds of people who don’t much like or understand each other reaching a state of empathy, self-awareness and mutual understanding. It’s really quite inspiring and timely.

* I’ve asked Mr Turtle to take me in a hot date to the dump sometime. Decluttering would make me so happy. Hopefully we make that happen soon.

I’ll end with this sunset from the other night:




2 comments:

  1. The cookie window is *gorgeous*.
    Also yay for anne! I reread the series in my early 30s and it held up to everything I remembered from childhood!

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    1. Thank you! I had so much fun creating the window. There is something lovely about re-reading a childhood classic, isn't there? It's an encounter with the book but also with yourself, in a way. And AJ appears hooked on Anne of Green Gables so I am looking forward to this new experience.

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