After a quick lunch, I cleaned up a bit for my annual visit (or so I hope!) to City Hall for the calendar presentation. This year I'm Miss June. In this photo Paul and Junko Hennesy are viewing the board with all the submissions which after viewing them all I feel pretty lucky to be chosen. Paul has one of my favorite pictures in this year's calendar, but he didn't make the cut this year; Junko did. This nice couple came by my booth a few weeks ago to get reacquainted and were nice enough to come to the gallery show as well, which reminds me, it is coming to an end this week. As I expected, there were no sales....
What I really wanted to write about was reading Home, by Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for literature for the novel Gilead. I've linked you to a review by Tony Scott of the NYT which brought out some points that didn't occur to me while reading. First and foremost, this was a challenging book in many ways. It took me longer to read than most novels because the ideas are complex. The action, if you could call it that, takes place in the worn, rambling home of Reverend Boughton, the characters are primarily two of his grown children, Glory and Jack, who've returned to the family home for what appears on the surface as two different reasons, but I'm thinking maybe in the end they weren't so different after all. The story is not billed as a mystery, although it could be because the author only allows us to know bits and pieces of what's going on. As you know, I'm not very good with subtlety, making it all the more difficult to understand, let alone, tell you about. Ms. Robinson writes about spirituality with candor and insight, but in the end, she allows the reader to make their own conclusions. It's a book you won't easily forget.
Another excellent novel I've recently read is All the Living by C.E. Morgan. (For some reason every link I've tried to place here is not working for me) Set on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, Aloma and Orren find their way.
It would seem as if all I read are sad books, and mostly I do, but yesterday I picked up Eleanor Lipman's latest novel, The Family Man, which is like a sitcom after the previous two I've mentioned. She's very clever; if you've never read any of her books you might want to for a laugh.
I'm making two changes in my life, both for the better I hope. One is that I'm going to quit the Saturday market, secondly, I'm giving up our lawn service. For most of my life I've been a lawn mower, something I really do enjoy. The smell of fresh cut grass is so real; surrounded by manufactured scents everywhere, what with body washes, lotion, gels, sprays, oils and candles, we've mostly forgotten the real thing. You can add your own observations to that list I'm sure. Anyway, we are increasingly becoming a people accustomed to fakery, I want to reclaim just a bit of reality, not to mention that I've almost felt a sense of disconnect with my own yard since they've taken over. Bruce has discouraged this move because he's afraid I won't be up for it, however I'm willing to give it a good try.
Dear Sand Lake Market,
It's been almost a year now that I've done my best to be faithful to your mission, setting up my wares, smiling, chatting and hoping, against all odds, that people would come. They haven't. I wish you the best, and I sincerely hope in the future I'll hear reports that cause me to second guess this decision.
yours truly,
Gail
Today is the kind of day that causes people to move to Florida--blue skies and mild temps. Did I mention the windows are open? Keep it coming please.
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Listening to: LCD Soundsystem - Watch the Tapes
via FoxyTunes
1 comment:
Freshly mowed grass is one of my favorite smells in all the world!
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