Letting the Sunshine In…
…through a window of possibilitiesSomething Beautiful
Each morning I step outside. I check on her. She does not belong to me, but she is mine. She watches me as closely as I watch her. I am charmed by her loyalty. I am pleased by her devotion. It is a magnificent sight. I cannot get enough of her. So I walk outside after lunch, just a brief visit. The smile is an irresistible reflex and the cooing, equally irresistible. Once more after dinner then I am done for the day. She is doing a fine job. We are all elated when they hatch. I count four, each one of them, an honest reflection of the sky.
She is vigilant and proud. We are all elated when they hatch, it’ something beautiful.
Namaste’
The sun will rest her rays deliberately among the shadows of the trees while watching as the moon rises
She whispers her name thoughtfully as if they’d met somewhere before and remembers a time when her reflections shed light on the river of possibilities
Now it is the towering glow of the moon that shimmers as the dark waters flow beneath bridges rushing to greet undiscovered embankments
Newly exposed, uninhibited colors grow into rhythms of life building blocks and then more building
The foundation of memories:
Of quiet walks,
Delicate smiles,
Intentional hopes
Attentively she listens to the sound of future generations building their blocks
Gathering reminders —
Preparing storehouses for show and tell nights while attracting tides of light
And it occurs to her that she is a surviving remnant affected by – helping to shape the process, the experience of impending moons awaiting a new horizon
Her light will illuminate their path
They will know that she was once where they are as they bask in the warmth of her unyielding spirit…
…Namaste
Luna bows in reverence, humbled by the suns journey – grateful for her gift of light…
…Namaste the sun replies
When It Rains My Mind Wanders
I hear the rain fall before it lands. Rivers of water congregate between spaces on my roof. By morning the leaves will be refreshed & birds will bathe. If the moon had her way, there would be a rainbow tonight. A fireworks display of color. A reminder to us all of promises kept.
The Secret Keeper – Kate Morton
The final four chapters of Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper were in and of themselves a novel…a fantastic novel to boot. It was the rest of the book, engorged with descriptions and riddled with fateful foreshadowing, that felt sometimes like I was journeying on a slow-moving train. This annoyed me a bit…at times, not enough to put the book way back on a shelf in the basement, but enough of an irritation that short, two-day sabbaticals were necessary.
I guess I’m just not a huge fan of repetitive conversations, revisited dialogue or retold stories. I don’t exactly see the usefulness in describing a specific encounter from several points of view. Once will suffice, thank you very much! Besides, I like a book that has one important character — the most important in fact — and a few supporting characters that add depth to a story. In this book there are four main characters that are equally important which makes the supporting characters (i.e. Laurel’s siblings, Jimmy’s father, etc. ) seem more like extras in a movie. We know they are there, but, if they weren’t, we wouldn’t miss them.
The premise is fantastic: a child witnesses a murder. Only when faced with her mother’s impending death does she begin to recall pieces of an event that changed her in more ways than she had ever realized. She uncovers a family secret that will change her forever more.
The mystery kept me reading: Who is this Dotty, this mother, and what has she done?; Will the answers ever be unraveled?; Will her daughter, Laurel, be at peace with what she witnessed as a child and uncovers as an adult?
And the twist….well, I was pleasantly shocked but won’t spoil it for anyone else.
Heck, if you’re gonna read a book with this many words in it, you may as well enjoy the surprise at the end!
These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner
These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Totally blindsided by this book….
….before long I found it hard to put down. Let’s face it, I’m just a sucka for love! I’m also a softy for, triumph in the face of struggle type of stories. I fell in love with Sarah Prine and each member of her family. My heart ached with them during the most tragic and cankerous times in their life and cheered them along during each momentous celebration of life, love and family bonds. Was I immediately captivated by this story? No, and yet over time, the characters befriended me and I was thankful to have had a glimpse into their lives, I was thankful for their friendships. I believed Turner, I thought her interpretation of this time period was captured nicely and I would absolutely pass it on to a friend.
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time By Mark Haddon
This is a strangely interesting book that took me months to finish and yet I’m not exactly sure why. I think that perhaps it reads too much like some of the conversations I have had with my wonderfully intelligent mother who, bless her heart, needs to explain everything in excessive detail. Funny enough, I’ve been accused by my daughter of expressing myself in the very same way and it’s true, I do tend to go on and on and on. So yes, I believe that the content of this book was cleverly constructed. However, I was often bored by the sound of the voice in my head while reading those lengthy monologues, and believe me that rarely happens, that is, me getting tired of the sound of my own voice.
This book came highly recommended and I can see why. It’s a brilliant glimpse into the mind of an autistic child who is doing his best to make sense of the world around him. I was impressed and bored all at the same time.
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex
The secret — for those who don’t know — is actually no secret at all…I absolutely, unapologetically love to watch General Hospital. While some storylines/character flaws may be more or less interesting from week to week, overall I have been quite entertained since age 11. I’ve been tease a few times by my friends for indulging but I still insist that a little trash has never hurt anyone. So I was thoroughly amused when Dracula in Love by Karen Essex was chosen as the primary book for our January book club. This book is indeed trash-a-licous! (Yes I did just make up a word!) There is intrigue, titillating seduction, lust, betrayal and even a perfect ending.
Mina, a young woman whose past with an Austrian Count–Count Dracula if you’re nasty–collides with her present day life and love, Jonathan Harker. While she is undeniably drawn to the mysterious man of her past lives she feels strongly that there is a duty to her present life that must be upheld. Obviously this book is more fantasy than anything else but what did strike me was the overwhelming patriarchal bias against women in their homes, communities, churches, and the asylums’. It was a prevalent theme throughout the book that jumped out immediately. I thought Essex did a great job of bringing to life issues of female oppression in a male dominated society and strong female characters that didn’t mind bucking the system.
Overall I am not a fan of Dracula books. He is my least favorite fictional villain (a childhood Dracula related incident is to blame for this). But there was just enough trash that this inquiring mind had to continue reading. Will it go down as one of my all-time favs? Absolutely not! But the entertainment value was worth the week I spent reading it.
Pilate’s Wife Antoinette May
Pilate’s Wife by Antoinette May
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I enjoy a classic romance novel as much as the next reader (laughter), which is precisely why Pilate’s Wife was so shockingly disappointing. Maybe the let down stems from the fact that this novel is marketed as historical fiction. True there are historical events sprinkled here and there. It’s also true that the people depicted in this novel are historical figures. Certainly, the filler is a bunch of fiction…wait, so it is historical fiction! Then why am I left feeling yucky? I’ve actually thought about this question and come up with a few good reasons. First, there really is no stand out character. Claudia is not an appealing heroin even though the events surrounding her were dramatic. In fact, I was more interested in the fate of Claudia’s older sister Marcella. But she hadn’t married the future Governor of Judea, the man who would forever be linked to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (I’ll just have to get over it). Second, Pilate’s role is miniscule. There is still much about him that I don’t know. Finally, the steamiest most overwrought part of the book is Claudia’s relationship with Holtan the gladiator. Out of nowhere this book shifted from an historical fiction to a harlequin romance!
With all of that being said, don’t regret picking it up. The cover is beautiful (always a plus) and I’m glad, like with most books, that I read it. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve read by far but let’s face it, as a follow up to the Prodigal Summer, it never really had a chance.
Prodigal Summer – Barbara Kingslover
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reading this book was like eating an Italian cream cake in its entirety, deliciously satisfying. So rich, so full of flavor and thought, I enjoyed every bite…I mean bit! It was warm and moving, not overdone or over-written (it is clear that Barbara Kingslover is a superior writer. Superior to whom you may ask. Well, superior to most current novelist, present company included!).
I’m really glad I picked this book up…on sale. Really sad that it was the out-of-business sale at my local Boarder’s.
En Ami (As A Friend)
The sun rises…a new dawn;
unfolding from dawns past
Below the earth’s surface lie the vagaries of a tomorrow
Sun…Rising…shinning…setting
I am stranded by ineluctable waves of elapsed time;
Secrets kept,
the illumination of 16 candles,
moving forward now looking back
Again I turn,
A nebulous shadow follows closely in tandem…
…I have known her and it’s alright
The corners of us touching like before;
Together we laid each brick
Blood, from the piercing of our first goodbye
and each goodbye after
The mortar that mended them into
one song…our song…we sing
Meant to withstand years of seasons
Pressed into
Settling against its foundation
Yearning for the occupancy of stories;
Stories that swell within
The adolescent echoes of these walls
(Childhood pranks, double dutch, late night drives to nowhere in particular)
An opus composed
We sing…we laugh…we remember
Leslie K Green © 2009
Letting the Sunshine In... 