I’m putting in less hours a day in our office but they can still be pretty hectic!
It’s weird but I find it soothing to organize at home!
I’ll usually go up to my room and put clothes away, organize shoes, and sort through my closet if I see a need.
Month: April 2023
Unaccustomed Earth
I fell in love with every story in this book, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. I read Interpreter of Maladies but no other of hers since then. Shame on me because she is an incredible writer!
Most intriguing were the final three stories – they were a trilogy! First in one voice and then in another and then….read it and you’ll see.
I seem to find takeaways from books lately and in one story I found it. A character says, “…grieving freshly for my mother as neither my father nor I had done. Being with her through her illness day after day had denied us that privilege.”
That is something I’m unpacking in my Seasons of Betty series on my blog centered around family and, for me anyway, it spoke such truth to my memories of that time that I reached for my phone to take a picture so I wouldn’t forget it.
If you enjoy short stories and stories about families, I recommend this and I’m going to catch up on all her other books that I’ve missed since reading Interpreter of Maladies!
His Yellow Boots
From the age of 2 until 5, my son wore these yellow boots nearly every day rain or shine, summer or winter.
They were bought to wear with his Batman Halloween costume which he wore every weekend from 2 to 3 years old. But even after the costume no longer fit, the boots lived on.
I even bought a second pair when he started to grow out of the first. I guess I was as much to blame for the constant use!
I lent them to a family friend and when they were done, they sent them back and they’ve stayed in the cedar chest with a few other treasures of his childhood.
Make Me a Time Traveler!
Daily writing prompt
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
If I could be a character from a book or film I would want to be a time traveler in one of Connie Willlis’s books! Doomsday Book, Black Out, or All Clear. To examine the past and travel back to the middle ages or WWII would have been amazing to explore and bring back information to use in their research.
Sometimes it was scary being in the middle of the plague or the bombings in London but they made it through.
Spirits Watching Over Us
I’m always amazed at the way the spirits show themselves to me. Whether through a medium or expressing their presence directly to me.
717 is my special number because it’s the month and day our son was born. Whenever I see these numbers – especially on the oven clock! – I say “I see you my family!”, knowing that the spirits are with me.
Yesterday we were in the attic moving a heavy cedar chest away from the top of the stairs so the HVAC people could get up there and put their unit upstairs.
It’s bittersweet because we’re getting central air for our 2nd floor which gets incredibly HOT in the New England summers we have, but the money comes from the sale of my father-in-law’s home in California. He passed away in October and this was something we knew we needed in our home and in our son’s and daughter-in-law’s home.
After we moved the chest away, I saw a piece of paper on the floor where the chest had been. I picked it up, turned it over, and saw THIS and got chills. It’s my handwriting but that chest has been in that spot for about 5 years after the attic was cleaned out and insulation was put down on the floor!
There’s only one explanation – my father-in-law is acknowledging the 110+ temperatures we endured with him when we were there last August and he’s saying “I got you – you’re welcome”.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 