June Reading

June wasn't a very good month for reading. Early on, I was feeling so sick that I didn't have the energy to pick up a book. But I did manage to read three:

Alone and Alive by Janet Boyanton. Reviewed this month on this blog.

The Empowered Patient by Elizabeth Cohen. Also reviewed earlier this month.

Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton. This book was inspired by the life of A.A. Milne's son, who apparently never came to terms with being the model for Christopher Robin. In Elton's book, the main character's father modeled the young boy in a series called The Hayseed Chronicles on him. As the books become world-famous, the son deals with his own response to fame. It's a quirky book. The first half was interesting, but the book gradually lost steam. The most intriguing part was Mr. Toppit the sinister and elusive character in the Hayseed Chronicles. If you want to know more, there's apparently a website about these imaginary books. I'd give the book a B.

Jeopardy: Here are the Questions

1. What is a Portuguese water dog?

2. Who are the Brontes?

3. Who is Lurch?

4. What is semaphore?

5. Who is Anne Hathaway?

6. What is covalent? or What is electrovalent?

7. What are mouse ears?

8. What is "The Shining?"

9. What is the ponderosa pine?

10. What is the IPod?

Jeopardy

I love Jeopardy. This year my daughter gave me a 365 day Jeopardy calendar. So far I've made $92,200 imaginary dollars supplying answers to Jeopardy questions. I'm shooting for $150,000. Then maybe I'll take an imaginary trip around the world.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to throw out some answers from my calendar and you can see how much you win. Leave your responses in the Comment section. I'll supply the correct answers...er, questions tomorrow. Each is worth $1000. Get them all right and you've won $10,000 imaginary dollars. Remember, your answers must be in the form of a question.

1. A giftr from Ted Kennedy to the Obamas, first dog Bo is this breed.

2, In this family, sisters Emily, Charlotte and Anne all wrote novels.

3. In the early 60s Maynard G. Drebbs would say, "You rang?" Later this Addams family character used it, too.

4. First developed in France in 1794, this system of communication's name is from the Greek for sign bearing.

5.She got an Oscar nomination for her role as the troubled sister in Rachel Getting Married.

6.The two main types of chemical bonds are ionic and this.

7.As a friend of Walt Disney, Roy Williams was the first to put these on a hat.

8.The title of thi 1980 scarefest refers to the telepathic powers of Danny, Jack Nicholson's son in the film.

9. Montana's state tree is this type of pine; Bonanza men called it home.

10.Models of this Apple product have included the Shuffle, the Nano and the Touch.

Good luck!

Writing to Me is...

Today's post is in conjunction with the Blog-A-Licious Blog Tour a fantastic blog hop that brings together bloggers of all genres, backgrounds and locations. In today's hop, the blog featured before Widowsphere is Big Ideas. You can find it at www.tinahoggatt.wordpress.com The blog featured after Widowsphere is the captivating www.blogaliciousblogs.blogspot.com Do stop by and say hello plus some of us are having giveaways and contests. Enjoy!

Here are my thoughts on what writing means to me:

When I was four years old, I composed a poem about a chicken, a rabbit and a pig, then announced I would be a writer when I grew up. My parents were impressed but none of us believed my prediction would come true. In my day, when you grew up, you became June Cleaver. You wore your pearls as you vacuumed the living room and made scrumptious meals for Ward and the boys. Maybe you wrote a few notes on your monogrammed stationery, but you certainly didn't have time to sit down at your typewriter and compose a story or an essay, not with all the housework, gardening, mothering, and wife-ing.

But eventually I did become a writer. Romance novels first, then essays, and now I'm shopping a memoir. I can't imagine not writing. When I wrote novels, writing allowed me to escape (I needed to, with 3 teenagers in the house) to imagine, and to think of ways to describe the sex act without using real anatomical terms.

After my husband died, writing gave me an outlet for my grief and anger, a way to fill lonely, empty hours, and a place to preserve my memories.

Now through essays, I can think through problems and issues and perhaps give them a new slant. Blogging began as a means of connecting with and supporting other widows but it's become much more: a chance to express my views on things great and small and an opportunity to meet others who love writing as much as I do.

Life without writing could never be as full as life with writing.

June 23: International Widows Day

June 23, International Widows Day.

When I first saw this on the Internet, I thought, "So now we get a day? Is this like Mother's Day? Do we get presents? Cards? Flowers? And from whom?"

Or this could be a day for reflecting on our status as widows. A time to try to erase the stereotype of widows as black-clad victims and teach the world to view us as what we really are--survivors. We've had no choice but to survive, to continue our life journeys alone. Most of us have grown braver over the years. Like rocks continually buffeted by wind and rain, we've lost some of the rough edges of early widowhood. We've learned to ignore careless words, to face life challenges. We haven't chosen this path, but here we are, so we're doing our best. Congratulations to us.

The real purpose of International Widows Day is to highlight a day on which the world is asked to focus, if only for 24 hours, on the plight of widows in third world countries. These are women whose problems are so staggering just because they are widowed that we can hardly imagine them. These are women who often must work as virtual slaves, who are villified, raped, ostracized just because their husbands have died. If you're a widow, or even if you aren't, spare a thought and a prayer for these women. Or if you can, contribute some small amount for their welfare. Google International Widows Day for suggestions.

Tuesday Quotes: Ten Quotes about Gardens and Gardening

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Dale

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion

Gardens are a form of autobiography. ~Sydney Eddison, Horticulture magazine, August/September 1993




How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence. ~Benjamin Disraeli

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

It pleases me to take amateur photographs of my garden, and it pleases my garden to make my photographs look professional. ~Robert Brault

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show




Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul. ~Linda Solegato

I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error. ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988

Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

Planting Joy

For years I've hated my front yard.

Two intruders, bushes we certainly did not plant, appeared one summer near the sidewalk and proceded to grow larger and more unsightly. The "island" in the middle also annoyed me, with its stump of a tree we had cut down, its uninteresting evergreen bushes and its ground cover that somehow never covered the ground. Every time I drove up, I cringed. Well, not every time, but enough to make me think, "This is a widow house--sad."

This year I decided to fix the yard. Not by myself, of course. I called a landscaper who had done some work in the back. When we met, I told him I wanted azaleas. "You can't have them," he said. "I only plant them in yards with a sprinkler system."

I was disappointed. Then I thought about it. Azaleas signal spring in Houston, but how long is our spring? About three weeks, then the azaleas are just large green bushes. So, okay. No azaleas.

Instead, he planted lantana, iris, day lillies, bottle brush, knockout roses, and some other things I can't name. I can't believe how lovely my yard looks now and how it has lifted my spirits this rather depressing summer. Yes, it probably isn't the best summer to plant. Texas is in the midst of the worst drought in history. My water bill will probably put a dent in my finances for the rest of the summer. Unless we have a tropical storm and it starts to rain...but I don't want to think of that. I'm too happy enjoying the newfound beauty around me.

What cheers you? Please leave a comment--they make me happy, too.