Quote for the Week

Memory's truth is to scientific, objective truth is as a pearl is to a grain of sand.
   From Hold Still by Sally Mann

Books of February

There There.  The book was named one of the best of the year so I wanted to read it though the title confused me.  I learned that the setting is Oakland, about which Oakland native Gertrude Stein once remarked, "There's no there there."  The many characters are urban Native Americans who are all planning to go to a big pow wow in Oakland.  They all have their reasons.  The last part of the book takes place at the pow wow and we learn whether each achieved their goals.

Dying Well.  Mortality has always interested me and in this book Dr. Byock gives heartfelt advice on how to interact with dying patients and how loved ones or the patient him/herself can make dying a growth experience.  A good book to keep in mind when you need it.

The 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.  Billed as "Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day," it lives up to the name, but don't bother with it.  By chapter 2, I was totally confused.

The Rustic Brush

Every February my financial advisor at Houston Asset Management has a luncheon for his clients who are widows.  At several of these I've passed out my "Eleven Commandments for Widows."

This year, instead of a luncheon, we were invited to a craft event at The Rustic Brush, a place where you can decorate items like trays, lazy Susans, door hangers, signs, even doormats.  I was a little nervous.  I am not a crafty person.  The only thing I do well with my hands is type.  But why not join the fun?  I chose an easy item to make--a tray with the words "Enjoy the little things" 

When we arrived, we found our chosen items laid out on tables.  We donned aprons and selected the color stain we wanted for our wooden trays.  I picked dark walnut. We sanded the trays and brushed on the color.  That was easy.  

After the stain dried, we selected colors for our decorations.  I picked a bright aqua I thought would contrast nicely with the stain.  Some people used several colors, but that was too fancy for me to even consider. We were given stencils--thank goodness we didn't have to draw the patterns ourselves.  We pressed the stencils on the wood, and painted them with our chosen colors.  We then removed the stencils and, voila, there was the pattern on the tray.  

Handles were attached to the trays, we had a light lunch and then we were ready to take our creations home.  One problem--the tray is too large to fit in any of my cabinets so it is currently residing in my newly emptied speech therapy closet.  I plan to use it the next time I host a Mah Jongg afternoon.

I'm pretty pleased with myself.  This was my first successful craft.
Good thing because, at my age, I may not have many chances left.

Quote for the Week

The journey in between what you once were and who you are becoming is where the dance of life really takes place.
           Dr. Barbara DeAngel

Two Old Goats

I have a pinched nerve near the back of my neck.  When I first noticed it, I felt like a hot poker was digging into my back.  I especially noticed it when I was typing on my computer.  Nothing seemed to help....and then....  One day I was reading the newspaper and I glanced through one of those weekly inserts, either the Examiner, a neighborhood weekly, or Senior Living.  I don't remember which.  But I came upon an advice health column.  A woman had sent in a question about the severe pain in her knee, and the columnist said, "You should get a jar of Two Old Goats cream.  You'll feel better right away."

Sounded pretty silly to me.  On a whim, I looked it up on Amazon because I figure if Amazon doesn't have it, it doesn't exist.  There it was, with 5 star reviews all down the page.  For $12, how could I go wrong?  I ordered a jar.  When I opened it, I smelled eucalyptus.  I looked at the list of ingredients and noticed that one was goats' milk.  Ah ha!  The source of the name, probably milk from two very old goats.  I tried the cream and it actually helped.  Didn't cure the pain but it soothed it for several hours. 

Look it up.  You never know when it might come in handy and it's certainly easier than keeping several ancient goats around.

Quotes for Presidents; Day by Presidents

The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.
                  George Washington

I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.
                  Woodrow Wilson

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.     
                  Thomas Jefferson

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
                  James Madison

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
                Abraham Lincoln

Posterity--you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom.  I hope you will make good use of it.
                John Quincy Adams

The American, by nature, is optimistic.  He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.
                John F. Kennedy

You can do what you have to do, and somehow you can do it even better than you think you can.
                 Jimmy Carter

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
                    Theodore Roosevelt

Books of January

The Reckoning.  I don't read all of John Grisham's books, but this one sounded intriguing.  A decorated war veteran murders the beloved pastor of his church.  I was disappointed.  The hero refuses to give any clue to the police or even to the reader.  No foreshadowing.  The second half of the book covered his service in World War II (I think that's the right war.  See how much I liked the book--I've already forgotten.)  Finally, a few pages before the end we get the big reveal.  If you absolutely love John Grisham, maybe this book is for you, but maybe not.

Six Wakes.  I read this for my book club and even the person who suggested it didn't like it.  It's about a bunch of clones in outer space somewhere who have all died and awakened in their new bodies and are trying to find out who killed them.  I only fiinished it so I could trash it at the book club meeting.

Disappointing reading month!