"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Sunday Salon, April 17th

May you experience each day/as a sacred gift/woven around the heart of wonder. -O'Donohue
Weather: Lovely. It was a perfect work-in-the-yard temperature yesterday. It should be the same today.

For your listening enjoyment. Cue the music. "Toccata from Symphony No. 5" by Charles Marie Widor. This is not the type of music I usually listen to but this is the piece played at Charlie's memorial service and I was swept up my the majesty of it. It you ever get a chance to hear this piece played in a sanctuary with a pipe organ, take it.  Listen to a bit while you read the rest of my blog post.


Today: We have tickets for Saturday Night Fever, the Musical at our local theater. I have recently been obsessed with disco music specifically that music from the movie Saturday Night Fever because of the book I recently finished Burn Baby Burn by Medina, which is set in 1977, during the disco era. I am so excited to go to this musical today.

National Poetry Month: To celebrate poetry I have been pulling out all the stops (to use a pipe organ term.) Here are a few things I've done:
  • Sidewalk poems in chalk. See photos. The rain earlier this week washed them away so i will have to go out and do it again.
  • Created a list of poetry-related activities I hope to do/accomplish this month. It was picked up by Teaching with Heart, Fire and Poetry and was published by them. Take a look at it by clicking the link.
  • Participated in a Poetry Questionnaire. See my answers about favorite poems and poets by clicking on the link.
  • Created a display about poetry and poems in my library case. Included are books, poems, posters, and quotes about the value of poetry. I never know if my displays attract the attention I hope they do but I will prevail and keep hoping.
Thatching the lawn and defrosting the freezer. Sometimes life is just filled up with mundane tasks. That was yesterday.

Only one book completed this week: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. This classic novel about old New York was my classics club spin book of the quarter; part of the Women's Classic Literature event; and a Pulitzer Prize winner (1921.) Check out my review by clicking on the link.

Currently only reading one book (a rarity): The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters. A YA novel set in Oregon in the 1930s which racism and the KKK were active in the area.

A poem for your enjoyment:
"Song of the Builders" by Mary Oliver (from Why I Wake Early)

On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God-

a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope

it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing/there is a field./I'll meet you there. -Rumi




11 comments:

  1. Lots more to be done in the yard when the weather is nice. Mundane but necessary tasks. (and much more pleasant in the sun)

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    1. I had to defrost the freezer now before I fill it up with jam in a few weeks.

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  2. Love the sidewalk chalk poems....

    I have The Age of Innocence on my Kindle...must read it soon! Have a great week...

    Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

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    1. I hope you enjoy The Age of Innocence. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

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  3. I love, love, love the idea of writing sidewalk poems around the school. Tomorrow!

    Here's my Sunday Salon!

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  4. I LOVE the sidewalk poems! I think I may have to try that sometime this week! And I love the photo too! I also just downloaded The Age of Innocence to read!

    Enjoy your week and thanks for all the wonderful poetry related suggestions!

    Chick with Books Sunday Salon

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    1. Wow. I am glad to hear I have motivated you to spread the love of poetry in your neighborhood. And I hope you like the Age of Innocence.

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  5. The Saturday Night Fever show sounds like a lot of fun! I hope you have a great time!

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    1. It was lots of fun. My husband and I were in college when disco hit. It was a like a walk down memory lane.

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    2. Nothing "mundane" in my world about doing yard work. I find it very therapeutic:)

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