fearless in february

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

Did January ever slide past so fast, considering all those long nights.
I hope everyone got their carryover reading done!,

Does February feel more relaxed?
What is on your bedside table?

[Ellen]

Amazing you got this up and running so quickly, Magdelanye!

Sadly, most of my books are carryovers but I hope to get more done during the February break. This month promises to be definitely more relaxed: my students and I have a trip on Monday, so no lesson plan! and I have jury duty on Wednesday and possibly Thursday so, also no lesson plan. Plus I should get a lot of reading done.

And then of course there's the break and the trip. So my month looks to be excellent. Hope everyone's February is great!

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

It helps to have an internet connection at home!
But I've confirmed that its not good for the health to stay connected for too long. I start to feel congested and fuzzy. Same with the phone. Knowing this, I still spent hours today revisiting the last day of the sounds true summit. I am a little bit in awe of these magnificent teachers and seeing them moving around and talking was a very different experience than reading their books. Pema is exactly as I perceived her but especially Thich Nhat Hanh but also Kabat-Zinn and Jack Kornfield have such presence that really came across. TNH seems so relaxed in his books but he is august in his robes.

[Petra]

Happy Sunny Sunday on Family Day long weekend!

How is everyone? It's already mid-February. Time certainly does fly.

I went for a 10K jog/walk this morning in the sunshine. It was so nice. I ran 8K and walked the 2 as warm-up and cool-down. I passed so many people, bikes and dogs enjoying the sunshine. Nice to see. Spring must be on its way.

I finished listening to my jogging book, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, and enjoyed it.

What has everyone been up to?

[Ellen]

We don’t have a national family day—sounds nice. And your day sounds lovely.
Work has been insane but lucky me I had jury duty. I read non-stop for 2 day us. I finished Medicine Walk which I loved and Eleanor Oliojamt which was ok. I’m reading a book
by Kathy Acker.
It’s almost pornograpjic but also fascinating.

[Ellen]

We leave for Santa Fe in Thursday. I’m very excited. Look forward to hearing from everybody else.

[Petra]

I loved Medicine Walk, too. I haven't read Eleanor Oliphant and will probably wait for the audio.

Sorry about Jury duty, Ellie. That can't be fun. I've never had to do it.

Sante Fe is going to be wonderful, Ellie. I'm so happy for you.

[❀ Susan]

@Petra - sounds like a great weekend. Ontario has family day next weekend!

@Ellie - The Medicine Walk is one of my all time favourite books! Santa Fe sounds fun.

It was a rainy, freezing, slushy kind of day in Ontario. I did brave the elements and saw Kristin Hannah speak about her latest book, The Great Alone. I also finished reading the Granta 141: Canada and Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077.

[Petra]

Susan, we will celebrate Family Day with the rest of Canada after this year, I think. The Premier has strongly hinted that he's changing it to match the rest of the country.

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

Lovely to come here tonight and see some intèaction. I did hope someone would pick up on the whole author as person issue

I'm excited about Ellies trip! This has been years in the dreaming if I remember right. I trust there will be chances to keep us posted. And is that book your reading by
Kathy Acker, Slaves of New York ? Strangely compelling yes

Susan I'm reading Precious Cargo now.
It is a relief after 7 fallen feathers. We're on a similar trajectory here. I will move on to Boat People next before tackling American War.
I have to slow myself down : when I start a book too soon after finishing one, there's a kind of leakage. for example, I'm still in Oddlys head, the marvelous heroine of come thou tortoise. Actually, now that I think about it, it's Winifred "s voice overlaying the new character Adam.... And here is another book with the image of a mirror reflecting another mirror

Petra, I am not a runner nor a jogger but I know 10k because that was my limit on the Camino. 18 was preferable. I am into slow but steady.
How is the tree, Reno etc coming along?

[Ice, Pilgrim]

Just finished the weightlifting training of A Column of Fire. And moving back to Nordic noir for a quicker read: Beyond the Truth. Having a proper winter this year with occasional snow!

[Petra]

Magdelanye, the Camino trail in Spain?! Awesome! That must have been amazing!

We had another meeting with the contractor. He still says that the tree is coming down. His excuse/reason now for why it isn't already done is that dryer weather is needed because of the additional weight and mess of wet leaves & wood.
The fence isn't repaired and won't be until the tree is down.
The new house build has started. The foundations are in. There will be 2 houses built on that one lot, so the tree cutter still has the room to get to the back of the property with his heavy equipment.
The row of cedars along the back fence will supposedly be trimmed by about 30%, too. They are pretty tall (about 100 ft). We might get more sun in our yard after the trim. It's hard to tell. We aren't driving the issue with the cedars but it would be nice to have them a bit shorter. They sway a lot in a heavy wind and drop a lot of heavy branches at that time.
It's been 13 months since the tree branch took the fence down.

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

Yes Petra the Camino de Santiago is amazing and you ( and possibly your step dad) might be far more prepared than I was.

I remember when that tree came down. I hope that the construcftion is not too audible and intrusive. When they cleared most of the trees from the block of forest next to where I am still living, that was when I got sick. There was a pretty clear connection.
That's one good thing about going to work, you won't have to hear those machines.

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

And Ellie!
I'm sure you will have an amazing adventure.
Godspeed to you and your brilliant children.
Drop us a line if you can find a moment!

[Petra]

One day I'd love to take a multi-day hike. Thing is, I really don't want to carry my home, food & belongings on my back every day, so I'd want to find myself in a hostel with a cooked meal at the end of each day. Those hikes are hard to find (and expensive).
Step-dad would hike me to shame, I'm sure, as long as the terrain is pretty much level. He can't do hills very well anymore.

Yes, it might be nice to go to work while the hammering and sawing, cussing and loud radios are going on.

I'm sorry you got sick! I'm glad they won't be taking the cedars out completely but would like to see them trimmed by a fair amount. I hope the contractor is good to his word: trims the cedars and cuts down that dratted laurel tree. I don't usually like to have a tree destroyed but that one has been a nuisance for 11 years now, causing me a lot of gardening (I've pulled out thousands....no exaggerating.,,,,, tiny laurel plants from my back yard and a dark corner of yard where nothing grows (except weeds....more gardening).

At work, we donated some equipment to an organization of doctors who volunteer in third world countries. One of the Dr's brought us some coffee beans from Guatemala, which was really nice of him (we all enjoy coffee). I took the beans to one of the coffee shops in the hospital to ask them whether they could grind them for us. Sadly, they couldn't because they said they had once found a needle in some beans that a customer wanted ground. I'm not sure whether to believe that. It sounds rather bizarre but nowadays one never knows. It would be sad, if true.

[Ellen]

So good to read all of your comments. I didn't have really good access to GR while I was away but it's good to connect here again.

The trip was fabulous. It's very hard to be back. I wish I could live out there. I would retire there but it would be hard to be so far away from Katie, especially at my age.

I had a scare right before we left: a really bad attack of some kind of vertigo. The hospital wasn't sure what it was so I'm doing follow up testing. For a while, it looked like we wouldn't be able to go but luckily I recovered enough and went. It would have taken a lot to stop me.

Magdelanye, the Camino de Santiago!! Sounds so exciting!

And Petra, hope your tree troubles are settled soon. So sorry to hear about the needle. That's really sad if it's true.

There are so many beautiful trails around Santa Fe. I hope to go back someday and do a few. Is that a silly thing to hope for at my age? Well, I can dream.

I started Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. I loved her other book, Salvage the Bones, about a poor black family hit by Hurricane Katrina. I'm loving this one even more: a strange road trip of a junkie mom and her two children who have been more raised (luckily) by their grandparents than by her. They are going to meet their (white) /lover/father who is just getting out of jail. It's an intimate story of this particular family but it also looks at race relations in this country, in Mississippi. So beautifully written.

I'm going to try to enjoy the rest of my vacation without worrying too much about work. Good to be back in touch with all of you.

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

Yes indeed it is hard to return home after a fabulous trip, so many possibilities. Why couldn't the kids move too? Likely lots of creative jobs there for young people.
Did you get poems coming to you there?

Petra I apologize for not getting back to you here. I guess you know why I got diverted. And I was wrong, you did say laurels.

MaryAnne I noticed you liked the fact that was reading Atmospheric Disturbances. That was fortuitous, because I was having a hard time getting into it and considering abandoning it around p50.
The writing does not have the elegance of her short stories. Your like encouraged me to continue because of course it's quite brilliant.
Ice Ellie and Petra: take note.

There is an elephant on this plane, and I'm going to start a new thread to keep it from contaminating the aisles. Shall it be called Whine and Cheese or simply Ick?

My life has been interfering with my reading. I even have library books overdue which I really hate but I took snow leave and havent been to town since Saturday. Tomorrow. Did you get much snow out Poco way? Maybe you got snow leave too.

The Camino is a long stretch and most of it is hilly. If you can walk you can do it at your own pace. And your own style.
Mostly I stayed at the municipal hostels. These varied from huge open dorms to cosy nooks in refurbished churches, and there are also high end accommodations in old palaces, as well as the local hotels and private hostels. Some of the hostels include a communal meal and most have kitchens. Spain also has a lively pub culture and Tapas!
AND if you don't want to carry your pack there are services that will take it for you.

cheers

[Ellen]

Ice wrote: "Just finished the weightlifting training of A Column of Fire. And moving back to Nordic noir for a quicker read: Beyond the Truth. Having a proper winter this year w..."

So good to hear from you! You've been so faithful to the Nordic Noir genre. I have to look at Beyond the Truth.

Our winter here is so weird: a violent blizzard followed by days in the upper 60s. It's like spring right now.

[Ellen]

Magdelanye wrote: "Yes indeed it is hard to return home after a fabulous trip, so many possibilities. Why couldn't the kids move too? Likely lots of creative jobs there for young people.
Did you get poems coming to y..."

I'm sorry you got sick! I hope you're better now.

David is more than willing to move with me but Katie loves the city. But after I retire, I may have to move. All of the city area is so expensive, even an hour and a half-2 hours away. She wants to stay here and I may have to go. It's hard there; we're very close. Plus who knows how much longer I have?

I had some ideas for poems but no time to write. We were busy from 6 am to 11 pm. We really got the most out of our trip. We visited the White Sands: a desert of absolutely white sand. It was like being in another world. Certainly not the U.S. And the Sky City pueblo was amazing. The vistas were astonishing. And just the joy of walking around Santa Fe. We spent 1/2 day in Albuquerque and found the best little bookstore run by a pair of men who were together for at least the 44 years they've been running the store. And a rattlesnake museum which was surprisingly interesting and amusing!

I hope to go to Spain one day, I've wanted to for years, but your descriptions make it even more inviting. I surprised myself by climbing a small mountain to look at petroglyphs. It was spoiled by my fear of heights but it was still a triumph to do it (especially after my recent illness). And David had a great time!

I hope to do some writing this week as well as finish Sing, Unburied, Sing. I'm also reading Who Is Rich? which I'm enjoying despite it being the epitome of white, male privilege. Well, that interferes but it's amusing and well-written anyway. I'm not sure I'll be able to finish but I did pay for it and am basically liking it. It just feels like a world I've spent too much of my life in already.

[Ellen]

❀ Susan wrote: "@Petra - sounds like a great weekend. Ontario has family day next weekend!

@Ellie - The Medicine Walk is one of my all time favourite books! Santa Fe sounds fun.

It was a rainy, freezing, slushy ..."

What was Kristen Hannah like?

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

Sounds like an amazing trip, Ellie, all places I'd love to explore.
The Camino de Santiago would be a fabulous experience for you and your kids. For Europeans, who can get there easily, its a popular custom to go every year for a few weeks, taking up where they left off the year before. I met so many wonderful families, including a father and 11 yr old daughter and other parent/child configurations, re combining every year as chance allows. One lively group I met at a hostel included the grandmother and a 4 year old. They were the most energetic of the bunch.
There is also a long flat stretch around Leon with nary a hill in site, Petra The second time I walked that way I took a bus out of the city because there are a few unpleasant bits on the way in and out of the larger towns. A few pilgrims have met untimely ends in traffic. Thats sad but you know what, I think there could be no better place to die. It's really too bad that its gotten so popular, with a great difference between my first and second trips especially, I'd say, go soon, Like you say Ellie, our end time is unpredictable.

Thanks for your concern Ellie but you misunderstood, Despite all the current stress in my life It was last year When they cleared most of the trees from the block of forest next to where I am still living, that was when I got sick. Vertigo was one of the symptoms.I;m am feeling pretty good lately looking forward slightly to finding something brighter and away from the construction next door,

No one has stated their preference for new thread.

Just finished The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing I note that you gave it 5 stars Ellie and I will too. An amazing book that was the perfect read for this moment in my life. Ellie, living in NY this book must be even more vivid for you. I'm discovering a lot that I passed by and much I had no idea, especially artists that I'm looking up on the internet.

I am getting impatient for the promised sequel to Medicine Walk which RW had just completed before he died. I still wonder about the circumstances.

MaryAnne, how goes the Vancouver plans?

As for Sing Unburied Sing have had it on hold for months,

Tonight I have been invited to read something for freedom to read week at the library. If the weather is not too horrible I will do it.

[Mary Anne]

@ Magdelanye. Thanks for asking about my moving to Vancouver. My daughter has found an apartment in Vancouver we can share. I am packing stuff --again -- into boxes, and trying to decide what I can give away.
I have been reading some Proust, and American War which has been described as dystopian but it is not, except that water has taken away some land. Reading it, with just a few pages to finish, it strikes me as a manifesto on what happens when men decide they want to be in control no matter the cost, and what happens to a good person when they lose just about everything they hold dear. They become terrorists in some eyes and freedom fighters in other eyes. It is a terribly sad book not just in its writing, but in its reflection of the world we live in.

[Ellen]

Mary Anne wrote: "@ Magdelanye. Thanks for asking about my moving to Vancouver. My daughter has found an apartment in Vancouver we can share. I am packing stuff --again -- into boxes, and trying to decide what I can..."

Congratulations on finding an apartment! That is good news.

[Mary Anne]

@ Ellie - Thanks.

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

Thats fantastic MaryAnne!
Perhaps someday we could have a meet up with Petra,for tea at the Sylvia or brunch at the Naam. I hope to be able to stay on the Sunshine Coast! I so empathize with your task, especially with all the renos that forced you out last fall. When do you plan to get out here? I would so love to introduce you to my library before it goes back into boxes,

American War is up next for me, once I'm finished the Boat People.. It's well written and heartbreaking from the start and I have today added a couple of other books, short stories for when I go out Eleven Kinds of Loneliness by Richard Yates which I actually took out the same time as lonely city. And have read the short, ambitious preface to Age of Anger: A History of the Present by a new favorite, Pankaj Mishra Hardly light reading, but good company

[Mary Anne]

@ Magdelanye -- I move in on Easter weekend, which is rather auspicious, n'est-ce pas?
I would love to meet for tea with you ladies.
I am next reading Mark Sakamoto's Forgiveness since it won my eeni meeni who's next.

[Magdelanye, Senior Flight Attendant]

C'est fantastique MaryAnne!
Bon chance!