Remembering a long-ago Saturday

The long-ago Saturday that is on my mind today was February 28, 1959.  Let's see, 2026 minus 1959 is 67 years ago.  That's the day I married.  I remember as we left the church, that car-loads of friends were lined up to follow us.  We got into our "getaway" car driven by a friend, but went straight through it to another friend's car going in the opposite direction.  Yep, we almost got away, except for those who happened to be parked going in that direction.  I no longer remember details, but I do remember divorcing him 14 years and three children later (also in February).  The three children, all married now, gave me seven grandchildren.  The first one made me a grandparent on grandparents day.  And now I have six GREAT-grandchildren).  This photo includes four generations (I'm wearing red):

Beginning ~ with the prologue

Beginning

He'd imagined the baby would be a boy, a son to take to ball games, to watch his favorite movies with, to teach to drive stick.  A son who would slay the Jabberwock with him, who would pick up his own sword and fight the manxome foes alongside his old man.  The way he had.  A son who would continue his legacy, the family's legacy.  An heir.

Standing with his baby girl in his arms, her head resting in the crook of his elbow, he felt the need to say he was sorry.  To apologize for imagining her a boy.  Because from the moment she was born, the moment he first saw her, it was as if a seed had been planted in his heart.  It quickly rooted there, and now, three days later, he felt it growing, filling him with pride and love and determination.

More Than Words ~ by Jill Santopolo, 2019, fiction, 350 pages

Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter.  Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most.  And Tim — her devoted boyfriend and best friend since childhood — feels the same.  But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core.

As her world falls apart, Nina begins to see the men in her life — her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael — in a new light.  Soon she finds herself caught between the world she loves and a passion that could upend everything.  This is a heartbreaking novel about grief, loss, love, and self-discovery, and how we choose which life we are meant to live.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Pondering some proverbs today

Chinese Proverbs ~ by Ruthanne Lum McCunn, illustrated by You Shan Tang, 1991, sayings, 58 pages, 

From a culture rich in advice and thought, this little book is a collection  of centuries of traditional wisdom.  Each proverb is illustrated along with words in both English and Chinese.  This saying made me smile and nod in agreement:

"Do not wait until you're thirsty to dig a well" (p. 42).

Here's another:  "An old horse knows the way" (p. 36).  As you can see, it's short and the whole book can be read in a few minutes.  If you stop to ponder each saying that is included, it could take a bit longer.  Maybe that's the whole point.

My word for today is ubiquitous

Ubiquitous (adj.), pronounced yoo-BIK-wih-tus) = a word that describes some-thing existing or appearing everywhere simultaneously.  One example would be the orange man's pervasive self-advertising.  (No, I will not include his photo.)

 

Two games ~ Chess and Bananagrams

I just read that playing board games could boost your brain by "enhancing cognitive functions, improving memory, and strengthening problem-solving skills."  Besides exercising your thinking, it is also good for social health.

I remember wanting to learn to play chess because I liked  a boy who was a chess player.  Even though he was a couple of grades ahead of me in school, I knew him because he was a cousin of our next-door neighbors.  I never played a game of chess with him, but I learned how to play and still have a set of wooden chess pieces somewhere.  I also got into Monopoly as a child and played all sorts of other board games with friends and siblings.

As I got older, I enjoyed playing Scrabble.  (I am a wordsmith, you know.)  From there, I moved on to Bananagrams.  It's also about making words and using up all the tiles.  One good thing about Bananagrams is that it can be played alone, as well as with a friend or friends.

This is a game of Bananagrams that my friend Donna played by herself in 2019.  Can you make out any of her words?  Now I want to play.  I just looked across the room and see my Bananagrams bag sitting on top of my Webster's All-In-One Dictionary & Thesaurus.  It is not a "board" game, but it is challenging.

Sharing a book for our Sunday Salon bloggers

Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World ~ by Gretchen Rubin, 2023, memoir and self-help, 272 pages

This is a New York Times bestseller.  This is a quote from them:  "The author

of The Happiness Project discovers a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love:  by tuning in to the five senses."

For more than a decade, Gretchen Rubin had been studying happiness and human nature.  Then, one day, a visit to her eye doctor made her realize that she’d been overlooking a key element of happiness: her five senses.  She had spent so much time stuck in her head that she had allowed life's vital sensations to slip away, unnoticed.  This epiphany she had lifted her from a state of foggy preoccupation into a world invigorated by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.

In this journey of self-experimentation, Rubin explores the mysteries and joys of the five senses as a path to a happier, more mindful life.  Drawing on cutting-edge science, philosophy, literature, and her own efforts to practice what she learns, she investigates the profound power of tuning in to the physical world.

From the simple pleasures of appreciating the magic of ketchup and adding favorite songs to a playlist, to more adventurous efforts like creating a daily ritual of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and attending a flavor university, Rubin shows us how to experience each day by really connecting.  She found that our five senses offer us immediate, sustainable ways to cheer up, calm down, and engage the world around us — as well as ways to glimpse the soul and touch the transcendent.

Life in Five Senses is filled with profound insights and practical suggestions about how to heighten our senses and use our powers of perception to live fuller, richer lives.  Reading this book can help us become more aware of our own sensory experiences as we explore our own five senses, which I definitely enjoyed.  So check it out and tune in to your senses.  Here's a quote that made me smile, where the author was thirsty and stepped into a store.  What she bought made me smile, since I have it in my fridge right now:

Alongside the usual assortment of sofa drinks and energy drinks, I spotted a Snapple Diet Peach Tea.  I hadn't seen that label in years.  I paid and, as soon as I was back on the sidewalk, gulped down a mouthful.

The sweet, smooth, fruity flavor instantly transported me back to law school. ... I drank gallons of Diet Peach Snapple there.  By the time I graduated, I was thoroughly tired of it. 

Week in Review

• On Monday, I talked about being "booked," HERE.
• The words for Wednesday were "kinship carers," HERE.
• My Thursday Thoughts were about Black History Month, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

February is Black History Month

We are more than halfway through the month, but it is not too late to say that February is Black History Month.  Click on the label below to see what I have posted previously, and tell us in the comments what you are doing to celebrate.

• YELLOW represents optimism, justice, and equality for all.
• RED is for the blood of innocent Black lives lost throughout history.
• GREEN symbolizes the rich natural resources of Africa.