Sunday Salon ~ books and fun stuff

BOOKS

My roommate Donna checked out a bunch of children's picture books from the library.  All but one are by Douglas Wood, so I had to read them — because Douglas Wood's Old Turtle and the Broken Truth (2003) is one of my favorites.  Here's what she brought home:

Making the World ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Yoshi and Hibiki Miyazaki, 1998, children's, 9/10

Northwoods Cradle Song: From a Menominee Lullaby ~ by Doublas Wood, illustrated by Lisa Desimini, 1996, children's, 8/10

Grandad's Prayers of the Earth ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by P. J. Lynch, 1999, children's, 10/10

"Are our prayers answered, Grandad?" I asked.
"Grandad smiled.  "Most prayers are not really questions," he said.  "And if we listen very closely, a prayer is often its own answer.  Like the trees and Winds and waters, we pray because we are here — not to change the world, but to change ourselves.  Because it is when we change ourselves . . . that the world is changed."

Miss Little's Gift ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Jim Burke, 2009, children's, 9/10

The Secret of Saying Thanks ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Greg Shed, 2005, children's, 8/10

"We don't give thanks because we're happy.
We are happy because we give thanks."

A Quiet Place ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Dan Andreasen, 2002, children's, 9/10

No One But You ~ by Douglas Wood, illustrated by P. J. Lynch, 2011, children's, 9/10

God, Can You Hear Me? ~ by Justine Simmons, paintings by Robert Papp, 2007, children's, 8/10

FUN STUFF

On Friday night, we had movie night out by the pool at my apartment complex.  That's Donna dead center, behind the man's shoulder.  We got free popcorn (in those white bags), soft drinks, boxes of movie candy, and three kinds of pizza, as well as prizes.

I won a $25 gift card, and Donna won an insulated bag full of goodies:  three helium-filled balloons (which promptly became cat toys), five coupons for "one free movie on demand," a $15 iTunes gift card, a small lap blanket, and several other small items.  All in all, it was a fun evening, except that the mosquitos found me.  I'm very allergic to bites, so my left elbow and arm are still swollen from several bites.  And it won't stop itching, even after taking my allergy pill, rubbing on itch medicine, and zapping it with hot water and hot blow dryer.

The movie we saw, once it got dark enough, was We Bought a Zoo, a 2011 comedy-drama film based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee.  It tells the story of Mee and his family who just moved into a dilapidated zoo and took on the challenge of preparing the zoo for its reopening to the public.

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