Sunday Salon ~ books and family

I arrived "home" in St. Louis just before midnight last night and don't have my car completely unloaded yet.  But I got a lot done in Chattanooga during the past week.  (You may have noticed I haven't posted lately.)  Here's a photo of me with my great-granddaughter Raegan as I was leaving my daughter's house one morning after Raegan had arrived to spend the day at Nanny's house.  It's still hard to believe I'm the mother of grandparents!  I made the sign for "love," which Raegan repeated after me.  Then she wanted us to make the sign with both hands and touch our extended fingers.  Anyway, I'm ready now to unpack the rest of the boxes and get settled in my new place.

I got my car serviced one last time by Mike Higgins, my excellent mechanic in Chattanooga.  While waiting, I picked up that day's newspaper lying on an adjacent chair and spotted this color photo of my own granddaughter!  I'd just been visiting with her the night before.  I snapped this using my cellphone, and sent it to family.

BOOKS

I read a couple of children's books at my daughter's house:  The Pink Party by Maryann Macdonald, illustrated by Abby Carter (1994) and How to Talk to Your Cat by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Paul Meisel (2000).  Since I occasionally mention children's books on this blog, I asked my daughter which was the "best" of a stack of books Raegan had been reading.  She said, "Probably this one," and handed me The Pink Party.  When I opened it, I was surprised to see my own name.  I didn't remember giving Raegan the book, but upon closer inspection, I saw the rest of what I had printed inside.  I gave it to Raegan's mommy "with love from Grandmama Bonnie, July 14, 1995."  That means I read this very same book before giving it to my granddaughter when she was five years old.  As Raegan is now.  What a coincidence that's the book lying there, that my daughter chose as "best" for me to read, that turned out to be a book I had chosen nearly two decades ago for my grandchild, who is now mother of the newest reader.

During my drive between cities, I was able to listen to the six audio tapes of Awakening Compassion: Meditation Practice For Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön (1995).

On Wednesday, June 25th, the St. Louis book club I've been invited to attend will discuss The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout, 1988 (with an Afterword, copyright 2014, by the author's son Miles Swarthout).

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.