Musing about death

Getting to Know Death: A Meditation ~ by Gail Godwin, 2024, memoir, 192 pages, 8/10

Ingmar Bergman once said that an artist should always have one work between himself and death.  When renowned author Gail Godwin tripped and broke her neck while watering the dogwood tree in her garden at age eighty-five, a lifetime of writing and publishing behind her and a half-finished novel in tow, Bergman's idea quickly unfurled in front of her, forcing her to confront a creative life interrupted.  In this book, Godwin shares what spoke to her while in a desperate place.  Remembering those she has loved and survived, including a brother and father lost to suicide, and finding meaning in the encounters she has with other patients as she heals, she takes stock of a life toward the end of its long graceful arc, finding her path through the words she has written and the people she has loved.

I read this book, straight through.  My neighbor Betty left it in my box Saturday evening with a note saying, "This starts out great but devolves — wandering and repetition."  Before going to bed in the wee hours of the morning, I'd finished the book and put it back in Betty's box across the hall from me.  I agree with Betty's assessment that it wanders.  It's like she wrote it for herself, and I could not keep track of who's who.  It's too bad, since Gail Godwin has been one of my favorite authors.

A book about forests and my wooden flute

The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth ~ by Ben Rawlence, 2022, environmental science, 320 pages

For the last fifty years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north.  Rawlence takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, Canada to Sweden to meet the scientists, residents and trees confronting huge geological changes.  Only the hardiest species survive at these latitudes including the ice-loving Dahurian larch of Siberia, the antiseptic Spruce that purifies our atmosphere, the Downy birch conquering Scandinavia, the healing Balsam poplar that Native Americans use as a cure-all, and the Scots Pine that lives longer when surrounded by its family.

It is a journey of wonder and awe at the incredible creativity and resilience of these species and the mysterious workings of the forest upon which we rely for the air we breathe.  This is a story of what might soon be the last forest left and what that means for the future of all life on earth.

November is designated as Native American Heritage Month to honor the culture, history, and contributions of indigenous peoples.  The month serves as an opportunity for public education and celebration, with events, exhibits, and educational programs taking place across the nation.  The official designation was established by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, and the celebration is also known as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

Decades ago, I bought this 6-hole cedar flute in Cherokee, North Carolina.  I'm the one who added the beaded feathers to the green felt bag, but the leather strap to hold the "bird" in place over the hole to adjust the sound was there when I first bought it.  The indigenous people who made it are the Cherokee, of course.

I noticed how Google is celebrating this month, and that reminded me to mention it on this blog.  I'm smiling because Google also used wooden flutes, and the brown one through the second "G" looks like mine.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

November is NaNoWriMo Month ~ updated to say, "Oh, no!"

Back in October of 2007, I posted on this blog that I was going to spend the month of November writing a novel, HERE.  Did I finish a novel?  Nope.

Eight reasons to do NaNoWriMo

1. LEARN ~ Learn what you can truly achieve
2. PROGRESS ~ Make real, structured progress
3. BUILD HABITS ~ Chunk tasks into wins and repeat
4. CONNECT ~ Meet others with the same goals
5. ACCOUNT ~ Answer to milestone targets
6. REALIZE ~ Learn how you work best
7. IMPROVE ~ Improve with more practice
8. PREPARE ~ Train to write your next book

No Plot? No Problem!  Novel-Writing Kit ~ by Chris Baty (founder of National Novel Writing Month), 2006, writing, 44 pages

Chris Baty, instigator of a wildly successful writing revolution, spells out the secrets of writing and finishing a novel.  Every fall, thousands of people sign up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which Baty founded, determined to (a) write that novel or (b) finish that novel in — I kid you not — 30 days.  Now Baty puts pen to paper himself to share the secrets of success.  With week-specific overviews, pep "talks," and essential survival tips for today's word warriors, this results-oriented, quick-fix strategy is perfect for people who want to nurture their inner artist and then hit print.  Anecdotes and success stories from NaNoWriMo winners will inspire writers from the heralding you-can-do-it trumpet blasts of day one to the champagne toasts of day thirty.  Whether it's a resource for those taking part in the official NaNo WriMo event, or a handbook for writing to come, No Plot? No Problem! is the ultimate guide for would-be writers (or those with writer's block) to cultivate their creative selves.

No, Snoopy!  Don't give up yet.  November is just starting, and you can do it!  Just say, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it."  Now keep typing.  Should I let you borrow my laptop?  No, I'm afraid it won't balance on your dog house quite as well as your typewriter.  And besides, I may use it a lot this month.

UPDATE:  "Oh, no!"  I've had this set for ages to start my month writing a novel.  I even published an idea recently, HERE.  It's early afternoon, and I just happened to learn that . . .

"NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is not happening in 2025 as the organization shut down in April 2025.  However, there are new alternatives for the 50,000-word challenge, such as the relaunch of the event under a new name, Novel November, by ProWritingAid.  Many other online and in-person groups are also organizing their own writing challenges to maintain the community and momentum of the original event."

Beginning ~ with common traits and values

Beginning ~ with the Introduction

If you spend enough time around Jewish women, you can't help but pick up on some common traits.  On a personal level, there is warmth and humor with a dash of neurosis.  We aggressively value education and social justice, family and community.  I've always found an immediate level of comfort and familiarity when I meet other Jewish women, and that feeling spilled over into the women I profiled for this book.

"Nice" Jewish Girls ~ by Julie Merberg, illustrated by Georgia Rucker, 2021, biographies, 160 pages, 10/10

Meet 36 extraordinary, hilarious, iconic, outspoken, fascinating Jewish women.  Emma Goldman moved to New York City with $5 and a sewing machine and emerged as the leading voice for workers' rights.  Henrietta Szold understood that the Zionist dream could never be realized without medical services and infrastructure, so she built them.  Hedy Lamarr was a gorgeous movie star — who invented the technology that made Bluetooth and GPS possible.  Ruth Westheimer survived Nazi Germany, served as a sniper in Israel, and then launched to worldwide fame hosting a radio show about sex.  Tiffany Haddish spent years in foster care as a child, became a hugely successful comedian, and celebrated her bat mitzvah at age 40 with a Netflix special.  From activists like Gloria Steinem and Alicia Garza, who took tikkun olam to new levels, to icons like Barbra Streisand and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who redefined the way the world thinks about Jewish women, the "nice" Jewish girls in this book are so much more!

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Let's talk about books in our Sunday Salon

Sketchy Stories ~ by Kerby Rosanes, 2016, art, 128 pages, 7/10

Yesterday was International Artist Day, which I learned late in the day.  So I looked around for any art books I have that I haven't written about and found this.  It wasn't my favorite book, but I enjoyed looking through it (though I'd rather have been doing my own sketching).

1. In my Monday Musing post, I was thinking about a big, heavy book of Monet's art, HERE.
2. My subject on TWOsday included two very long books, HERE.
3. Friday's Book Beginning was about a recent Oprah Book Club choice, HERE.
4. On Saturday, I wrote about my Chinese friend's birthday cake, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Chinese birthday cake

This is my Chinese friend's beautiful birthday

cake, still in its box.  It looks delicious, doesn't it?

Beginning ~ with an old house

Beginning (in June-July 2004)

A visitor to Charlie Margolis's house in Montana — which really belonged to his parents, who spent their summers there — might not have found it much to look at.  The house was cramped and musty and low ceilinged.  There was beige carpet from the seventies, bric-a-brac on every windowsill, second-hand furniture that smelled incurably of smoke.

Dream State ~ by Eric Puchner, 2025, literary fiction (Montana), 430 pages

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him.  Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task — an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past.  But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future.  And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again?  As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

The events of that summer have long-lasting repercussions, not only on the three friends caught in its shadow but also on their children, who struggle to escape their parents’ story.  Spanning fifty years and set against the backdrop of a rapidly warming Montana, Dream State explores what it means to live with the mistakes of the past — both our own and the ones we’ve inherited.

Written with humor, precision, and enormous heart, both a love letter and an elegy to the American West, Dream State is a thrillingly ambitious ode to the power of friendship, the weird weather of marriage, and the beauty of impermanence.

That description is from the dust jacket of this 2025 Oprah’s Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller.  I just found this copy minutes ago among the books of a Crown Center resident who recently died.  Her executor donated her books to our little library, so I decided to read it.  That's as much as I know about the book so far.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Two more books

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows ~ by Ai Weiwei, translated by Allan H. Barr, 2022, memoir, 400 pages

This memoir tells the history of China over the last hundred years while also illuminating the author'ss artistic process.  Once a close associate of Mao Zedong and the nation’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, was branded a rightist during the Cultural Revolution, and he and his family were banished to a desolate place known as "Little Siberia," where Ai Qing was sentenced to hard labor cleaning public toilets.  Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood in exile, and his difficult decision to leave his family to study art in America, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Andy Warhol and the artworks of Marcel Duchamp.  He gives details of his return to China and his rise from artistic unknown to art world superstar and international human rights activist — and how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime.

Ai Weiwei’s sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe, and his architectural achievements include helping to design the iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing.  His political activism has long made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011.  Here, for the first time, Ai Weiwei explores the origins of his exceptional creativity and passionate political beliefs through his life story and that of his father, whose creativity was stifled.

Ai Weiwei provides a deep understanding of the myriad forces that have shaped modern China and serves as a timely reminder of the urgent need to protect freedom of expression.

The Moral Animal ~ by Robert Wright, 1995, psychology, 496 pages

Are men literally born to cheat?  Does monogamy actually serve women's interests?  These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years.  Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics — as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.

A book of Claude Monet's art

Monet ~ by Janice Anderson, 2003, classical art, 447 pages

Claude Monet, a French painter of the impressionist style, is regarded as the archetypal impressionist.  Just looking at this cover, you can see how I could spend ages musing over the hundreds of color photos in this very heavy big book.

Cat behavior

Decoding Your Cat: The Ultimate Experts Explain Common Cat Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones ~ by American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, 2020, cat training, 368 pages

Every cat owner has wondered why their cat is acting the way it does.  This book likely has the answer.  It provides an in-depth understanding of the underlying reasons for a cat’s problem behavior.  Armed with the science on cat behavior and real-life examples, this book helps cat owners understand why their cats act the way they do and addresses behavior problems.  It gives owners insight on promoting their cat’s physical and psychological health and wellness in order to maintain a good relationship.  It can help you understand how to deal with unwanted behaviors and in general help your cat live a longer and fuller life. 

One person commenting online said, "I liked the clear questions followed by a brief paragraph explaining the behavior."

1. My Tuesday subject was daughters, HERE.
2. My Thursday Thoughts included a dragon, HERE.
3. My Friday book beginning was about smart words, HERE.
4. On Saturday, I wrote about an astronaut stranded on Mars, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A mission to Mars

The Martian ~ by Andy Weir, 2014, science fiction, 387 pages

A mission to Mars.  A freak accident.  One man’s struggle to survive.  Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.  Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.  After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death.  The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.  But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet.  Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next.  Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Beginning with ~ "Whoever said ..."

Beginning

Whoever said sounding smart had to be painful?  This book is designed to get you on friendly terms with some of the smart words in our rich, diverse, ever-adaptable, and always surprising language, and to help you recall them in ways that might bring a smile or a spark.

Smart Words: Vocabulary for the Erudite ~ by Mim Harrison, 2008, spelling and vocabulary, 208 pages

This is a fun book for word lovers like me.  It tells us how to use 500 words that make us sound smarter.  From the back cover of the paperback that I have:

If you want to add more variety, nuance, punch, and power to the way you speak and write, you've found the perfect book.  Smart Words will help you be smart about the words you use and the way you use them.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

I've been busy today

Yesterday, I mostly stayed at home.  The Cafe was closed and I had spent the day before (Tuesday) going with a friend to see her new apartment in a nearby town.  Today?  Totally different!  I've been running all day.  First, I went to the Cafe for breakfast with a friend, who noticed that I picked up my meals and ran them up to my apartment (since I wouldn't be home when they were delivered).  So I explained to her how we could buy five meals a week to be delivered (to your apartment if you live here, or to your home in the community if you don't live here).  I took her to the office and got her information about it, so she can decide.

Then she took me (and my Rollator) to a medical supply place a few miles from here.  When we came back to the Crown Center, we ran in to grab a couple of muffins (one each) from the Cafe before it closed.  We each ate about half (while sitting on the back patio) and took the other half to go.

Knowing that I'd be running around with her, I didn't plan to attend the Chinese harvest festival that was on the Crown Center agenda today.  I headed up the elevator to go home.  On my floor, though, my Chinese neighbor motioned "come on and go" and I decided, "Okay, maybe it's meant to be."  So I went to the party.  Chinese residents made Chinese food for everyone.  They brought in students from a nearby university who wore a huge red-and-white dragon costume (above), running through the audience as we all clapped and cheered.

To top off the day, our Resident Council was meeting at 6:00 p.m.  I knew I wasn't up to that much "excietment" in one day, but — you guessed it — I went.  I even spoke up a time or two.  Later, while I was watching one of the monitors, my Russian friend who speaks English happened to come along, so she and I talked awhile.  She asked where I'd been, since she hasn't seen me lately.  I told her that I saw HER at the Chinese celebration, and I even had a few photos where I could point her out.  She was so caught up in the activities she had not noticed me sitting in another part of the big Community Room.  (What a day!  Can you see me smiling?)

TWOsday ~ daughters of two families

Rashi's Daughters, Book I: Joheved ~ by Maggie Anton, 2007, fiction (medieval France), 384 pages

This is the first novel in a trilogy set in eleventh-century France about the lives and loves of three daughters of Rashi, the great Talmud scholar.  (According to  Wikipedia, the Talmud is, after the Torah or Jewish Bible, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology.  It consists of the Oral Torah and its commentaries.)

In 1068, Salomon ben Isaac returns home to Troyes, France, to take over the family winemaking business and embark on a path that will indelibly influence the Jewish world, writing the first Talmud commentary, and secretly teaching Talmud to his daughters.

Joheved, the eldest of his three girls, finds her mind and spirit awakened by religious study, but, knowing the risk, she must keep her passion for learning and prayer hidden.  When she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, she is forced to choose between marital happiness and being true to her love of the Talmud.

Rashi's Daughters, Book 2: Miriam ~ by Maggie Anton, 2007, historical fiction (medieval France), 496 pages

The engrossing historical series of three sisters living in eleventh-century Troyes, France, continues with the tale of Miriam, the lively and daring middle child of Salomon ben Isaac, the great Talmudic authority.  Having no sons, he teaches his daughters the intricacies of Mishnah and Gemara in an era when educating women in Jewish scholarship was unheard of.  His middle daughter, Miriam, is determined to bring new life safely into the Troyes Jewish community and becomes a midwife.  As devoted as she is to her chosen path, she cannot foresee the ways in which she will be tested and how heavily she will need to rely on her faith.

Rashi's Daughters, Book 3: Rachel ~ by Maggie Anton, 2009, historical fiction (medieval France), 425 pages

Rachel is the youngest and most beautiful daughter of medieval Jewish scholar Salomon ben Isaac, or "Rashi."  Her father's favorite and adored by her new husband, Eliezer, Rachel's life looks to be one of peaceful scholarship, laughter, and love.  But events beyond her control will soon threaten everything she holds dear.  Marauders of the First Crusade massacre nearly the entire Jewish popula-tion of Germany, and her beloved father suffers a stroke.  Eliezer wants their family to move to the safety of Spain, but Rachel is determined to stay in France and help her family save the Troyes yeshiva, the only remnant of the great centers of Jewish learning in Europe.  Rachel is a remarkable Jewish woman of dignity, passion, and strength.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter ~ by Kim Edwards, 2005, fiction, 9/10

On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins.  His son, born first, is perfectly healthy; his daughter has Down's Syndrome.  Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever.  He asks his nurse to take the infant to an institution and never to reveal the secret, then tells his wife their daughter was stillborn.  Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the baby at the institution and disappears into another city to raise the child herself.  What happens when secrets are revealed?

This book was among several I got for the Crown Center library after a neighbor died.  I'm excited about adding it to our collection here because I really enjoyed it when I read this book back in 2007.  (See my post about it HERE, where I rated this book 9/10, an excellent book.)

This is a sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Cilka's Journey ~ by Heather Morris, 2019, historical fiction, 384 pages

Her beauty saved her ― and condemned her.  Cilka is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, where the commandant immediately notices how beautiful she is.  Forcibly separated from the other women prisoners, Cilka learns that power, even unwillingly taken, equals survival.

When the war is over and the camp is liberated, freedom is not granted to Cilka.  She is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to a Siberian prison camp.  But did she really have a choice?  And where do the lines of morality lie for Cilka, who was sent to Auschwitz when she was still a child?

In Siberia, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, including the unwanted attention of the guards.  But when she meets a kind female doctor, Cilka is taken under her wing and begins to tend to the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under brutal conditions.

Confronting death and terror daily, Cilka discovers a strength she never knew she had.  And when she begins to tentatively form bonds and relationships in this harsh, new reality, Cilka finds that despite everything that has happened to her, there is room in her heart for love.

From child to woman, from woman to healer, Cilka's journey illuminates the resilience of the human spirit ― and the will we have to survive.

NOTE:  I want to share a quote from near the beginning of the book, which is what made me want to keep on reading and reading:

"As the rhythm of the train rocks the children and babies to sleep, the silence is broken by the howl of a young mother holding an emaciated baby in her arms.  The child has died.  Cilka wonders what the other women have done to end up here.  Are they Jewish as well?" (p. 9).

1. On Monday, I was musing about writing a book, HERE.
2. On Tuesday, I wrote about the word "compassion," HERE.
3. My Thursday Thoughts were about black heroes, HERE.
4. My Friday book beginning was about a diamond necklace, HERE.
5. On Saturday, I wrote about how to be happier, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

What we can do in Optimistic October

The folks at Action for Happiness say we'll be happier if we (1) avoid blaming either self or others and (2) find a helpful way forward.  Okay, I'm thinking now.

Beginning ~ with a diamond necklace

Beginning

On September 18, 2004, thirteen women in Ventura, California, went together to buy a diamond necklace.  Within months the media picked up their story.  People magazine ran a feature.  Katie Couric reported on the venture for the Today show.

The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives ~ by Cheryl Jarvis, 2008, women's biographies, 240 pages

The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive diamond necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a community.  In Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a diamond necklace in a local jewelry store display window.  The necklace aroused desire first, then a provocative question:  Why are personal luxuries so plentiful yet accessible to so few?  What if we shared what we desired?  Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, and a leap of faith later, Jonell bought the necklace with twelve other women, with the goal of sharing it.

Part charm, part metaphor, part mirror, the necklace weaves in and out of each woman’s life, reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for her future.  Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, the necklace comes to mean something dramatically different to each of the thirteen women.

With vastly dissimilar histories and lives, the women show us how they transcended their individual personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey.  What started as a quirky social experiment became something far richer and deeper, as the women transformed a symbol of exclusivity into a symbol of inclusiveness.  They discovered that sharing the necklace among themselves was only the beginning.  The more they shared with others, the more profound this experience ― and experiment ― became.

This book is an inspiring story about a necklace that became greater than the sum of its links, and about thirteen ordinary women who understood the power of possibility, who touched the lives of a community, and who together created one extraordinary experience.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thinking about our heroes

Black Heroes: 51 Inspiring People from Ancient Africa to Modern-Day U.S.A. ~ by Arlisha Norwood, 2020, biographies for children, 212 pages

Meet ancient Egyptian rulers, brilliant scientists, legendary musicians, and civil rights activists.  Black Heroes introduces you to 51 black leaders and role models from both history and modern times.  This black history book for kids features inspirational biographies of trailblazers from the United States, Egypt, Britain, and other places.

Discover where in the world they lived and what their lives were like growing up.  Learn about the obstacles they faced on the way to making groundbreaking accomplishments.  You'll find out how these inspirational figures created lasting change ― and paved the way for future generations.

This book features:

• Fascinating biographies ― Read about famous icons like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Tubman, as well as lesser-known pioneers like aviator Bessie Coleman and astronomer Benjamin Banneker.
• Ways to learn more ― Every biography includes an idea for a new way to explore the person and their work, like a book to read, website to visit, or video to watch.
• Colorful portraits ― Bring the historical heroes to life in your imagination with the help of full-color illustrations.