Sunday Salon ~ it's all good

Would you take this road "less traveled by" (to quote from the famous poem by Robert Frost)? This road is called the W Road.  Can you see why?  In case you never had to read or memorize Robert Frost's poem, as we did back in the olden days, here it is for you to ponder:

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay 

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

My youngest great-grandchild turned five this week.  How do you like her furry, black cushion?  I wonder what she's playing on that device.

Ten Keys to Happier Living: A Practical Handbook for Happiness ~ by Vanessa King, 2016, self-help, 9/10

I've written about this before, but this seems like a good time to re-read this nonfiction book about happiness during Nonfiction November.  "Happiness is not something ready made; it comes from your own actions," says the Dalai Lama, who is the patron of Action for Happiness.  Vanessa King, expert on positive psychology, has created ten key evidence-based actions that have been shown to increase well-being — at home, at work, and in the world around you.  We all want to be happy, but what does that actually mean and what can we do in our everyday lives to be happier?  Fortunately, psychologists now have evidence of what really makes a difference and helps us to be happier and more resilient to life's ups and downs.  The author has drawn on the latest scientific studies to create a set of evidence-based practical actions.  These will help you connect with people, nurture your relationships, and find purpose.

Donna kept a Good Things Jar during 2019 and, after she died, I asked her sister if I could have that jar full of good things Donna wrote about that year.  Yesterday, I unfolded a note she wrote during September; one sentence about that week says:  "On Sunday, I went to dinner at Granite City Diner with Bonnie and Marie."  Oh, my.  That's bittersweet to read, since Marie and Donna both died this year.  I opened another one randomly, and once again Donna mentioned Marie, who was going to her son's wedding in Israel the following week.  I don't want to open them all at once, so I may share one or two here occasionally.

I think I'll start a new thing in my Sunday Salon posts, patterned after Deb of Readerbuzz, who made the buzzy bee headers I've been using.

Good Thing #1

The girl had an exciting birthday this year.

Good Thing #2

I got my booster shot a week ago.

Good Thing #3

Reading the "good things" Donna wrote in 2019.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.  

Other Sunday Salon musings are linked at the bottom of Deb's Readerbuzz post.

My reading and some of my great-grands

Ten-year-old Jaxon wants to be a PARAMEDIC/FIREMAN when he grows up.

Seven-year-old Shelby wants to be a VET when she grows up.

Four-year-old Shiloh wants to be a DOCTOR when she grows up.

These great-grandkids of mine are independent thinkers.  Their favorite colors?  Pink for him, blue for both girls!  Their mom said, "You can't make this up."

What I'm reading ~ Fiction

Never Mind! : A Twin Novel ~ by Avi and Rachel Vail, 2004, young adult fiction

What I'm reading ~ Nonfiction

Inside Animal Hearts and Minds: Bears That Count, Goats That Surf, and Other True Stories of Animal Intelligence and Emotion ~ by Belinda Recio, 2017, nonfiction

Book I may read next

The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death ~ edited by David Shields and Bradford Morrow, 2011, psychology

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time

zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

Sunday Salon ~ family and books

FAMILY

Above are three of my great-grandchildren:  Jaxon, Shelby, and Shiloh on their mother's lap.  Below are my other three great-grandchildren:  Micah, Raegan, and Jonathan.

BOOKS

Recently finished:

The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living ~ by Meik Wiking, 2017, psychology, 8/10

Currently reading:

To Be Where You Are ~ by Jan Karon, 2017, fiction (North Carolina)

Looking forward to:

The Donkey's Dream ~ by Barbara Helen Berger, 1985, children's

He was just an ordinary donkey, but on his back he carried a miracle.  He carried Mary to Bethlehem on the night she gave birth.  Along the way he dreamed he was carrying a city, a ship, a fountain, and a rose.  He dreamed he was carrying a lady full of heaven.

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

Sunday Salon ~ booked and unbooked

Booked

Here's a brand-new novel I put on reserve at the library, since I've been reading all nonfiction lately:

Grief Cottage ~ by Gail Godwin, 2017, fiction (South Carolina)

After his mother's death, eleven-year-old Marcus is sent to live on a small South Carolina island with his great aunt, a reclusive painter with a haunted past.  Aunt Charlotte, otherwise a woman of few words, points out a ruined cottage, telling Marcus she had visited it regularly after she'd moved there thirty years ago because it matched the ruin of her own life.  Eventually she was inspired to take up painting so she could capture its utter desolation.  The islanders call it "Grief Cottage," because a boy and his parents disappeared from it during a hurricane fifty years before.  Their bodies were never found and the cottage has stood empty ever since.  During his lonely hours while Aunt Charlotte is in her studio painting and keeping her demons at bay, Marcus visits the cottage daily, building up his courage by coming ever closer, even after the ghost of the boy who died seems to reveal himself.  Full of curiosity and open to the unfamiliar and uncanny given the recent upending of his life, he courts the ghost boy, never certain whether the ghost is friendly or follows some sinister agenda.

Here's my library loot for this past week:

• Do One Thing Different: And Other Uncommonly Sensible Solutions to Life's Persistent Problems ~ by Bill O'Hanlon, 1999
• The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person ~ by Judith S. Beck, 2007
• The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living ~ by Meik Wiking, 2017

Here's what I'm in the middle of reading with my study buddies:

• Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America ~ by Chris Hedges, 2005
• Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne ~ by Wilda C. Gafney, 2017

Unbooked

What's going on in my life outside of books?  I swiped a photo off Facebook of my son holding his youngest grandchild before her sister's dance recital.  Baby Shiloh's hand is blurred, but I think David is digging Cheerios out of a baggie for her.  That's big brother Jaxon sitting beside his grandpa.  So you want to see the little ballerina, right?

Here's Shelby after the dance performance.
She'll be four years old on Wednesday.

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

Hygge Holiday Challenge ~ first update

Dec. 1 ~ start a gratitude list

• Three children ~ Barbara, Sandra, and David.
• Seven grandchildren ~ Kendall, Cali, Brandy, Kenzie, Chase, Jamey, and Cady.
• Six great-grandchildren ~ Raegan, Jaxon, Shelby, Jonathan, Micah, and Shiloh.

Dec. 2 ~ add relaxing scents

I lit a vanilla-scented candle and bought a new hand soap scented with coconut water and mango to use in the kitchen.  I'm already using hand soap in the bathroom that's lavender-scented.

Dec. 3 ~ more gratitude

Since I'm retired, the challenge on the list makes no sense for me:  "sleep in 15 mins or more."  I can do that any day.  Instead, I'll add to my gratitude list.

Randi Schenberg

I'm very grateful for the Crown Center for Senior Living for being the great place for active retirees that it is.  That means being thankful for the wonderful people on the staff and the board.  Randi Schenberg, the Community Relations Director, was the first person I met at the Crown Center, when I applied to live here.  In February, Randi was given the 2017 JProStl Pillar Award, and I posted a 2-minute video about it on this blog.  Thanks, Randi, for your smiles and all you do for the Crown Center!

Dec. 4 ~ learn a new skill

I'm still trying to learn how to operate my new computer.  I've been very annoyed trying to use Windows 10.  Oops!  Being annoyed is not very "hyggeligt" ― it doesn't create a cozy environment.  I'll get someone to help me with the new laptop, but not today.  I'm going to get comfy, instead, and read a book.

Dec. 5 ~ get the Hygge book

I went to the University City Library and got a copy of The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking.  Loosely translated, hygge is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being.  It's about an atmosphere and an experience, like being cuddled up on a sofa, wearing cozy socks, and covered by a soft throw during a storm.  And don't forget to light a candle or two.

Dec. 6 ~ "unbook" yourself

Too late!  I had already agreed to drive my friend Barbara somewhere today.  Watching her enjoy old friendships was also joyful for me, so it worked out perfectly.  On our way back home, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for Barbara and for another Crown Center resident, since we were going there anyway.  She and I also had lunch together in the Circle@Crown Café and visited with several people, including Judy and Marianne.

Dec. 7 ~ send a thank you note

I looked through my cards and found this one that says "Thoughts of you..." on the front and on the inside "...are the happiest kind!"  Who and why shall remain between the recipient and me, but the card is on its way.

The challenge
Click this link to see the complete Hygge Holiday Challenge calendar.

Sunday Salon ~ exercising, books, family

Exercising

Dorothy, Marilyn, and Shannon had gotten into position to do "wall pushups" the day I snapped this photo of part of our group.  I'm not a morning person, and most of our scheduled exercises meet in the morning.  So I rounded up a few like-minded people to join me a couple of afternoons a week to do our own thing.

Books

Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne  ~ by Wilda C. Gafney, 2017, religion

Several of us who live in my retirement center are meeting each week.  We are Jewish and Christian and studying a book about religion together.  What we've found is that each of us brings an enlightening perspective and enriches us all.  By clicking on the title, you can read what I wrote about the book when I bought it.

Family

My great-granddaughter Shiloh celebrated her first birthday yesterday.  I could have shown you the requisite photo of her eating (and wearing) her special birthday cake, but I like this one better.  It shows what a cute little girl she has become.  She had trouble breathing when she was born, but look at her now!

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

Caturday ~ pumpkins

One of Bonnie's great-grandchildren has a picture of me on her shirt!

Compare it to a photo of me from a couple of years ago.

Clawdia, 'til next time   >^. .^<

Good news ~ and bad news

First, the bad news.  My newest great-grandbaby, who is only 7 weeks old, has a mild hip dysplasia and must wear what her mom call "this crazy contraption" for 23 hours a day for seven weeks and then just at night for four weeks.  She's had a rough life so far.

Now the good news.  My daughter's hair is growing back.  Yes, it's darker and kind of curly, but it's hair.  Here she is with her three grandchildren.

Two news items about family
on this TWOsday.

Trouble breathing

Shiloh Mae is having trouble breathing.

Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Shiloh is her name ~ November 4th

Held by her daddy

I hadn't seen Donna in a week, so Friday evening we went out to eat.  In the middle of dinner, I got a text message from my son:

6:40 pm  Shiloh Mae is here.  Mom and baby okay.

I texted back:

6:47 pm  YAY!!!!  Donna says, "Me, too!"

She looks like her big brother.

After eating, we stopped to buy groceries, and I needed ink for my printer.  Yes, I looked at things I could get for the new great-grandbaby (okay, I looked at books for her), but I postponed buying anything until I could learn what she needs.  Two more texts arrived while I was driving us home, so Donna had to read them to me.

8:36 pm  Baby still in NICU being observed since she was premie.  We aren't going to get to see her tonight.  I'll update you later.

8:40 pm  Just heard everything is okay.

By the time I got home, got the groceries up the elevator to my apartment, and had put away perishables, it was after 10:00 pm Eastern time.  So I didn't text anything back.  The photos arrived on Saturday, and I'm grinning ear-to-ear as I share them here with you.

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

Thursday Thirteen ~ family on my mind

1.  Shiloh Mae, due to arrive in November, is my sixth great-grandchild.  Shiloh means "one who is peaceful."

2.  Jaxon has been to the doctor twice and to the ER for fluids. No one knew exactly what was wrong with him, his mom reported today when she asked for prayers.  Late in the day, she had a call from the doctor and learned he has salmonella, apparently from a restaurant.  That's the only time he ate anything different from the rest of the family.

3.  My twins took part in the Race for the Cure over the weekend.

4.  I got to visit with David and Sharon while in Chattanooga this summer.

5.  Jamey graduating from the university.

6.  Micah is busy crawling through the tube.

7.  Jonathan is absorbed in his activity.

8.  Cady now has a driver's licence.

9.  Shelby and I like cats.

10.  Sandra at Raegan's school on Grandparents' Day, today.

11.  I visited my sister Ann on July 14th, three weeks before she died.

12.  Sandra and Barbara in the Race for the Cure ran into Chase on the UTC campus.

13.  Grandkids when there were only six.  Clockwise from top left:  Brandy, Kendall, Cali, Kenzie, Jamey, and Chase.