Beginning ~ with an accident

A Soft Place to Land ~ by Susan Rebecca White, 2010, fiction

In the months following the accident Ruthie and Julia imagined and discussed the last days of their parents' lives so often it was almost as if the girls had been there, had accompanied them on the trip out west.  Except of course they had not.  That had been the whole point of Phil and Naomi's vacation.

I'd already read the Prologue and Chapter One before I noticed (just now) that the author teaches creative writing at Emory University, where I got my Master's Degree.  Having typed the blurb from the back of the book below, I already know something momentous is about to happen in Chapter Two.  An attorney has just "arrived at Julia and Ruthie's house to read the will" (p. 40).

Summary:  For more than ten years, Naomi and Phil Harrison enjoyed a marriage of heady romance, tempered only by the needs of their children.  But on a vacation alone, the couple perishes in a flight over the Grand Canyon.  After the funeral, their daughters, Ruthie and Julia, are shocked by the provisions in their will … not the least of which is that they are to be separated.  Spanning nearly two decades, the sisters’ journeys take them from their familiar home in Atlanta to sophisticated bohemian San Francisco, a mountain town in Virginia, the campus of Berkeley, and lofts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  As they heal from loss, search for love, and begin careers, their sisterhood, once an oasis, becomes complicated by resentment, anger, and jealousy.  It seems as though the echoes of their parents’ deaths will never stop reverberating — until another shocking accident changes everything once again.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.

Playing with words ~ yes and know

Music from Words ~ by Marc Jampole, 2007, poetry

"Yes and Know" is the title of a poem on page 34 of this book of poetry by Marc Jampole.  I love when poets play with words, mixing up words that we "know" (I couldn't resist saying it). Here are the first two lines:

Yes me don't yes me
know me don't know me

I don't need to define "No" or "Know" for you.  I simply wanted to share the unusual way this poet used "Know" where we might expect "No" to be paired, as usual, with "Yes."

Marc, the poet, is the nephew of my neighbor Gail, who let me borrow her copy of the book.

Readers' Workouts ~ flexibility and balance

This week, I want to focus on flexibility and balance.  The chart above shows stretches to help the lower back (flexibility), and the list below has ten exercises to help with balance.  I use a chair for support and don't need to repeat it in each of these ten exercises.

1.  Heel-to-toe walk

•  Focus on a spot directly in front of you and take a step forward with one foot, placing the heel directly in front of the toes of the other foot, so that heel and toe almost touch.
•  Take 20 steps.

2.  Stand on one foot

•  Lift one foot off the ground with your knee bent, and hold for 10 seconds.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times with each leg.

3.  Weight shift

•  Stand with legs hip-width apart and feet flat on the floor.
•  Lift one foot several inches and hold for 10 seconds.  Repeat with the other foot.
•  Repeat 10 times on each side.

4.  Leg raise walk

•  Stand with arms out to the sides at shoulder height, staring at a point across the room to maintain your balance.
•  Lift one leg and hold it up for a second before bringing it down in front of you.
•  Repeat with the other leg, and walk 20-30 steps.

5.  Side leg raise

•  Bend one leg slightly, while slowly lifting the other leg to the side, with your toes facing forward.
•  Hold for a second before lowering your foot to the floor.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times on each leg.

6.  Back leg raise

•  Stand up straight, and slowly lift one leg up behind you, with toes facing toward the floor.
•  Hold for a second, and then lower your foot to the floor.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times with each leg.

7.  Heel raise

•  Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, rise up onto your toes as high as you can.
•  Hold for a second, and slowly lower your heels to the ground.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times.

8.  Chair stand

•  Sit near the front of a chair with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor.
•  Put your arms out straight in front of you; then lean forward slowly, and stand up.
•  Sit back down.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times.

9.  Side step

•  Stand with your feet together and your knees slightly bent.
•  Step to the left, and bring your right foot to the left to join it.
•  Step to the right, and bring your left foot to the right to join it.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times on each side.

10.  Balance with closed eyes

•  Use a chair, table, or wall next to you for support.
•  Close your eyes.
•  Lift one knee until your upper and lower leg are at a right angle, and hold for 10 seconds.
•  Repeat on the other side.

Hosted by Joy's Book Blog

We had snow on the ground on Sunday and rain on Monday.  I'm quite aware that I need cardio (strength and endurance) as well as flexibility and balance, so when the weather is good, I hope to spend more time walking outside. I prefer that to walking on a treadmill.  While typing this at 1:30 pm, the weather report says it's 61 degrees.  So I opened the window for my cat, who loves to sniff the fresh air.

Meditating on a window design

Click to enlarge the photo

I am astounded by this design and will probably be thinking about it for days.  Who came up with this idea of a hidden bathroom window?  Why?  For what purpose?  Privacy on the ground floor?  Was the room too small for both a medicine cabinet and a window?  Was someone just wanting to be creative?  All it took was screwing hinges to the window casing and the frame of the mirror.  I'm impressed.

Oops!  But wait!  This design puts the water pipes against the outside wall, where they are more likely to freeze in winter.  Now I'm wondering where this is located.  Maybe it's in a place with little or no really cold weather.

As I continue to ponder this room, I'm trying to guess what's to the left of the mirror.  Is there a wall at 90-degrees?  Or does the wall extend several feet to the left?  Where's the toilet?  Where's the tub or shower?  What's outside that window?  Yard?  And then I ask, front yard or side yard or back yard?  Surely not a city sidewalk, since I see green bushes.

Click to enlarge the photo

Expanding my thinking about the design of the home, I remember this hidden staircase I also saw online.  It connects a library with ... who knows what?  A bedroom?  An office?  An aerie?  (I'm being poetic ― I don't mean a literal eagle's nest.)  Something else?  What's up there?  Or what would I put above that library if it were mine?  I see another window, too.  It seems odd to have a window that drops below the stairs.  Lots to ponder today, as I let my mind wander into design conceptions.

Active April

We've had Happy January, Friendly February, and Mindful March.  Now we've into Active April.  I'm ready to start being more active again.  How about you?  Is it one of your goals?  Here are the suggested actions for each day of the first week of April.

April 1
~ Commit to doing something active every day this month.
April 2
~ Have an outdoor walking meeting, instead of sitting inside.
April 3
~ Listen to your body and be grateful for what it can do.
April 4
~ Go up and down the stairs whenever possible today.
April 5
~ Get natural light early in the day.  Turn off lights in the evening.
April 6
~ Enjoy dancing to your favorite music.  Really go for it.
April 7
~ Get outside and plant a tree, flowers, or some seeds.

"Take care of your body.  It's the

only place you have to live." — Jim Rohn

Sunday Salon ~ April foolishness, a tent, and books

April foolishness

This is a crazy, mixed-up weekend, with yesterday being the first day of Passover and today being both Easter and April Fools' Day.

A Tent

Movie night for some of my great-grandchildren

Books

Last night, I made the "mistake" of stopping at Half-Price Books after eating at Denny's with my friend Donna.  I found these books on clearance for only a buck or two, and bought some to add to the Crown Center's small library, a couple for friends, and a few I'll read before donating them to our little library.

1.  Carpool Diem ~ by Nancy Star, 2008, fiction
2.  Two by Two ~ by Nicholas Sparks, 2016, fiction
3.  The Secret Chord ~ by Geraldine Brooks, 2015, fiction
4.  Still Life with Bread Crumbs ~ by Anna Quindlen, 2014, fiction
5.  Secrets of Eden ~ by Chris Bohjalian, 2010, fiction
6.  The Oversoul Seven Trilogy ~ by Jane Roberts, 1995, fiction

• The Education of Oversoul Seven, 1973
• The Further Education of Oversoul Seven, 1979
• Oversoul Seven and the Museum of Time, 1984

7.  The Discomfort Zone ~ by Jonathan Franzen, 2006, memoir
8.  Front Porch Tales ~ by Philip Gulley, 1997, stories
9.  The Red Tent ~ by Anita Diamant, 1997, fiction

More Sunday Salon posts are on Facebook.

Beginning ~ twice

Prologue

Izzy was suffering from a dull, rattling hangover on the morning of the formal introductions.  It had been too much for most of them, the years of anticipation for this very moment so overwhelming that they'd resorted to a few bottles of bourbon, which while certainly not forbidden was rarely encouraged.

Chapter 1

Three hours after she had graduated from high school, Izzy sat on a park bench next to her art teacher, Mr. Jackson, and told him that she was pregnant.

Perfect Little World ~ by Kevin Wilson, 2017, fiction (Tennessee)

When Isabelle Poole meets Dr. Preston Grind, she’s fresh out of high school, pregnant with her art teacher's baby, and totally on her own.  Izzy knows she can be a good mother but without any money or relatives to help, she’s left searching.  Dr. Grind, an awkwardly charming child psychologist, has spent his life studying family, even after tragedy struck his own.  Now, with the help of an eccentric billionaire, he has the chance to create a “perfect little world” — to study what would happen when ten children are raised together collectively, without knowing who their biological parents are.  He calls it The Infinite Family Project, and he wants Izzy and her son to join.  This attempt at a utopian ideal starts off promising, but soon the gentle equilibrium among the families disintegrates:  unspoken resentments between the couples begin to fester; the project's funding becomes tenuous; and Izzy’s growing feelings for Dr. Grind make her question her participation in this strange experiment in the first place.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.