Yonder

This is a photograph of Chattanooga, my hometown.  That mountain over yonder is Lookout Mountain, and that's how far away yonder is.   At least in this example.  Yonder means "over there," so distance varies.  "Way down yonder in the land of cotton" is not necessarily within sight of the singer.  Flying "into the wild blue yonder" is a rather amorphous place — how high is the sky?

I've only used "yonder" once before on this book blog, though I wrote about the word in 2010 on my word blog:  How far is yonder?  That's the blog where I write about words.  At the top, I say that Joyful Noiseletter is "an exuberant newsletter to myself about joyful things, like words, which I enjoy."

Melting cat

This melting cat is what I chose to leave at the top of my page when I stepped away from Facebook, from seeing pictures of traumatized children caged at our borders and one teen dying of the flu while caged, reading ad nauseam about a leader who cannot lead but has become a laughing stock mocked around the world, hearing about angry people, shootings, frustration, and lack of compassion and understanding.

My cat Clawdia in 2015

I'll spend time with my cat, looking out windows or brushing her or going for a walk, maybe even outside if it isn't too cold.

I'll leave you with this photo.  Laughing is good.  Can you see the cat?  Clawdia is black, but she seems to realize I cannot always see her.  She may not know she blends in like a shadow, but she somehow knows she's in danger on the floor and says "Mewp" when I walk in her direction.

Beginning ~ with perplexing thoughts

Opening Lines

"We spend a lot of time thinking about why people are bad.  Just as perplexing, maybe more perplexing, is why they are good."

Rambam's Ladder: A Meditation on Generosity and Why It Is Necessary to Give ~ by Julie Salamon, 2003, philosophy

Maimonides

Nearly a thousand years ago the great philosopher and physician Maimonides, known to Hebrew scholars as Rambam, pondered the question of righteousness.  Out of it came the Ladder of Charity.  In eight chapters, one for each rung, the book helps us navigate the world of giving.  How much to give?  How do we know if our gifts are being used wisely?  Is it better to give anony-mously?  The book reminds us on every page we are measured not by what we have, but by what we give.

I bought this book a couple of years ago, at a book sale, but I'm just now getting around to reading it.  I find it fascinating that the page opposite the first page of the Introduction, which has the sentences I quoted at the top of this post, has "The Ladder of Charity" with a list of the eight rungs with 1/Reluctance at the bottom of the page, like the first rung of a ladder.  Each chapter goes up a rung, as if the reader is climbing up the ladder to 8/Responsibility.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.
Click this link for more book beginnings.

Bokeh ~ a new word for me

Photo ©2019 by Nancy Horner, the Bookfool

Nancy, the Bookfool, posted this photo of her cat on Facebook, saying, "Second annual Cat with Christmas Tree Bokeh shot."  It isn't often I stumble upon a word new to me.  After 79 years of reading and being read to, I've run across a lot of words, after all.  So I looked it up.

In photography, bokeh (/ˈboʊkə/ BOH-kə or /ˈboʊkeɪ/ BOH-kay; Japanese:  [boke]) is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens.  Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

"BOKEH" ... I like it ... and the great shot Nancy took of Fiona.  Thanks for letting me use it, Nancy.

Advent meditation

Sasha on Donna's bed

Low: An Honest Advent Devotional ~ by John Pavlovitz, 2019, theology

God comes to meet us in the low places of our lives, Pavlovitz says.  When we plant our feet firmly in the dirt of everyday life, we see Jesus meeting us in our low places.  The invitation of Jesus, he says, is not to escape this world "to an elevated heavenly sanctuary somewhere; it is to bring heaven down" (p. 5).  Jesus gets low, meeting us on the ground where we are.

Today is the second day of Advent.  Yesterday, I started this book that Donna gave me four months ago.  She and I met the author last year when he talked about an earlier book, so we expect this one to be thought-provoking, and it is.  Today, the book really got to me.

Week 1 ~ Monday

"All our relationships can be understood as intersections:  the places our road meets that of another person and both stories are rewritten, sometimes wonderfully and sometimes less so. ... Today, dwell on the people who've crossed your circuitous path and changed your story. ... Sit with gratitude for them and for the difference they've made on your journey" (pp. 8, 9).

You may wonder why I've shown you a pensive cat to illustrate my thoughts.  Donna has been keeping Sasha while Sandy Richter was in the hospital and rehab and back in the hospital for close to three months.  I was at Donna's Sunday morning when she got a call that Sandy had died around 3:00 a.m.  Somehow, Sasha seemed to know and had been acting strange all morning, Donna said.  In this photo, Sasha reflects how I was also feeling ... sad, bereft ... but also grateful that I got to know Sandy.

Sandy Richter (1940-2019)

Sandy crossed my path here at the Crown Center, where we ate at the same table.  This photo was taken in the Café last year.  I reflected on how Sandy impacted my life, and my thinking branched out to other friends who have died this year:  Evelyn in July, Barbara in October, and now Sandy seven weeks later.  An ambulance wailed out of our parking lot yesterday, taking another very sick friend to the hospital.  Here's Sandy's version of the Litany of Remembrance that I wrote for Barbara.

Litany of Remembrance

When I see a funny cat picture on Facebook and want to share it,
I'll remember you.
When I recall you saying, "We only grow taller until we're perfect,"
I'll remember you.
When the elevator door opens on your floor at the Crown Center,
I'll remember you.
When the friends at "our" table sit around talking after dinner,
we'll remember you.
Because you've been so much part of our lives at the Crown Center,
we'll remember you.
So long as we live, you too shall live, for you are now a part of us,
as we remember you.

It's been a sad year, with lots of us feeling low.  I guess I really need this time of meditating on the pages of Low: An Honest Advent Devotional.

Bingo ~ and Thankfully Reading Weekend

Donna and Bonnie ~ notice my shirt (explanation below)

I filled out what I could of the Bingo card, so it's time for my report on it and the Thankfully Reading Weekend, even though our reading for this event doesn't end until midnight.

1st LINE ACROSS

• East a healthy snack ~ Hummus on celery.  DONE
• Read more than one book ~ I did, but I didn't finish either of them this weekend.
• Do a 60 minute reading sprint ~ Doesn't everyone do this?  DONE
• Read for a total of 8 hours ~ Being retired, I do this on a regular basis.  DONE
• Read before breakfast ~ Pretty much a daily thing.  DONE

2nd LINE ACROSS

• Comment on someone's blog ~ Left comments for Deb, Jenn, and Helen.  DONE
• Read 100 pages ~ easy peasy.  DONE
• Read when it's dark outside ~ I always read at bedtime ... and well beyond.  DONE
• Read under the covers ~ Reading in bed means I do lots of undercover reading.  DONE
• Listen to an audiobook ~ Nope, not my thing.  I'm a visual person.

3rd LINE ACROSS

• Post a book review ~ I don't write reviews as often as I used to.
• Read a book you are thankful for ~ All books?  Every book I read?  No, that's cheating.  Hmm.
• TURKEY ~ free spot.  DONE
• Read a recipe ~ At my age (79), I prepare mostly familiar foods, so I'll skip this one.
• Wear something bookish ~ I happen to have just the thing.  The photo taken today with my friend Donna at the top proves it.  (See *1  below for explanation.)  DONE

4th LINE ACROSS

• Take a break and do some stretches ~ Did that on Friday afternoon with my exercise pals.  DONE
• Cheer on other readers ~ I used to cheer on the readers doing Dewey's 24-hour Readathon, but none this weekend.  Sorry.
• Read twice in one day ~ I'm retired, so I read off and on EVERY day.  DONE
• Read outside ~ I laughed when I saw this, then I remembered that Bingo-creator Deb lives in Texas.  (See **2 below for my wordy response.)
• Read a book on the computer ~ Kindle is allowed, Deb said.  DONE

5th LINE ACROSS

• Read something that is not a book ~ I read Reader's Digest, The New Yorker, and a bunch of stuff on Facebook (oh, wait, that time-waster probably doesn't count).  DONE
• Recommend a book to someone ~ I do this often, but I don't remember specifically doing it during this weekend.
• Read 200 pages ~ another easy peasy.  DONE
• Drink something delicious ~ Does orange juice count?  Or flavored tea?  DONE
• Write down a quote from a book ~ I'll share it with you now, along with a story.  (See ***3 below.)  DONE

It appears that the only Bingo I achieved this weekend was the center row, up and down ... unless the four corners and the center count.  But it's been fun.  Thanks, Deb and Jenn.

* Note #1

I'm the seasonal bookworm, who reads in all seasons.  Since you can't really see that bottom line, even if you click to enlarge the photo at the top, here's what it says on my shirt:

SEASONAL BOOKWORMS

.... WINTER ....

It's snowing. I should stay inside and read.

.... SPRING ....

I have allergies. I have to stay inside and read.

.... SUMMER ....

It's too hot. I'd better stay inside and read.

.... AUTUMN ....

It's so windy. I think I will stay inside and read.

Donna's shirt has nothing to do with this weekend, but it's fun and somewhat related.  She and her friends play Bananagrams most Saturday evenings — words relate to books, right?  They've chosen the sloth as their spirit animal because the beautiful little 2-letter word "ai" is a three-toed sloth.  Donna's shirt says:  "I finally found my spirit animal ... SLOTH ... does absolutely nothing and just sleeps."

** Note #2

I had just read the Bingo suggestion to "Read outside" and remembered that Deb lives in Texas before opening the memoir I'm reading to Chapter 6.  Almost immediately I was laughing again.  The part that made me laugh is below.

*** Note #3

QUOTE from page 66 of God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America, a memoir by Lyn Lenz (2019):

"I didn't grow up in the Midwest; I grew up in Texas, where the openness of the land sprawls hard and wide — like a big, calloused hand.   There, people stretch rather than cluster.  The weather rarely gets cold.  Blizzards don't blow piles of snow against doors and windows, so there are fewer windbreaks and less grace in the geography."

How's that for coincidence, reading about Texas in a book that is not about Texas?  I'm from the South (Chattanooga, Tennessee), but I now live in St. Louis, Missouri.  Last week, we had snow on the ground for days.  It's been rainy all weekend, and temperatures have been in the thirties and low forties.  So the only way I could "read outside" would be to stand under the awning of my building for just long enough to read one or two — or possibly three — paragraphs before running back inside.  That's why I laughed.

Kindness Calendar for December

Click to enlarge calendar.

I found this month's calendar on the Action for Happiness web site.  Here's what they suggest we do for the first days of December.

December 1
~ Encourage kindness.  Share the Kindness Calendar with others.
December 2
~ Support a charity, cause, or campaign you really care about.
December 3
~ Give kind comments to as many people as possible today.
December 4
~ Listen wholeheartedly to others without judging them.
December 5
~ Leave a positive message for someone else to find.
December 6
~ Notice when you're hard on yourself or others and be kind instead.
December 7
~ Make gifts to give to people who are homeless or feeling lonely.
December 8
~ Do something helpful for a friend or family member.
December 9
~ Be generous.  Feed someone with food, love, or kindness today.
December 10
~ Count your blessings: list the kind things others have done for you.

"Do your little bit of good where you are:

those little bits together overwhelm the world."

~ Desmond Tutu

Hours after setting this to post, I ran across this Advent calendar about Kindness and figured it belongs here.  So here's a little additional something to mark this first day of December.

Today's Advent suggestion is a hug, so I'm sending you a Snoopy hug.  Do you feel it?

If you feel it, pass it along to someone else.  Better yet, hug somebody in person today.  Maybe several someones.