Outside the Back Door...

Joy of Reading...

Two quotes from a recently finished, hug-it-when-last-page-is-turned book...

A seasonal observation...
It was one of those perfect fall days when the air is cool enough to wake you up but the sun is also kissing your face.

Babies...
It's a good thing babies don't give you a lot of time to think. You fall in love with them and when you realize how much they love you back, life is very simple.

Bookticipation

Releasing on Tuesday, February 10...

From indiebound.org

“It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon. . .” This is how Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959. The Whitshanks are one of those families that radiate togetherness: an indefinable, enviable kind of specialness. But they are also like all families, in that the stories they tell themselves reveal only part of the picture. Abby and Red and their four grown children have accumulated not only tender moments, laughter, and celebrations, but also jealousies, disappointments, and carefully guarded secrets. From Red’s father and mother, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to Abby and Red’s grandchildren carrying the family legacy boisterously into the twenty-first century, here are four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house that has always been their anchor.

Brimming with all the insight, humor, and generosity of spirit that are the hallmarks of Anne Tyler’s work, A Spool of Blue Thread tells a poignant yet unsentimental story in praise of family in all its emotional complexity. It is a novel to cherish.

~~~

A thoughtful description of Tyler's appeal from Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune, shortly after the release of State of Wonder:

From the pleasant opera-loving terrorists in Bel Canto to the endlessly fertile Amazon women in her new novel State of Wonder, Ann Patchett creates magical stories. No wizards or vampires, no triumph over dysfunctional past, but rather an alternative universe where unlikely characters come together in a transformative way and make new, and surprising, lives for themselves.

Reading with Teddy...

Books about cars and trucks were found aplenty under the Christmas tree for Teddy. His favorites so far are Cars and Trucks and Things That Go and, the book he's reading in the picture above, Cars and Trucks from A to Z--both by Richard Scarry.

Reading with Mum on Christmas morning.

Outside the Back Door...

Green to yellow to bare. Gray November sky.

Return to Gilead

 

It has been some time since I read Gilead by Marilyn Robinson. However, I do remember my fascination with Lila, the second wife of minister, John Ames.

While running the usual Wednesday errands today, I heard this interview with Marilyn Robinson on NPR and have moved Lila to the very top of my Wish List.

Thinking about Gilead also brought back very fond memories of a July day when I had the pleasure of meeting an on-line friend, Readerbuzz, in person. After visiting Mrs. Mallard & family and riding the swan boats in the Boston Public Garden, we walked up Boylston Street to the Prudential Center. Our walk was enhanced by a very spirited discussion of Gilead. Bookish memories are the best, aren't they?

Hey Jude...

A little boy...

...at the edge of a big ocean.

Sunday Baseball

James and I went on our annual summer baseball outing today. Instead of the usual Lowell Spinners game, we decided to take in a double header of the 19th Century Base Ball Association.  The games between the Newburyport Clamdiggers and Portsmouth Rockinghams were played at Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury, MA.

Baseball is baseball, but in 19th century base ball, things are a little different.  The battery consists of a hurler (pitcher), striker (batter), and behind (catcher). Innings are frames; outs are hands; a run is a tally. The uniforms consist of scally caps and high stockings, and one umpire keeps everything straight. You can read more about the history of 19th century base ball here.

 Newburyport Clamdiggers

 Newburyport Clamdiggers 1886

Striker up!

The gentleman in the vest is the umpire!

A view of the outfield. Yes, that is a cornfield in the background.

The Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm was a wonderful setting for the games on a beautiful Sunday. With the ocean not far away, the high 80s temperatures were hardly noticed with the constant sea breeze blowing through. You can read more about the farm here.

The manor house at the farm...

And some of the animals at the farm...

And, promptly at noon, the beer wagon arrived and was greeted by cheers from all!

Outside the Back Door...

Pinks and Petunias