A Book for You?

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Please check out the last six of my April book purchases. While I managed to find six from my list of “hopefuls” at the Annual Library Book Sale, there were still quite a few I wanted. So I headed over to Thrift Books.

See anything you like?

We have two Japanese women authors, recommended through Instagram if the viewer liked Haruki Murakami:

Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi – a Tokyo café offering its customers a chance to travel back in time.

The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa – “A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss.” (goodreads)

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio – A possible murderer released after ten years, revisits the circumstances of young Shakespearean actors that led to one’s death.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen is a Pulitzer Prize Winner. “A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story” (goodreads) – a young man’s story told now, in the chaos of 1975 Saigon.

And now … The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is exquisite historical fiction, taking place on the Lower East Side in 1899. It is one of my top favorite books of all time, and I bought it for my “permanent” bookcase for books I would read again.

The Hidden Palace is the sequel Wecker wrote seven years later, with the golem and the jinni still the main characters as their intertwined tale evolves. I bought this to read, and cannot wait.

Anything for you? Check your library and/or visit Thrift Books – what will keep you up into the night is there.  

It’s Just Change

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That makes change sound so simple, so casual, right? Yet just the word ‘change’ can have some of us already feeling anxious, because we so often associate change with something negative.

Photo: towfiqu-barbhuiya / unsplash

But what if we could look at change from a different angle, and consider that all change is ultimately good for us in some way. What if we could take that a step further, and consider that everything is always working out in our favor?

That’s a concept that I would have likely disagreed with a couple years ago. I’ve since changed my mind. However, it does take an intentional shift in perspective. Every experience we have contains within it the opportunity to grow, and to find/be something better.

We can sit and stew and whine and complain about something that’s happening or … we can step back and look at it, and say, `what’s here for me to learn? How can this change benefit me?’ You might be surprised at what you find.

Photo: Ellis Garvey / unsplash, Instagram @ellisgarvey

This doesn’t discount the fact that change is sometimes painful. There is no growth without discomfort or pain. But if we can make that shift in perspective, and be willing to look at the bigger picture?

We can grow and find more happiness, more contentment, in our lives. In whatever time it takes, in the end? It’s just change, and you and I are strong enough to handle it.

The Right to Daydream

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Is it okay to just stare out the window and do nothing for a while?

It’s Memorial Day weekend. Sadly, for all the barbecues, parades, and outdoor activities planned, it’s going to be a complete washout. It’s been raising all day and it will continue through till Tuesday. For myself, I have a couple smaller get-togethers planned, both indoors with friends, and which include coffee.

When I came back home from brunch earlier, I realized I had no desire to do anything. Truly, nothing. I brought my book, a sketchbook, and my phone over to the sofa by the front windows, invited Charlie to come and curl up, and looked out at the rain.

And despite a little scrolling and reading a few pages, that’s what I did — stared out at the rain. I watched the patterns it made in the big puddle at the edge of the sidewalk. I watched a squirrel pop up on my porch railing and eat a walnut he had unearthed from somewhere. I watched the trees swaying in the dark and cloudless sky. It felt good.

With all the things we always have to do or feel compelled to do, are we not entitled to spend some time “doing nothing”? Can we not just let go of all the `shoulds’ that so tightly bind us?

Do we not have the right to daydream?

Here’s hoping, whatever the weekend weather is bringing to you, that you take the time to curl up and look out your window and watch the world go by. Even if only for a little while.

Something Wonderful

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I recently learned of a small, very simple tip that actually does make a difference in how you can feel each day, and I thought I’d share.


Photo by Chidy Young / unsplash

Before you go to sleep at night, say to yourself or say out loud, “Something wonderful is going to happen tomorrow.” 
When you get up in the morning, say, “Something wonderful is going to happen today.”  And repeat it from time to time during the day. But each night, each morning.

And it works. Here’s why.

We spend a lot of time in worrying and negative thinking. Wonderful things are going on in our lives all the time, but we often don’t stop and notice. They needn’t be huge. They can be as small as an unexpected call or text from a friend. Someone let you go ahead in traffic. Or you spotted this adorable little toad when you were out gardening. 

My 4-year-old neighbor pointed out this little toad to me. He named him Jumper.

If, each day, you look at the day before to see what wonderful thing happened, you will spot it easily. And that works every day.

I think of it as gratitude through the back door.  Try it.

Tree Hugger

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There was a time that “tree hugger” was a dirty word. If you were accused of being a tree hugger, that was an insult. It meant you were a softie, perhaps a bit tetched in the head because you loved trees.

“Tree hugger” was also the catchall name – a slur – for an environmentalist, someone who loved and respected the rich and diverse life on this planet. And there were, and still are, too many people that view the environment as something to be used and abused.

But to others of us, “tree hugger” is a mighty fine compliment, thank you. I will happily accept your calling me a tree hugger. And if you’re still here reading, and looking at photos, I feel pretty confident that you are a tree hugger, too.

Nice to meet you.

The photographs here are selected from those I’ve taken over the last 10 years or so with my phone or digital camera. I have many others taken with SLRs, but they are stored in other formats, not available on my computer.

Some of these are taken around my own town, others in Frenchtown and Clinton, NJ, Tinicum, PA, and a couple at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ.

They all say one thing – trees are magnificent beings. We can be grateful that they share their beauty with us, season after season, clean our air, offer us shade, and provide homes for so many forms of wildlife.

Have you hugged a tree lately? You might feel a little too embarrassed to brazenly wrap your arms around a tree and hug, but I’m sure a little pat and a quiet `thank you’ would be appreciated.