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Why Do I Share Books with You?

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Basically, because getting new books is exciting for me, and Still A Dreamer is about sharing things that I find worthwhile and valuable. Books – and reading – hold a place of importance in my life, and I just went to a huge book sale!

Maybe because I hope to inspire you, and you are ready for some great suggestions. (in my opinion, of course.)

In the top photo, are 6 books I found and purchased from my carefully curated list of 34 books. Celeste Ng’s book is not the original from my list, but a worthwhile swap.

In the photo above are some extras I found – 3 by authors I know and like, a fictional biography enthusiastically recommended to me by a young woman at the sale, and one for a friend.

The total haul? $22.00. You can’t beat that if you’re a reader.

The love of reading was engendered in me from a very, very young age, around 1 or 2 years old, for which I am deeply grateful. I quickly found that books were magic – they took you places you’d never imagined, taught you all your little mind could grasp with joy. Books laid down the path for a lifetime of curiosity, enjoyment, learning, and inspiration in so many ways.

See anything you like? I hope I’ve offered some interesting possibilities. BTW, if you have kids, and they see you reading, you’re already an inspiration for them to develop a lifelong habit of doing the same .

If you are not currently an active reader, or feel it’s too late to learn, find the book that will get your mind lit up and jump in. It’s never too late.

p.s. The day after the book sale, not having found the few “must-haves” on my list, I decided to buy 6 more on Thrift Books. I think I’m set for quite a while now! Stay tuned ….

Snow Days

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

When snow hits as hard as it has yesterday and this morning, there’s not much to do but stay inside and hunker down.

It was a good day to make soup, which I did (above), broccoli and potato with Parmesan, something to warm the insides while you wonder if your power will stay on.

But inasmuch as there are concerns about what will happen when the entire Eastern seaboard of the United States has been shut down in a state of emergency, there is still the magic of a major snowfall. There are memories of being a child and waking up to a world covered in snow, getting the news that school has been cancelled, and there being a snow fort to build in the afternoon.

Thankfully, where I live has made it through so far – power is on, and we’re slowly digging out – but other areas have over 2′ feet of snow and another 8 hours to go before it all ends.

A huge shout out of gratitude to the linemen who are up in the wires and telephone poles restoring electricity. In New Jersey alone, there are 1,700 linemen, including assistance from nearby states, plus hundreds of support people helping, as well. Thank you to all the snowplow drivers opening our roads, and emergency workers who are risking their lives in the cold and snow to save lives.

Please be careful out there and stay safe..

Getting By in the Holiday Busy-ness

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

How are you getting by? There always seems so much to do and not enough time to do it.

No matter how early you start, or how much you think you have done, it still all starts running together in no time. Have you found the secret to keeping it all together when it seems like it will never get done in time?

Here are two time-tested ways that help me get through – #1 Charlie and #2 Coffee. Yup, my trusty Chemex and organic decaf, BUT … with 20% of some yummy caf.

A cuddle that’s just waiting for me, and a thermos of Joe for the day makes that Christmas to-do list just a little bit more do-able.

How about you?

When the Ugly Becomes Beautiful

/ still a dreamer / 5 Comments

A magnificent sky and moon this past Halloween night. You might not even notice at first that there is a cell tower next to the gigantic pine at the left.

When it was announced that a cell tower was to be built behind the last row of houses across the street from my own, my neighbors and I were appropriately incensed. We went to town meetings, complained, and did our best to keep our neighborhood beautiful and cell tower-free. We lost.

One upside — it was built much farther back than we had been led to believe. It’s there, kind of glowering, but not quite as intrusive as expected.

But here is the other upside …

The cell tower is a daily host to an array of crows and/or black vultures. In the morning, they tend to congregate on the lowest tier, but towards mid-late afternoon, they are perched on the top tier. (Seeing both occupied, as in the photo, is actually unusual.)

They chase each other back and forth from the tower to the pines, perhaps playing, displaying dominance, or jockeying for the best position. They sit up top after a rain, spreading their wings wide to dry in the sun, or wrap themselves up in the warming rays to keep out the cold. It’s hard not to watch them.

While the cell tower is not an attractive addition to our local “skyline”, its visitors bring a life and beauty we would otherwise not have known.

So much of how we view life is in our perspective, no?