My Reading Journal for September

Dear Friend,
It has been a long time since I last posted. Shame on me. Everything I have to say is so important and I am really distressed that I haven't said it. That said, I haven't had much to say other than I'm scared to death about our government, our food supply and it's sources and that I am truly grateful for a new techy discover - My Zune MP3 player.

Instead of listening to radio (classic or talk), I have found out how to download audible books and can now listen where-ever I am. Since the drive to and from work takes a minimum of 45 mnutes and most of the time 60 to 75, I now get to "read" even more.

Yes I know, I have a CD player and have listened to book CD's, but this is better. I can even take my book into the office, put my earplugs in and tell everyone I am listening to Andrew Bocelli. They will believe anything. (As long as I answer the phones once in a while.) I can listen to a book in bed (no matter where I am sleeping) or while I sew and don't have to hassle with discs or cumbersome cd players. Yes, I'm sold of these babies!!!!



So what have I been listening to - you ask? Well here is a list and a little synopsis of each:
The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin. Shirley put me on to this one. This is about the Supreme Court, the workings of and the current Justices (the past 15 - 20 years). The book talks about the political culture of the appointments and the decisions that have been handed down by the highest court and their impact on our laws and lives. This one is definitely on my list of "read agains".



The next book I listened to was one that Nikki has been telling me to read for a couple of years and for one reason or another, I kept putting it off. The Red Tent by Anita Diament is a fictional history of Deanne, the only daughter of Jacob and Leah of the Old Testament. What a story!

The Red Tent is the tent set aside for the women of the herding tribes of the deserts to go to during their monthly cycle. The women bond and share, plot and plan and enjoy a brief respite from the daily sun-up to sun-down arduous living of the camp.

There are 2 things I came away with from this book. One is a much greater appreciation of the advances we have made and the other was a desire to read another set of books, also recommended by same person.



Orson Scott Card, a noted LDS author, was asked to write historical fiction about three women of the Old Testament- Sarah, Rebecah, and Rachel and Leah. I found an audio down load of the first book Sarah and enjoyed every minute of it. Since Card is writing about these women from a male point of view and he doesn't get as detailed or as graphic as Diament, he creates a wonderful story of Sarah and Abraham's love for each other, Sarah's conversion to Abraham's "God" and does a very good job of recreating Sarah's post menopausal pregnancy and delivery of Isaac.

Now my challenge to myself is to reread the Book of Genesis. Card's post script talks about the problems of the translations, the time lapses of the events and the liberties he took in the name of fiction, so I feel the need to re-ground myself so to speak.

Much to do, later,
Love Jan

Limericks

Dear Friend,

I had a few minutes to peruse the Sunday edition of the AZ Repulsive (Republic) this morning and this was in Cal Thomas's column. He invited readers to submit original limericks and these were a few of them. I especially liked the last one.

"This is from Jane Warken from someplace around here:
My 93-year-old Aunt Lil
Likes to keep her AC on chill.
She was cool through June
At her condo in Troon
But she died when she opened the bill.

This is from Kay Butler of Tempe.
Midwest kids love their firefly games.
They catch them and give them all names.
Out here in the West
We accept second best
Watching houseflies burst into flames.

This is from some guy named Mark.
It's true there are far fewer thugs
And a refreshing hiatus from bugs.
Dr. Phil, from my knees,
For the next three months please
Do not advocate warm, sweaty hugs.

And one last one from Wendy Clay of Phoenix.
Our state legislators get no vacation
Due to a lack of legislation.
As they fight more and more
Valley temperatures soar
From excessive hot air emanation."

A Violinist in the Metro Station

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time.

This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the
Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:
Do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

You have probably read this story before. It is a true story that I hold dear. Last night I got to spend some time with Logann before she leaves for college. I kept thinking about the advice I should be giving her, the admonishments and the whole spew. Instead, I listened to her, answered her questions and loved every minute of it. I hope she remembers this brief time together and treasures it as much I will.

Love,Jan

One Year Ago Today

Marie Nicoll Hunter

August 28, 1922 - August 17, 2008

Mom, we will always feel you near us.

It Has Been a Few Days (A Gross Understatement)

Dear Friends,

It has been too long since I have updated my blog. I have been busy and I admit, a little weary-the long days and heat will do that to a person, but mostly busy.

In late July, Judy, Marla and I got on a bus bound for the International Quilt Show in Long Beach with 90 other like-minded women (2 buses). We had a blast looking, shopping, wishing and a lot more. I will talk about that later.

The next weekend we all met again at the ranch for the Naegle Reunion and got to catch up, renew, greet new babies and some future spouses. More on that in another post.

Then it was back to work and trying in my spare time to catch up on sewing projects and all the rest of daily living. Sewing projects are good for another post too.

So that brings me to this weekend. My office, thank you Frank, Sandra, Dennis, John and Chris, sponsored a family day at Sunsplash in Mesa. Now mind you, I don't do bathing suits in public places, I don't do sun any more than what I have to (car to building, building to car) and I, as a rule don't do large crowded venues where no one knows where anyone is. But because I was kind of responsible for bringing 6 of 7 wonderful g-kids, well I was there.

I was hot, I perspired a lot, I was ready to go home at noon (we arrived at 10:45) and I drank a lot of water. A lot of water! Anyway, the kids had a great time and of course, I had to drag them home. Here are some pictures of a good time.

The long arms belong to Seth, playing pool basketball.

He shoots.....

And tries for a rebound.

By the way, Lisa took these pictures. I forgot to bring a hat and tried to stay in the shade.

Next she got some pictures of Eli and Wyatt coming down the slide..

And then this.

And that was yesterday in my world.

More later, Jan

No Handshake for Mr. O

http://

Dear Friend,
This is so funny. I laugh every time I watch it.
Jan

Out With the Old, In With the New and Improved

Dear Friend,

I finally have a few minutes to spare (Nikki introduced me to another mind-numbing game on Facebook) so I wanted to show you what we did last weekend-4th of July.

I begged, pleaded and bribed my wonderful sons-in-law to give me a weekend to rebuild my porch. This, by the way, is step 2 in the plan for retirement. Anyway, because of work schedules and other important things, Kelly & Lisa came up Friday night and while the adults went to town to buy (gasp) the lumber for the project on Saturday morning, Logann and Seth worked so very hard to tear down the old porch.

This was what was left of the old and that board was the only access to the trailer.


They unloaded the trailer and went to work. And they worked hard. I hope the kids realize how much help they were and we couldn't have done this without them.

Because I don't have the knack for balancing myself these days, I kept to the perimeter and tried to help or stay out of the way.

The porch is beginning to take on a life now, we added to the the deck by extending it in front of the trailer. This area will be an out-door kitchen where the grill and a big table can be set up leaving more deck space for the things we like to do-eat, play games, eat, play games and so on.New wider, safer stairs. I am ecstatic. Wait until you see the rest...


By Saturday night, we were able to get into the room and trailer and even able to set up the big table for some games. No Seth, you did not win Bananagrams!

The next morning ( I won't tell you what day of the week this was, but our ox was in the mire, as my dad would say) we went back to work. Please don't report us for child labor. He loved that he could help.

Logann, aka Rosie the Riveter, stopped for a pose or two but diligently got back to work.

Shawn, Nikki and boys arrived about 10 AM to help us finish. Shawn & Kelly got the railing up and I love, love, love it. The boys started sanding the rails because it was cheaper to buy the unfinished lengths and feed the boys.
The weather was perfect for the project-the rain held off until we completed the deck construction, put the saws and tools away and started to stain and seal. Then we got hit with a whopper-rain, hail, thunder and lightening.
I just want my family to know how much I love and appreciate them. The old porch (we figure it was about 20+ years old) was really getting bad and the front end was dangerously rotten.

When I sat on the new porch and took my shoes off, the new floor felt like silk on my bare feet.

Shawn and Nikki stayed until Tuesday to finish the staining and sealing. I can't wait to get back up to see it.

Oh, I almost forgot, while Lisa and Nikki helped with some of the construction, they also did a great job of keeping everyone fed, everything organized and the cleaning, because when we are all up there together, sometimes the feeding, organizing and cleaning is all you do!

If your in the neighborhood, stop and visit our new deck. You can even pull a chair up to the table and join us for whatever we are up to because there is lots of room now.

Oh, one more thing...

Actually, 2 more-this was the sky just before the storm and ...

this is the sunset as I was leaving Vernon.

I know this probably isn't the most important news for you, but it's my news and I am soooooooo happy.

Love to you all, Jan