Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

Just finished reading a book perfect for all book lovers: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair. Author Nina Sankovitch, an ardent reader all her life, decides to read a book a day for a year in order to take time for herself and to somehow find peace within herself after the loss of her sister.

One of the many passages I liked:
Pg 44 - Inspired by the poem "Stepping Backwards" by Adrienne Rich, Sankovitch writes, "Looking backward allows me to see the entirety of my present life, of what it took to get me to where I am, and of what I want to have in the life still ahead of me. The big picture, the great perspective. I understand what is important by looking back to see what I remember."

Haiku quoted:
"Since my house burned down
I now own a better view
of the rising moon."
by Mizuta Masahide

There is so much that I thought of writing about as I read through this book. I was inspired by so much that Sankovitch read and observed, and related it to my own memories and "theories" - especially her chapter about what she wishes for her children. (My kids tease me about my "theories.") She has a beautiful way of weaving through her book-a-day year. At the beginning of each day she blogged about the book she read the previous day. It's all at Read All Day. I recommend this book to all book lovers.

Goodnight Irene

A lot of rain, some flooding, lots of leaves and limbs down - that was it for us. We lost power for just under two hours this morning. It's now very windy; just remnants of the storm going through now.

The white bin on our deck collected over 12 inches of rainwater. 

I had lots of bowls out on the deck collecting rainwater in case our power was out for an extended period of time. We're on well water so no power also means no water.

Heavy winds passing through now.

We could still lose power yet if trees come down over wires. The ground is soaked. But, fortunately Irene has been a non-event for us - just an excuse for a hurricane party last night, a few blog posts, and a relaxing weekend overall! We hope other communities and families along the shore have their lives back to normal as soon as possible.

Awaiting the brunt of the storm

Lots and lots of rain - no strong wind yet. Just back from a "Waiting for Irene" hurricane party, where Hurricane drinks were served. Hoping for power tomorrow morning for coffee maker!

Come on Irene

It just started raining steadily about 1/2 an hour ago. No wind yet.

Calm but rainy - front yard

We are mostly concerned about losing power for an extended period of time. I'll post new photos as weather changes, especially if it gets exciting!  Hopefully no disasters. Behave Irene. Stay safe.

Harvest time

I just harvested a big, plump, juicy tomato from my deck:

As you can see, its huge! The tomato plant went into the pot on my deck in early June and took all summer to produce this one tomato. One. Un seul. Solo una.

Let me give you a little perspective:

A farmer I'm not. I know the tomato plant "requires a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight per day" and my deck doesn't provide that during a dry summer. During a wet summer, like we've had, this is what we got. We're going to eat it all tonight. At this rate we will not be self sustaining - ever.

Bermuda cruise - asea

Don and I took our first-ever cruise this summer. We went with another couple who recommended the perfect first-time cruise: NYC to Bermuda on Norwegian because its "free style." It was such an easy vacation. Bryan dropped us off at the terminal in NYC and off we went with music blasting, people swimming and dancing, and cameras clicking.

Cruising down the Hudson R. out of NYC harbor

Sunsets were beautiful!

6am on our third morning we finally saw land again! Bermuda was beckoning.
Celebrity cruise ship followed us from NY.

Norwegian Gem docked at Dockyards, Bermuda

The cruise ships dominated the island shorelines of Bermuda. There were many activities that we took part in on board, including, shows (comedian, juggler, Second City), parties (70's dance, white out), pub crawl, relaxing (on balcony, at pool), games (trivia, Quest, craps lesson) and eating! More on beautiful Bermuda next posting.

Visiting Haley @ Camp

We had a wonderful visit in Maine over the July 16-17 weekend. Haley has been working with the equestrian program at a summer camp about an hour away from Portland, Maine, which is far but relatively close considering she is usually over 3000 miles away! She gave us a tour of her amazing camp - WOW, lucky campers - and then we headed into to Portland for dinner in the Old Port section of town. Haley is looking great and is loving her summer. We so enjoyed talking with her. 

Haley & Bryan in Portland, ME

Haley at Beal's Ice Cream with sprinkles!

We also enjoyed a stroll through Portsmith, NH, before, and Marblehead, MA, after our visit with Haley. She's back to school in SoCal soon.