When I have a free moment,I read or create. I love to write, stitch, and read. I'm fascinated by the British way with mysteries, both old and new and am exploring as many as I can.
So what makes the mystery so intriguing? For me it's the complexity of the characters and how the plot is played out with their various personalities and flaws. A good example is the wonderful books written by Agatha Christie, especially the Miss Marple mysteries whether they be in story form or in books. Miss Marple is an observer of people and sees patterns in the way life plays out with certain "characters." She is an observer of habits, flaws, and lies but mostly in how our flaws are played out in what we do under stress. That's what makes her so interesting, and because of the working of her mind I enjoy trying to see how she's pondering each piece of information.
So, for me the best mysteries are the ones that are not the gore filled who-done-its, but rather the one that create good stories, and mind games to unravel. One I'm just discovering are the Inspector Lynley series. Another I've enjoyed of course is Ellis Peters' Cadfael. (What an intricate life this 12th century Benedictine monk has in this Series! I return to these books often and am never disappointed!)
Where am I off to next? Certainly the mysteries created in the final installment of Harry Potter's adventures might be one avenue. (I'm not addicted as many, but do find them interesting.) I enjoy the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb and recently finished book 9, The Guilt of Innocents. That book was a rather guilty pleasure for me because her 14th century Welsh archer, turned detective creates a grand picture of the city of York and it's many inhabitants and an interesting whodunit. So where to next? Who knows where that poison pen will lead? I think I need to go exploring!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Pennies from Heaven...
"It's raining, it's pouring..." We haven't had rain in over 3 months and yesterday it rained most of the day. As I splashed through my day I watched others grumble, though because they hadn't expected it - or horror of horrors they got wet. But of course I was thrilled, well me and my garden were! I felt like I was walking on air in my excitement, and like a kid splashed through every puddle I came across. I even offered my umbrella to many who needed a bit of a covering from the rain in my meanderings down our main street.
"Perfect" weather may seem perfect but it always takes something from the world. We all need a bit of rain in our lives to keep the balance. Watching Gene Kelly dance in the rain can be completely understandable. Rejoicing in that gift from the clouds does make some of us just a bit exuberant!
"Perfect" weather may seem perfect but it always takes something from the world. We all need a bit of rain in our lives to keep the balance. Watching Gene Kelly dance in the rain can be completely understandable. Rejoicing in that gift from the clouds does make some of us just a bit exuberant!
Monday, July 23, 2007
A Storied Home - Marigold Lodge
Today, summers in a big city can be unbearable with the stifling heat, but in the early 20th century it was much worse. If you lived in any city like Chicago or Milwaukee the heat and humidity made for long, hot, and oppressive summers. Many would look for a way to escape for days or weeks along the cooler lakeshore. The natural beauty of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan offered a cool and peaceful escape during the summer months.
Many of the affluent would cruise along the green and cool shore and enjoy the quiet of the woods and small cities and towns peppered along Lake Michigan’s eastern shoreline. As with many historical homes around Holland, the story of one such summer home begins with a wish for cooler and more peaceful summers.
Chicago industrialist Egbert H. Gold, was searching for a place to build a house during the summer of 1912 where his family could escape the summer heat. The north shore of Black Lake (now Lake Macatawa) on Point Superior offered a wooded haven and Marigold Lodge was built in the Prairie School style in 1913. Named for his wife, Margaret and only daughter, Mary Jayne it became the summer house for the Gold family that also included 2 boys Egbert Jr., and Samuel.
Most of the acreage surrounding the house still remains as it was in the early life of the area courtesy of Mr. Gold’s appreciation for the natural setting and his insistence on keeping much of the wooded areas around the home as he found them. Because of his care we have a truly remarkable example of the early natural world surrounding the lake.
This part of Holland was a summer retreat for many others who lived the city life too. Countless people came by ship or train to stay in cottages, resorts or camps found along the lake’s shoreline. For many the shore, wooded areas, and beaches offered a truly wonderful summer refuge.
Today’s cottages and homes along the lakeshore harken back to those earlier days that gave our town that leisurely, summertime image. Many of the cottages we see along winding lakeshore roads today hold memories and stories that have helped craft our history. The residents, homes and those who visit all help create the image we have of Holland, the town that is a welcoming, friendly place to vacation and live.
Many of the affluent would cruise along the green and cool shore and enjoy the quiet of the woods and small cities and towns peppered along Lake Michigan’s eastern shoreline. As with many historical homes around Holland, the story of one such summer home begins with a wish for cooler and more peaceful summers.
Chicago industrialist Egbert H. Gold, was searching for a place to build a house during the summer of 1912 where his family could escape the summer heat. The north shore of Black Lake (now Lake Macatawa) on Point Superior offered a wooded haven and Marigold Lodge was built in the Prairie School style in 1913. Named for his wife, Margaret and only daughter, Mary Jayne it became the summer house for the Gold family that also included 2 boys Egbert Jr., and Samuel.
Most of the acreage surrounding the house still remains as it was in the early life of the area courtesy of Mr. Gold’s appreciation for the natural setting and his insistence on keeping much of the wooded areas around the home as he found them. Because of his care we have a truly remarkable example of the early natural world surrounding the lake.
This part of Holland was a summer retreat for many others who lived the city life too. Countless people came by ship or train to stay in cottages, resorts or camps found along the lake’s shoreline. For many the shore, wooded areas, and beaches offered a truly wonderful summer refuge.
Today’s cottages and homes along the lakeshore harken back to those earlier days that gave our town that leisurely, summertime image. Many of the cottages we see along winding lakeshore roads today hold memories and stories that have helped craft our history. The residents, homes and those who visit all help create the image we have of Holland, the town that is a welcoming, friendly place to vacation and live.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Anonymous - Who Me?
anonymity - mystery - ambiguity
These are words that mean you or someone else are not seen, or heard. Life can be a place of loneliness and isolation when you aren't seen or heard, but it can also mean a time to think and perfect your life without criticism or those rolled eyes that often goes with judgment. Obscurity can be a place of refuge if you use it to reflect and grow in the times or spaces of aloneness and being ignored. I think it's all in the perspective, and the attitude that you face your circumstances. After all the phrase, "Bloom where you’re planted," comes from someone's experience in life!
These are words that mean you or someone else are not seen, or heard. Life can be a place of loneliness and isolation when you aren't seen or heard, but it can also mean a time to think and perfect your life without criticism or those rolled eyes that often goes with judgment. Obscurity can be a place of refuge if you use it to reflect and grow in the times or spaces of aloneness and being ignored. I think it's all in the perspective, and the attitude that you face your circumstances. After all the phrase, "Bloom where you’re planted," comes from someone's experience in life!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Céad Míle Fáilte (One Hundred Thousands Welcome)
In Gaelic welcome is not simply, "Hello," it is an effusive and flowery way of using a verbal hug. It goes beyond the required greeting, and takes the first step toward becoming friends. There are many languages and cultures that give that first contact a welcoming twist.
So, welcome to my world and welcome to my thoughts, scribbles and writings.
In Gaelic welcome is not simply, "Hello," it is an effusive and flowery way of using a verbal hug. It goes beyond the required greeting, and takes the first step toward becoming friends. There are many languages and cultures that give that first contact a welcoming twist.
So, welcome to my world and welcome to my thoughts, scribbles and writings.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Windows to the Soul...
A window looks out on the world.
It is the eye of a house -
The picture show that gives safe views
Of every ball game
played, and every dream
Hoped for yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
It is the eye of a house -
The picture show that gives safe views
Of every ball game
played, and every dream
Hoped for yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Telling History
"Without stories there is nothing. Stories are the world's memory. The past is erased without stories." Chaim Potok
Without a good story, history is not as interesting. Before the written histories there were "story tellers"– those who would tell their stories around camp fires to give people a knowledge of who they were from the mighty warriors to those who were the examples for our cultural morality. They learned the trade in youth through listening and repeating the tales of those who came before. They followed those older tellers of tales around memorizing the narratives of people and events to be totally accurate and thoroughly precise in their accounts - word for word in fact! Having a history right defined their job and who they were.
Any good storyteller was expressive to create an image that explained and often held their listeners spell bound. Most of those around the fire also learned those stories well. The tales were heard over and over again - always with the facts, but continuously told with enthusiasm and an abundance of excitement built into those sagas.
If we think about it there were stories that helped us grew into who we are, and those stories gave us the tools to become the people we needed to be within our society. It was also where faith was learned. The tales were told of heroes and the people we needed to stay away from through our life walks. Can you imagine listening to stories of who you want to be in a well told story?
It was a time where people gathered together to learn who we were and how to live daily. Today, we have books, tapes, and computer games, but somewhere we’ve lost the fun and excitement that comes from sharing stories told around a campfire, or shared by a special grandparent. History has lost that special contact from those who know it by heart.
What stories do you have to share? Every family has a history that needs to be shared. Take time to learn those stories before they disappear. Stories of a grandfather who owned a family circus in the 1800s, or an ancestor who traveled to America, or stories about that great war - these are tales that connect us to the past and to each of our family’s own histories. Take time to listen to the "story tellers" in your family and those in your community, these stories are ours histories and they make each of us who we are.
Without a good story, history is not as interesting. Before the written histories there were "story tellers"– those who would tell their stories around camp fires to give people a knowledge of who they were from the mighty warriors to those who were the examples for our cultural morality. They learned the trade in youth through listening and repeating the tales of those who came before. They followed those older tellers of tales around memorizing the narratives of people and events to be totally accurate and thoroughly precise in their accounts - word for word in fact! Having a history right defined their job and who they were.
Any good storyteller was expressive to create an image that explained and often held their listeners spell bound. Most of those around the fire also learned those stories well. The tales were heard over and over again - always with the facts, but continuously told with enthusiasm and an abundance of excitement built into those sagas.
If we think about it there were stories that helped us grew into who we are, and those stories gave us the tools to become the people we needed to be within our society. It was also where faith was learned. The tales were told of heroes and the people we needed to stay away from through our life walks. Can you imagine listening to stories of who you want to be in a well told story?
It was a time where people gathered together to learn who we were and how to live daily. Today, we have books, tapes, and computer games, but somewhere we’ve lost the fun and excitement that comes from sharing stories told around a campfire, or shared by a special grandparent. History has lost that special contact from those who know it by heart.
What stories do you have to share? Every family has a history that needs to be shared. Take time to learn those stories before they disappear. Stories of a grandfather who owned a family circus in the 1800s, or an ancestor who traveled to America, or stories about that great war - these are tales that connect us to the past and to each of our family’s own histories. Take time to listen to the "story tellers" in your family and those in your community, these stories are ours histories and they make each of us who we are.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Smile
The smiley – a creation of the internet. It can catch you off guard and even make you smile. But universally, how does it affect how you see what you read? Here’s an example – the president of a huge company comes on TV, he says we need to go to let certain people go…a huge number of people. And he says it with a big smile. How would you interpret it? What’s the guy up too? Is he telling a joke?
On the internet it can mean so much more. It can tell you that what was just written was done in jest, or as a joke. But how does that simple smile make you feel? I admit the simple ones can make me smile and sometimes even giggle.
What kinds do you like? I like those simple non-colorful ones. You know, the ones you can create with various fonts or the simple colon, dash, right parenthesis ones. I like to smile, and share my crazy attitudes sometimes. It’s my way of sharing a smile.
So smile. Often - and how about in color!
Stories of Leaders - Known, and Unknown
Stories are the basis for what we know as history today. A good example is the way we tell about our histories. We tell it as various stories put together. From the legends as well as facts that grew up around some of our first leaders to the leaders in business in we had a history of the positive.
So how do these stories create those personal histories that grew to represent an historical view of who we were, and who we are today? Much of the stories of those we consider revolutionary heroes created a view of the American as the principled, honest individual who when pressed by circumstance becomes a real hero to be honored. Some examples that show our need for those heroes are Betsy Ross, or even Benjamin Franklin.
Though Ben Franklin actually helped create his own image for our allies and the world, the story of the printer that poor kid from Philadelphia who made it set the stage for the idea that any boy could change the direction of his life and become a mover and shaker in the world. Our stories create an image of a larger than life persona, and even how we ourselves fit into what we are as a nation through the training we receive as children.
Every American can remember a story that shaped their view of historical characters like Abraham Lincoln. When asked who he was, the stories of the poor boy born in a log cabin are often high on our list of images that make him that likeable and strongly personable historical image. So, how does that affect our views today of our national figures and politician?
Think of what you know about the issues, what you believe needs to change and who has helped shape that image in your mind. Every image is created from a story that at first is told and retold and embellished to get a point across or simply to make it a more interesting story. What begins as hype, ends as a comfortable image for those who will vote in November. Not many actually do the homework to understand a given candidate. Instead they listen to the stories given them by those they trust and make a decision based on how they like the story, not the actual person.
The story is the world’s memory, or that’s what Chaim Potok tells us in his story “Old Men at Midnight.” Our memories of leaders often come from how we perceive them and the buzz that surrounds their created image rather than who they are as leaders or men and women. This November, what story will you believe and take so to heart that you will make the story your own?
So how do these stories create those personal histories that grew to represent an historical view of who we were, and who we are today? Much of the stories of those we consider revolutionary heroes created a view of the American as the principled, honest individual who when pressed by circumstance becomes a real hero to be honored. Some examples that show our need for those heroes are Betsy Ross, or even Benjamin Franklin.
Though Ben Franklin actually helped create his own image for our allies and the world, the story of the printer that poor kid from Philadelphia who made it set the stage for the idea that any boy could change the direction of his life and become a mover and shaker in the world. Our stories create an image of a larger than life persona, and even how we ourselves fit into what we are as a nation through the training we receive as children.
Every American can remember a story that shaped their view of historical characters like Abraham Lincoln. When asked who he was, the stories of the poor boy born in a log cabin are often high on our list of images that make him that likeable and strongly personable historical image. So, how does that affect our views today of our national figures and politician?
Think of what you know about the issues, what you believe needs to change and who has helped shape that image in your mind. Every image is created from a story that at first is told and retold and embellished to get a point across or simply to make it a more interesting story. What begins as hype, ends as a comfortable image for those who will vote in November. Not many actually do the homework to understand a given candidate. Instead they listen to the stories given them by those they trust and make a decision based on how they like the story, not the actual person.
The story is the world’s memory, or that’s what Chaim Potok tells us in his story “Old Men at Midnight.” Our memories of leaders often come from how we perceive them and the buzz that surrounds their created image rather than who they are as leaders or men and women. This November, what story will you believe and take so to heart that you will make the story your own?
I Am...
This is my place for writing and being myself. I like to write poetic things; about our country (always in good taste!); about my garden, and flowers every where; and of course my puppies, though most would consider them simply dogs.
Join me in the craziness that is life through my eyes - and yours!
Join me in the craziness that is life through my eyes - and yours!
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