The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser
Paper Back 442 pages – For those with good sight that's okay. My eyes would like a little larger font. I need lots of light to read paper backs. For me, some are almost impossible.
I’ve just finished reading this book and I’m not sure how to tell you about it. So, I’ll just list some of the things you will encounter. Atlanta, Georgia – time period early 1960s: a devastating plane crash; the privileged and unprivileged; wealth and poverty; prejudice and understanding;reaching out in hatefulness and in helpfullness; Christianity, an involved, personal relationship vs going through the motions; artistic talent, depression, yearning and learning youth. It is a beautiful story, haunting in its sadness and uplifting in its hope.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Television Golf Fan
I am not a big sports fan, but I do enjoy watching golf on television. I have several favorite players. They don’t always win, but they play well and rank rather high in the standings fairly frequently. Except for those occasions when nothing works and they just can’t make the vital cut, or keep dropping down the list as the play continues. Sometimes they end up in the top spot as Ernie Els did last weekend. It was good to see him with the win.
This past weekend in the Transitions tournament, Steve Stricker, high on my favorites list started out pretty well, but slipped a bit as the tournament continued. I don’t feel too badly about that because he has had his share of wins in recent months and neeless to say added considerably to his financial status.
As Stricker slipped, who went up the leader board? Another favorite, Jim Furyk, made his way to the top of the list on Saturday, and managed to hold on to the lead. Although he did make me a bit nervous the last few holes, when he gained and dropped a point a couple of times. I think they said he had had something like 52 starts without a win, but he has ended up with some good spots on the standings a number of times. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him make the top spot.
I heard an interesting sidelight about another golfer: I didn’t catch his name, but he thought he hadn’t made the cut after Friday’s play. He grabbed his clubs and headed to the airport and home. While waiting for departure, he received a phone call telling him he had made the cut after all and was expected to play on Saturday. He had no problem leaving himself, but wouldn’t have been able to get his clubs from the plane. Rather than play with a make-do set, he chose to fly on home, retrieve his golf clubs and take a charter flight back to the tournament. By then there was only minimal time for sleep, and with only an hour or so of sleep, he went out and played a round of 67. Sorry I still can’t tell you his name, so I don’t know how he made out in the final standings.
There are other golfers I like to watch play as well, but these are some of the ones I’ve seen most recently.
This past weekend in the Transitions tournament, Steve Stricker, high on my favorites list started out pretty well, but slipped a bit as the tournament continued. I don’t feel too badly about that because he has had his share of wins in recent months and neeless to say added considerably to his financial status.
As Stricker slipped, who went up the leader board? Another favorite, Jim Furyk, made his way to the top of the list on Saturday, and managed to hold on to the lead. Although he did make me a bit nervous the last few holes, when he gained and dropped a point a couple of times. I think they said he had had something like 52 starts without a win, but he has ended up with some good spots on the standings a number of times. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him make the top spot.
I heard an interesting sidelight about another golfer: I didn’t catch his name, but he thought he hadn’t made the cut after Friday’s play. He grabbed his clubs and headed to the airport and home. While waiting for departure, he received a phone call telling him he had made the cut after all and was expected to play on Saturday. He had no problem leaving himself, but wouldn’t have been able to get his clubs from the plane. Rather than play with a make-do set, he chose to fly on home, retrieve his golf clubs and take a charter flight back to the tournament. By then there was only minimal time for sleep, and with only an hour or so of sleep, he went out and played a round of 67. Sorry I still can’t tell you his name, so I don’t know how he made out in the final standings.
There are other golfers I like to watch play as well, but these are some of the ones I’ve seen most recently.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
What’s New
This morning I saw a segment on the Today Show where they showed various new items on the market. I think it was called "Jill’s Fun Finds." There were several items shown, but two in particular caught my eye.
Monopoly has come up with a digitalized version of their game. I never really liked Monopoly, but a lot of people do, and fans of the game will probably love it.
The item that really intrigued me was a new “party” camera. It sets on its own little lazy-susan-like stand, where I assume it is plugged in and turned on. The stand rotates to cover the party area. And here is the unusual bit: a smiling face activates the camera. The camera stops and takes a picture of the smiler.
Your party album will be filled with happy looking faces only. No bored or disgruntled seeming faces. A smile will get your picture taken. If you don’t want to be a part of the party shoot, just keep a straight face, or frown— if you must. If you like having your picture taken, or want to be included in the album, smile for the camera.
It’s as simple as that. This seems to fall into the what will they think of next category. We don’t know, but we do know that new ideas will continue to surprise us from time to time. I didn't catch the cost of either, but it will be easy to find out.
Monopoly has come up with a digitalized version of their game. I never really liked Monopoly, but a lot of people do, and fans of the game will probably love it.
The item that really intrigued me was a new “party” camera. It sets on its own little lazy-susan-like stand, where I assume it is plugged in and turned on. The stand rotates to cover the party area. And here is the unusual bit: a smiling face activates the camera. The camera stops and takes a picture of the smiler.
Your party album will be filled with happy looking faces only. No bored or disgruntled seeming faces. A smile will get your picture taken. If you don’t want to be a part of the party shoot, just keep a straight face, or frown— if you must. If you like having your picture taken, or want to be included in the album, smile for the camera.
It’s as simple as that. This seems to fall into the what will they think of next category. We don’t know, but we do know that new ideas will continue to surprise us from time to time. I didn't catch the cost of either, but it will be easy to find out.
Monday, March 1, 2010
What Happened to February 2010
What happened to February? It seems to me it went by as fast as some of those skaters and skiers did in the recent Olympics. There were some major happenings on the national and world scene in the weather. Earthquakes, record snowfalls, wind, rain and mud slides. For the purposes of this blog, I won’t get into politics, either here or abroad, except to say that I abhor the extremes in words and actions and the public lies that seem to be so prevalent at present. Other than that I will confine this blog to my own personal world.
Nothing very unusual happened: snow, sleet, rain, slick streets within my small community. Altogether, we fared very well weather-wise in the midst of the February I’ll give you one good taste of winter before spring arrives onslaught. Here, it was a picnic compared to a lot of other places.
Yes, I’m still dealing with what is called “after shingles pain.” I also hit a low-energy period for some reason, not sure why. Otherwise things are much as usual. I did the things I usually do: read, write letters & blogs, crocheted pink and white hats for cancer patients and/or supporters; worked a bit on genealogy, other computer stuff; did housework - the usual cook, clean, laundry stuff [how can one person have so much laundry?]; tried to get in a bit of exercise now and then, so I won’t lose more ground than I need to; trips to the library and grocers when necessary, contact friends/relatives; check on Facebook, Twitter and keep up with email. [This is like trying to keep up with clutter & recyclable paper, it’s only temporary; it’s as futile as the gerbil going around on its wheel.] Sometimes I just quit everything and rest for awhile.
Right in the middle of February I got a year older. Oldest daughter came for a visit for my birthday and stayed a couple of days. We had a very pleasant visit and I had an enjoyable birthday. We met Russ, Jan and family and had a good dinner and enjoyed spending time together. Second daughter was too far away to be with us. We had to visit by phone. And we did miss you, Cara; as well as the other grandchildren whose working and family lives keep them elsewhere. I’m thankful to all for personal and phone visits, cards and gifts.
Daughter-in-law Jan’s eye problem was both a lowlight and a highlight: Low in the seriousness of the situation and the surgical procedures. And high in the favorable outcome, which seems to have been successful. Thank God for the outcome and for the prayers of family and friends.
Days in between have been spent doing some variation of the above.
Nothing very unusual happened: snow, sleet, rain, slick streets within my small community. Altogether, we fared very well weather-wise in the midst of the February I’ll give you one good taste of winter before spring arrives onslaught. Here, it was a picnic compared to a lot of other places.
Yes, I’m still dealing with what is called “after shingles pain.” I also hit a low-energy period for some reason, not sure why. Otherwise things are much as usual. I did the things I usually do: read, write letters & blogs, crocheted pink and white hats for cancer patients and/or supporters; worked a bit on genealogy, other computer stuff; did housework - the usual cook, clean, laundry stuff [how can one person have so much laundry?]; tried to get in a bit of exercise now and then, so I won’t lose more ground than I need to; trips to the library and grocers when necessary, contact friends/relatives; check on Facebook, Twitter and keep up with email. [This is like trying to keep up with clutter & recyclable paper, it’s only temporary; it’s as futile as the gerbil going around on its wheel.] Sometimes I just quit everything and rest for awhile.
Right in the middle of February I got a year older. Oldest daughter came for a visit for my birthday and stayed a couple of days. We had a very pleasant visit and I had an enjoyable birthday. We met Russ, Jan and family and had a good dinner and enjoyed spending time together. Second daughter was too far away to be with us. We had to visit by phone. And we did miss you, Cara; as well as the other grandchildren whose working and family lives keep them elsewhere. I’m thankful to all for personal and phone visits, cards and gifts.
Daughter-in-law Jan’s eye problem was both a lowlight and a highlight: Low in the seriousness of the situation and the surgical procedures. And high in the favorable outcome, which seems to have been successful. Thank God for the outcome and for the prayers of family and friends.
Days in between have been spent doing some variation of the above.
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