What I Read -- Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

I have never read Pablo Neruda before.  Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair did not start out well for me.  I did not like any, until I got to XVIII ("Here I Love You / Aqui Te Amo") and XX ("Tonight I Can Write / Puedo Escribir").  Those two were acceptable.  Other than that, I found them mostly to be too obscure and weird -- which is exactly the reason I don't like most poetry.  (Sweeping statement? Yes.  But often true.)

What this did get me, though, was a very quick check mark on my 2021 Reading Challenge.  This was by far the shortest of all the selections for the year, and it was nice to make such quick work of one of them!

Sherlock Holmed: Selected Stories -- Take 2

I don't know why I put off reading this book for so many years.  It turns out, it's a rollicking good time!

Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are fast-paced and easy to read.  Dr. Watson, our narrator, does sometimes go overboard in his adulation of the private detective, but such passages are usually short-lived.  Aside from those sections, I had a darn good time with this one.

I like short stories as a concept.  I like that I can dip in and out and generally don't have to commit too seriously.  Short stories are less intimidating to get started on.  Even though any book can be stopped at any time, I hesitate to begin a hefty novel if I don't have a big block of time to commit to it.  And this is not to indicate that I don't ever stop mid-short-story.  I do.  This whole thing logically makes no sense; I get that.  But nevertheless, that is the case in my brain.  It's easier to start a short story.

And so I did.  And then I kept reading.  Despite my delay in writing this post, I got through them pretty quickly, at least for me.  I was never much of a mystery reader when I was growing up.  I don't know why this is, but I was not.  Then I read Lush Life, by Richard Price.  This was not the world's best mystery by any stretch of the imagination, but it did open up my eyes to the fact that a mystery read could be quick and fun.  Such is the case with Sherlock.

And, as the end of the year closes in, I am able to tick one more book off my 2021 Reading Challenge!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

 

Goals 2021 -- November Edition

What is a good goal for November?  I still have some holdovers from October, but those are boring.  So here's the plan: contact at least three friends I don't see or talk to as often as I should.  The contact must per personal, even if it's not in person.  Phone calls, letters/cards, visits, and the like are acceptable.  Text messages other electronic-only contact is not.  And, while I'm at it, I'll throw a few family members in there as well.

Happy Halloween!

 

Goals 2021 -- October Recap

This month was not a massive failure.  Here's where I succeeded:
- Cleaned out and weeded the columbine bed, and divided some of the bigger plants to fill the holes.  Of course, immediately after doing that, the leaves started to fall, but perhaps that's a project for next month.
- Clearing out the raised beds that were finished for the season.  Some of them are still going strong -- strawberries, peppers, and the lettuce has reseeded itself.  Oh, and I have some volunteer potatoes in one of the beds I cleared, so maybe I'll get a few more of those yet this year.

Now, here's where I still have work to do:
- Patching the holes in the interior walls.
- Cutting the canna and wrapping the bulbs.  I thought about this several times, but the canna still look pretty good, and the front of the house seems so bare without them that I like to leave them to the last possible minute.

Though not on my list, I also did a LOT of work clearing weeds out of the cul de sac.  There is what I think is vinca growing there, which I would LOVE to have as ground cover, so I cleared away everything except the following: vinca, ferns, hosta, and a few of the more well-rooted cedar saplings.  Obviously the weeds I pulled are going to come back with a vengeance, so I just need to stay on top of this project (which took the better part of two weekends!) in order to give the vinca and other little guys a chance.

Goals 2021 -- October Edition

I've started a number of projects that remain unfinished.  Among them are:

- Patching some holes in the walls of our house;
- Weeding my columbine bed, and separating a few of the bigger plants to fill in some holes;
- Cutting my canna plants and wrapping the bulbs for next spring; and
- Clearing out those of my raised beds which are finished for the season.

If I finish all of those projects (unlikely), I have plenty of others I can work on:

- Another closet clean-out;
- Cleaning and organizing the basement, which has been neglected despite all the time we've spent at home in the last 18 months;
- Figuring out what to do with the shadiest part of our yard, and then set about doing it;
- Plan the redesign of the guest bath (though that shall not commence until the redesign of the master bath is finished)....

And the list goes on!  No real theme this month other than to get some things finished for a change.

Goals 2021 -- September Recap

I am pleased to announce my triumphant return to monthly goals!  This month, I have tried (when it hasn't been too hot) to work out on the porch as much as possible.  We also had some folks in town and did as much outdoor eating as we could possibly handle -- and boy, was there some good stuff to be had!  I also hit up an outdoor concert, with one of my oldies and besties, E!

We had a great trip whitewater rafting in West Virginia, running the Gauley River Marathon.  Thanks to all our awesome friends who braved that crazy trip with us!

S and I also took a wonderful fishing/camping trip to celebrate our anniversary and his birthday, for which the weather was absolutely, stunningly perfect -- warm during the day, chilly at night, sunny, slight breeze.  We could not have asked for better.

We planned to go up to Iowa for an Oktoberfest this coming weekend, but the likelihood of rain at our destination changed our plans, and instead we'll stay home and enjoy the weather here.

What I'm Reading Now -- Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories

I'm returning to my 2021 Reading Challenge with my next pick, Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories. I'm pretty sure that I've had this edition since I was in college, as one or two of the stories are highlighted.  It was either mine or K's, but it doesn't have K's name in the front cover, ergo it must have been mine.

In any case, I read the long introduction and the start of the first story, "Silver Blaze," yesterday.  Very excited about these already!