Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Fiction
1995 Penguin Books (first published in 1993)
Finished in October 1997
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)
Publisher's Blurb:
The Stone Diaries is one ordinary woman's story of her journey through life. Born in 1905, Daisy Stone Goodwill drifts through the roles of child, wife, widow, and mother, and finally into her old age. Bewildered by her inability to understand her place in her own life, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography. Her life is vivid with incident, and yet she feels a sense of powerlessness. She listens, she observes, and through sheer force of imagination she becomes a witness of her own life: her birth, her death, and the troubling missed connections she discovers between. Daisy's struggle to find a place for herself in her own life is a paradigm of the unsettled decades of our era. A witty and compassionate anatomist of the human heart, Carol Shields has made distinctively her own that place where the domestic collides with the elemental. With irony and humor she weaves the strands of The Stone Diaries together in this, her richest and most poignant novel to date.
My Original Notes (1997):
Fair to mediocre. I didn't care for the author's style. Not a very engrossing plot.
My Current Thoughts:
I only just recently read another book by Shields (A Celibate Season), which I liked quite well. I don't have any desire to go back and read this earlier work, though.
Nehalem, Oregon
May 2018
What a fun-filled month! We started off by celebrating Rod's birthday with good friends and my mom, followed by two surprise birthday gatherings for my mom (who turned 85 this year!). My three brothers and one sister-in-law joined us at the Oregon Garden Resort to help with that milestone celebration. We all had a great time! Later that week, Rod & I took our new motorhome out for a five day shake-down "cruise." We boondocked at the Blue Heron in Tillamook on the first night, after a delicious lunch with blogmate Juli (of Whimpulsive) and Jeb at the Oar House in Pacific City. The next three nights were spent at the Nehalem Bay State Park, which is nestled in between the Nehalem Bay and the Pacific Ocean, just south of Manzanita. After our return, I joined a group of women from our neighborhood for a luncheon and behind-the-scenes tour at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I didn't get to touch an octopus, but it was still a great experience. Rod & I helped with our neighborhood cove clean-up again this year, but it wasn't nearly as involved as last year since the winter storms didn't bring in as many logs and debris as in years past. We took my mom out to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate our one-year anniversary here in Little Whale Cove and finished off the month with a great visit from my brother, sister-in-law and their two daughters from Lincoln. Phew! It's no wonder I didn't read very many book, work on any puzzles or watch much in the way of movies or TV series. And as I type, we're getting everything organized for another road trip with the motorhome. We leave on Tuesday for two weeks down the Oregon coast. Nope, we never get tired of exploring this beautiful area!
Books read in May:
Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos
First Lines:
Richard is playing the second movement of Schumann's Fantasie in C Major, op. 17, the final piece of his solo recital at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. The concert hall is sold-out, yet the energy here doesn't feel full. This venue doesn't carry the prestige or intimidating pressure of Lincoln Center or the Royal Albert Hall. Maybe that's it. This recital is no big deal. (Every Note Played)
That spring, rain fell in great sweeping gusts that rattled the rooftops. Water found its way into the smallest cracks and undermined the sturdiest foundations. Chunks of land that had been steady for generations fell like slag heaps on the roads below, taking houses and cars and swimming pools down with them. Trees fell over, crashed into power lines; electricity was lost. Rivers flooded their banks, washed across yards, ruined homes. People who loved each other snapped and fights erupted as the water rose and the rain continued. (The Great Alone)
It was what she would remember always: how the second she stepped inside, before she'd so much as taken her first full breath of new air, she was struck by the feeling--the understanding, the certainty--however improbable, that the house was Joseph. Not merely that it felt like something he would choose or that she saw his handiwork everywhere--fresh paint, thick as cream; refinished pine floors; green apples in a glass bowl--but that it was him, sturdy and open, light swooping in through every window, forthright and decent and kind. She would not have supposed that a house could be kind, but this one was. (I'll Be Your Blue Sky)
Movies & TV Series:
The Bridge - We are almost finished with Season Two, which is good, but not nearly as intense as the first season.
The Age of Adaline - I thought this was a sweet, enjoyable movie, although at times, fairly predictable.
Death in Paradise - I've given up on this silly series, but Rod is still hooked.
Book Club - I saw this new movie with a couple of friends from my book club and we all thought it was highly entertaining. I don't care much for Jane Fonda, but Diane Keaton and Andy Garcia were wonderful and had great chemistry. I haven't laughed so much in a long time!
Outings & Trips:
Surprise!!
We had such a great time surprising and celebrating my mom's 85th birthday. The Oregon Garden Resort is a lovely place for all sorts of celebrations. We stayed overnight and enjoyed catching up over drinks and appetizers before dining in the restaurant, which overlooks the gardens. After breakfast the following day, we wandered around the grounds admiring the gorgeous flowers.
After we checked out of the resort, we drove over to the Gallon House Covered Bridge in Silverton. It's one of the oldest covered bridges in Oregon.
After seeing the bridge, we drove to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in nearby Woodburn. We just missed their annual festival, but the tulips were still beautiful and we enjoyed wandering around the beds, admiring all the different colors and varieties.
I have visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium on more than one occasion, but it was quite an experience getting a behind-the-scenes tour.
It was great to spend some time with Chris, Jen, Maddie and Emily. The weather cooperated and we had fun hiking Drift Creek Falls and exploring the tidepools at Moolack Beach.
I have a lot more pictures from all of these events, but I'll save the rest for separate posts. Thanks for reading this far!
In Memorium:
2.17.81 - 5.28.05
Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.
The Love Letter by Cathleen Schine
Fiction
1996 Signet (first published in 1995)
Finished in October 1997
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)
Publisher's Blurb:
An anonymous love letter arrives in Helen MacFarquhar's mail one summer morning. Written by an unknown lover to a mysterious beloved, the letter becomes Helen's obsession. The proprietress of a bookstore in a quaint New England town, Helen is content with her calm, controlled world, running her life like a well-oiled machine. A merry divorcee with a bright, lovable 11-year-old daughter, she has settled happily into a sensible daily routine of selling books, motherhood, and charming the local townsfolk. "How do you fall in love?" the letter asks. To her dismay, Helen finds out. Johnny is the college student who works in Helen's bookstore, a boy with all the irresistible modesty and arrogance of youth. Helen knows she is too old for him, and too wise, but the letter's ardor is overpowering and Helen is swept up in an unlikely, but fiercely tender love affair.
My Original Notes (1997):
Fair to mediocre. I was pretty bored with the plot and didn't feel any connection to the characters.
My Current Thoughts:
I haven't read any other books by Schine, but I have The Three Weissmanns of Westport on my TBR list.
Wild Irises
Depoe Bay, OR
May 2018
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Sunday, October 1, 2017
Hammond, OR to Depoe Bay, OR
Distance: 120 miles
Duration: 3 1/4 hours
Weather: 60 degrees and sunny
It rained through the night, but the sun was shining when we woke up. We decided to take a walk out to the beach to see the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. It was a pretty walk along the bike path and I made a mental note to bring our bikes on our next trip to this park.
Oregon grows really big banana slugs!
The remains of the shipwreck were pretty impressive and it was a beautiful morning to get some photos against the vivid blue sky. There were a lot of people out on the beach flying kites and enjoying the nice weather.
I'll take the banana slugs over a cougar encounter any day!
Really nice trail for biking or walking.
Great place to stop for lunch.
Pretty impressive retaining wall.
We headed home at 1:00 (check-out time) and made a lunch stop at the wayside on Neahkahnie Mountain. Stunning view of the ocean, which was a nice way to end a great trip!
