Books Some of my Favorite Things

Not sure as always when I start what I want to write about. I found a new little book store on Friday. You know the kind that used to be everywhere that sells used books for a reasonable price. The Little Shop of Wonders a very nice clean store and organized in a fashion that you can find what you are looking for. I bought two new books Marjory Stoneman Douglas' The Everglades: River of Grass and Washington Irving's The Sketch Book. both caught my eye and both right inside the door.

They have a section of Florida books and that is where I found the first book for less than a dollar. Yes, it is yellowed with age but so am I and the price is right for a book that I have wanted to read for a while. Written in 1947 about a place I have only driven through but would like to visit. As humans I find it sad what we do to nature to suit our needs. Our need to live in beautiful weather year round. Our need to live beyond our means. Our need for our own little slice of heaven on earth. But in the process we dry up places that have been wet before white men came to this country and flood areas that have never been wet. We kill off entire species so we can live in the beautiful place that we found beautiful because of the plants and animals. When we invade we are like the Brazilian pepper tree impossible to get rid of once it has taken root. I have only read the first chapter but she starts at the beginning with how the Everglades got it's name and explained that it is a river that ebbs and flows. She also shows that in the 1940's some of the smarter than average humans had already started to notice the damage we were doing but still today we argue how to resolve the problem but she fought her whole live to make the Everglades back to the natural wonder it once was. I know we can't undo all of what we have done but it makes me happy to see that there are still people trying to preserve the natural beauty and give us the ability to visit parts of the River of Grass without ruining it further.

Now off of my soap box and the second book I selected a less than $4 purchase and it to published in the 1940s but it is a compilation of short stories written by Washington Irving in the 1820s. I read 4 of them so far one called The Voyage about an American going to Europe for the first time and as he cruises across the ocean how the trip cleanses you from where you are from and opens you up to what you are about to see. The one thing I have noticed about great writers is they use five or six words to say what could be said with two. You just don't say that it is a beautiful day. You say something like I woke to cool breeze that smells of fresh laundry hanging to dry and the sunshine on your face warms you from the inside out. My words not his. He would be much more poetic. The second was called Roscoe. He writes of going to a library of the day in England  and meeting William Roscoe a person he feels is an icon but here he is in place where others gather to read and catch up on the news and Roscoe is just a normal person. For those that have never been to a library he is describing a scene you might find on morning in Starbucks of today (just guessing because I have only been in one once.) The third was called The Wife now if you are a married man and you have lived through some hard times and the person that got you through those times is that beautiful bride you picked for yourself a long time ago you will appreciate this story. He describes her as poetic as first love but with the hard times comes a sense of stability one might not feel on their own. She is the voice that says everything is going to be ok, even when she is not sure that is the case. She makes you face what you are not willing to face alone and she stands by you even after the worst has happened. Makes me kind of proud to be The Wife. And the last on Rip Van Winkle. I remember the story from my child-hood a less than ambitious man goes off for a walk on day and decides to stay for the night in the woods is better than facing his wife. He loses his dog and meets up with a strange small man and then doses off for the night. When he wakes and heads home nothing is quite the same as it was and he doesn't see any people he recognizes and he is starting to wonder if he is in the right village when he comes across his own house and it was in poor shape when he left yesterday but today it is abandon. What could have happened he wonders so he heads over to one of his favorite resting spots and inquires where his friends are and he is told they have been dead on 18 years. When he inquires of himself now not even sure who he is people tell him the story of how he wandered off one day and never came back. As he explains who he is they are amazed by the tale he tells.

When they say they don't write them like that any more that is no joke. Great little story that you can't put down. I didn't plan on doing book reviews today but maybe someone reading this on their computer will be inspired to pick up a book and enjoy.

Pushing On

There is an old saying: somethings never change. But I have recently found the things you think will never change will. So it seems the sadness ebbs and flows and that doesn't end either, but I am learning to live with it. Today I took another step, I talked to someone about my mother's books. I have thus far not been willing to let others in to buy anything direct from my mother's house. My sisters have told me multiple times it would be easier but I feel as though it would not be easy for me. My sisters and brother have nudged me along to make progress and sometimes I have to step back and re-group because they are pushing on. I too will push on.

So if you have never been in my mother's house the bedroom my brother used as a kid became her tv room and library. One wall is floor to ceiling cook books and two other walls have book shelves that run the length of the walls about 3 feet high with books and in a couple places those book shelves are 2 deep not books but complete book shelves. Then there is her bedroom which has I think 6 book shelves that are 6 ft tall each again all books. And just for good measure she has one more shelf in the front hallway next to the front door full of children's books. So to say the least mom liked to read. We have already gotten rid of quite a few boxes of romance novels my grandma's favorite that mother would also read but her favorite was the westerns. Her Louis L'Amour books. At the end she gave away some of the Louis L'Amour books she wanted others to see the scenery she had scene through his words. Even I have one laying next to my bed and one of the girls that helped take care of mom carries one with her all the time. I hope mom has gotten to meet Louis L'Amour in heaven and she can hear the stories first hand now.

Back to the books. So I found a bookstore that when I walked through the front door of this old house I said to the man behind the desk. I think you are going to be able to help. He said, "with what?" I explained the situation and that his store looked like my mother's room that she spent most of her time. He was so kind and I finally said yes. That he could come and look at the books. He said he will bring everything he needs and for me to call next week so we can make arrangements for him to come over. I of course looked around and we spoke of books and he said my mother had been a good influence on me and my interest in history and books. And yes. I walked out with a book. A Marjorie Rawlings book South Moon Under.

Since I was already down in St. Pete I thought I might as well eat lunch at mom's favorite place down there. Fourth Street Shrimp Store another old Florida place. I had fried shrimp and fried clams. It was so good I brought another home for my brother, Al.

On the way back to her house I thought of what I need to do before someone can go through the books. I need to pick out a few that I want and then that moment of being overwhelmed by the sheer number of books. I know at one point she had counted and she had like 800 cookbooks. When I got to the house I stood and looked at the room and just couldn't even move. The first book I see and everyone else is one that the cover faces out, A Flower Grows in Ireland by Ron Wilson. I never knew why but it was the last book her sister Jan read before she died. She got it on her last trip to Ireland. I don't know if mom ever read the book but I know it is not being sold. It will find a place in my house. I only know this piece of information because about a year ago in preparation for mom going home from rehab my sister Beth helped me clean that room and when we straightened up the books that book was moved and mom had a fit as only she could have and the book was put back where it had been for well  more than 20 years and where it sits now because even knowing that I am going to take that book home I couldn't bring myself to remove it from the shelf.

So again, I went back to her bedroom to make sure the shelves back there were accessible and tried to figure out how to get more light back there so that the man from the bookstore can see what he he is looking at. But within the next few weeks the room that has been pretty much untouched will to be disassembled in the name of progress. It is the same feeling I felt when my sisters packed up some of the things from the living room for that my brother wants to keep. In my head it makes no sense not to touch the things that must be touched. I know I would rather do it myself than have someone else do it for me. As it was in the beginning I must make way for change and push on.

A few of my favorite things.

I thought it has been a while since I shared things I like. So here are a few of my favorite things.

Favorite Movies
Sound of Music
Ever After
Practical Magic
Hope Floats
Juno
Picture Perfect
I could go on and on. I like feel good movies. Happy Endings. And a tear for the loss there always is.

Favorite TV shows of my youth
Leave it to Beaver
Bewitched
I Dream of Jeannie
Monkees
Partridge Family
Brady Bunch
Mary Tyler Moore
Love Boat

Favorite Music
Carpenters (Top of the World)
John Denver (Poems, Prayers and Promises) Brian's favorite if he has to admit it is (Grandma's Feather Bed)
Billy Joel (Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and She's Got a Way)
Monkees (Daydream Believer)
Adele (Make you feel my love and Rolling in the Deep)
Nora Jones (Don't know why)
Barbara Streisand (Memory and Someone that I used to Love)

Favorite Books
The Bean Trees
One Million Cats
The Cat that went to Heaven
The Christmas Tree
Little House on the Prairie series


You can see from the selections listed I have very simple and modest selection of favorites. For the most part the things I like are from the past. I am very nostalgic for the things I love and enjoy sharing them with others. I guess I just like that things were simple even if they are not always easy for me. I like the idea of spending an afternoon reading a book in the hammock or going to the beach and have the water be calm and clear. Guess that is the perfect life for me for things to be calm and clear with a light breeze.