Gathered Notes
January
In December, I wrote a newsletter called Gathered Notes. It was a collection of art, poetry, book, movie, and music recommendations that brought beauty into my life. I’d like to make Gathered Notes a monthly tradition--so here we go.
Art:
This painting is titled Wenatchee Valley Spring, and it’s by one of my favorite artists, Sasha Syssoeva. I have the print hanging in my bedroom. To me, it says home. Also, it makes me think of my first novel, Sorrento Girl. Ann, the main character, grew up in Wenatchee (like me) among the orchards, and I can picture her, younger, looking very much like this girl in the orchard.
Wenatchee is a special place. It took going away for a long while, then coming back to really appreciate and understand how deeply rooted I feel at home. It has been nearly a year since my husband, and I returned and re-settled in this valley. What I feel now is gratitude.
Do you have a favorite painting that says home to you?
You can read more about this painting and the artist, Sasha, HERE.
Poetry:
Have you had the pleasure of reading any poems by Billy Collins? His style is witty, profound, quirky, and tender. I started a tradition of reading a poem a day a couple of years ago, and I’m still at it. The following poem is from his book, Aimless Love.
The Chairs That No One Sits In
BY BILLY COLLINS
You see them on porches and on lawns
down by the lakeside,
usually arranged in pairs implying a couple
who might sit there and look out
at the water or the big shade trees.
The trouble is you never see anyone
sitting in these forlorn chairs
though at one time it must have seemed
a good place to stop and do nothing for a while.
Sometimes there is a little table
between the chairs where no one
is resting a glass or placing a book facedown.
It might be none of my business,
but it might be a good idea one day
for everyone who placed those vacant chairs
on a veranda or a dock to sit down in them
for the sake of remembering
whatever it was they thought deserved
to be viewed from two chairs
side by side with a table in between.
The clouds are high and massive that day.
The woman looks up from her book.
The man takes a sip of his drink.
Then there is nothing but the sound of their looking,
the lapping of lake water, and a call of one bird
then another, cries of joy or warning—
it passes the time to wonder which.
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Watching, listening, reading
Movie: A Man Called Otto
Summary: When a lively young family moves in next door, grumpy widower Otto Anderson meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.
My review: This movie is based on a Frederik Backman book I love titled A Man Called Ove. I was excited to see Tom Hanks star in this film, and I wasn’t disappointed. It stays true to the spirit of the story and will pull on your heartstrings. I give it five stars.
You can watch a preview HERE.
Music:
While my husband went skiing this last Saturday, I stayed home with a sprained ankle and made a playlist on Spotify. My ankle is healing, and I’m hopeful I’ll be back on skis by February. I should have named this playlist Heal and Chill, but I went with something a little more generic.
Reading:
Fiction: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Summary: After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
My Review: This page-turner surprised me with its depth. Heartwarming and beautiful, I loved the characters and felt like they were family by the time I got to the end.
Non-fiction: Rich Christians in An Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider
Summary: In an age obsessed with wealth, Christians seem to have forgotten that scripture encourages believers to give to the poor. Why do 1.3 billion people live in abject poverty? And what should Christians do about it?
My Review: Thought-provoking. The first part of the book dealt with many numbers that were hard for me to grasp without stories attached to them, but I’m glad I persevered because the second half of the book gets to the practical meat and bones and provides a challenging message that Christians need.
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Quote of the Day:
“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' " -Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963
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