Joshua's chair

Joshua's chair
Happiness is . . .Craftiness & the Old

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Projects and Reads

Once upon a time in the land of rain and fog, there was a family of seven very active and innovative children and two patient, dedicated parents.  Add to that, a visiting grandmother and you've got a houseful of action!

I spent a few weeks with Shelly's family this winter; she had projects for me to do, and I kept happily busy the whole time.  Between works, I was able to interact with 6 of my amazing grandchildren, to learn about them and their interests.  When I grew too tired to keep going, Shelly gave me some terrific books to read when I rested:

I had read Christy by Catherine Marshall many years ago, and the richness of the story absolutely entranced me as I visited the back hills of the south once again.  I also read To Kill a Mockingbird, which took me to a dramatic event in the1950s south.    I came home to read Same Kind of Different as Me.  I cannot recommend one read over the other because they were all superb.  The authors took me through the stories so pleasingly that I felt that I had dust on my feet from walking those roads, I could almost feel the humidity in the air, and taste the honey!  When you want a good read, ask my daughter, Shelly.  She has a list of beautiful books that feed the soul.  *(I do caution that The Secret Life of Bees has many cuss words. Thankfully, Shelly blacked out most all of them, so I did not have to worry about reading them.)
Reading is a delightful way for me to walk through history, and visit other worlds and learn of  people's experiences that are so different than mine.  These books I mentioned are truly classics for their poetic language, descriptive phrases, and superb story lines.  Thank you to the authors, and to Shelly for recommending them to me.   

My next visits are being planned.  My beloved friends and children usually have projects for me to do for/with them, and I welcome the opportunities!  I even brought some projects home with me this last time to see if I could finish them for Shelly.  She had told me that she wasn't going to do them after storing them for years.  I came home and contentedly cut, sewed, and used creativity to finish some of them.  Thank you, my loves,  for helping me feel good again as a contributing part of the human race.

Happy. Happy. Happy!