One Morning in Maine! A classic, and one worth preserving in a frame. I was visiting my mom's class of first graders this week, and I very nearly read that to them, but decided in favor of the more humorous and dramatic "Stand Back!" Said the Elephant, I'm Going to Sneeze. :)
I accidentally misread a sentence from the essay "Everyone Knows" in a fortunate way. The author wrote this: "If we cannot redirect our desires towards better things than Silicon Valley, AKA Vanity Fair, sells, then nothing, literally nothing, will get better." I read: "Silicon Valley, AKA Vanity Fair, sells nothing, literally nothing" and thought—whoah, that's so true. Silicon Valley sells the digital version of cotton candy, unhealthy fluff spun mostly from air. And they make billions! We humans are such fools that we will throw away our entire inheritance on -literally nothing- if we aren't careful.
“Take courage!…/ home is ahead.” What beautiful poetry.
And I love the idea of framing art from beautiful books. At least you didn’t have to do the tearing out (which personally would have made me feel guilty. But if someone else already tore it out….)
1.) In a hard season of life, I recited Psalm 23 every day at the same time and it was such a formative practice. Your book recommendations are nudging me re-introduce that habit, and supplement it with further reading on that Psalm that's all too easy to gloss over because of familiarity.
2.) I heard Meghan O’Gieblyn speak earlier this month at the Festival of Faith and Writing and I'm so glad you shared her article. I was not familiar with her but I want to read more of her, and this looks like a great place to start. Thanks for sharing.
3.) One of my favorite pieces of "art" in my home is a collage of pages from a copy of Jane Eyre. This was copy of Jane Eyre I know longer needed/liked (for a variety of reasons) but had extensive marginalia in, so I tore favorite pages out, pasted to a large poster and framed. It hangs in our living room and I love it so much. +1 for memorable books that aren't needed becoming art.
I LOVE Hadden's Hearth & Field piece on spring. Hint hint to those who enjoy it: H&F is hoping to have pieces for all four seasons from him over the coming year-ish.
And oh, that multi-generational mothering one looks so good! Heading over to read it. Also, I bought the book from that Inventing Parenting article...it sounds so fascinating.
I had no idea about the lectionary when I picked up the books 😂 Super wild.
One Morning in Maine! A classic, and one worth preserving in a frame. I was visiting my mom's class of first graders this week, and I very nearly read that to them, but decided in favor of the more humorous and dramatic "Stand Back!" Said the Elephant, I'm Going to Sneeze. :)
I was going to leave an intelligent comment but then got completely distracted and awestruck by you wearing sandals.
I read Silas Marner last year and loved it, and actually today I was planning on starting Middlemarch for the first time!
I accidentally misread a sentence from the essay "Everyone Knows" in a fortunate way. The author wrote this: "If we cannot redirect our desires towards better things than Silicon Valley, AKA Vanity Fair, sells, then nothing, literally nothing, will get better." I read: "Silicon Valley, AKA Vanity Fair, sells nothing, literally nothing" and thought—whoah, that's so true. Silicon Valley sells the digital version of cotton candy, unhealthy fluff spun mostly from air. And they make billions! We humans are such fools that we will throw away our entire inheritance on -literally nothing- if we aren't careful.
'Twas a misreading, but it made me think XD
The theme of humane rhythms is what I needed this week, as I’ve unfortunately been dealing with burnout. Thanks for these resources!
“Take courage!…/ home is ahead.” What beautiful poetry.
And I love the idea of framing art from beautiful books. At least you didn’t have to do the tearing out (which personally would have made me feel guilty. But if someone else already tore it out….)
Did you plan around the lectionary, or were the Psalm 23 books serendipitously timed?
Also, we LOVE the “car cart” at Menards :D
Comparing Silicon Valley to Vanity Fair is...really thought-provoking.
So much I want to comment on here, ha!
1.) In a hard season of life, I recited Psalm 23 every day at the same time and it was such a formative practice. Your book recommendations are nudging me re-introduce that habit, and supplement it with further reading on that Psalm that's all too easy to gloss over because of familiarity.
2.) I heard Meghan O’Gieblyn speak earlier this month at the Festival of Faith and Writing and I'm so glad you shared her article. I was not familiar with her but I want to read more of her, and this looks like a great place to start. Thanks for sharing.
3.) One of my favorite pieces of "art" in my home is a collage of pages from a copy of Jane Eyre. This was copy of Jane Eyre I know longer needed/liked (for a variety of reasons) but had extensive marginalia in, so I tore favorite pages out, pasted to a large poster and framed. It hangs in our living room and I love it so much. +1 for memorable books that aren't needed becoming art.
I LOVE Hadden's Hearth & Field piece on spring. Hint hint to those who enjoy it: H&F is hoping to have pieces for all four seasons from him over the coming year-ish.
And oh, that multi-generational mothering one looks so good! Heading over to read it. Also, I bought the book from that Inventing Parenting article...it sounds so fascinating.
And thanks for sharing my piece!
Love all of this, Haley! Thanks for taking time to compose it.
I'd forgotten about Robert McCloskey! I loved "Make Way for Ducklings," and my son is old enough now for proper picture books. *adds to must-buy list*
Who wrote that Ode to a Mother poem? Stunning.