What I've been reading

 This is a short one to share some of my 2020 reads.  Hope you find some inspiration!

Favorite English language book:  The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles because of the main character's integrity and good values make her a real heroine to me.  I like historical fiction and this novel is based in New York, 1938.  It is a fantastic sociological portrait of the life of the priviledged and not-so-priviledged young people living 'the dream' in one of the world's most exciting cities. I loved A Gentleman in Moscow from the same author.  Amor Towles does not disappoint with a style of writing that captures the imagination and doesn't let it go...

Favorite French language book: La nuit de feu from Eric Emmanuel Schmitt - a true story about an awakening that happens on a cold and very dark desert night when the possibility of dying alone is very real for a young man..  The young man in questions later became a philosopher and writer.  Schmitt is one of France's most loved contemporary philosophers.

Close seconds: Clin d'oeil au temps qui passe by Antonine Maillet and Educated by Tara Westover. Clin d'oeil is well-written by one of French Canada's premier authors and intellectuals.  Maillet has led a very stimulating and admirable life which she recounts with the sagacity that only comes with age. 

Tara Westover's Educated is a biographical novel that takes place in a Mormon family whose father is bipolar. Westover's story is almost too incredible to believe and one can only admire her for breaking free from the chains of her family and religion.

Do not recommend: Le mur mitoyen and La route du Lilas and I must say I have forgotten what happens in The Turn of the Key.

Most of the books featured here are my two book clubs' selections.  While it is good to pick up a book you may not otherwise have read, some can be less pleasing.

Elinor Florence's two books: Wildwood and A Bird's Eye View are very very enjoyable reads. This author hails from Western Canada.  Wildwood is about a young American mother who is near penniless when she inherits a house in the Peace River area of Alberta and A Bird's Eye View is about a girl from the Canadian Prairies who enlists in WWII to become an aerial photographic interpreter and a hero.

A Mother's Heart

France 1999, T. and his little brother D. 

We decorated the tree today.  We are about 5 or 6 days ahead of schedule but this year, we have the time.

V. and I took our time, 1.5 hours to get the job done, probably because I sobbed for about 10 minutes.  Missing my boy in Florida more than I can say.  He's been gone 9 years this month...

Nine years ago my brave boy could not find himself here, at home.  He had to go.  He chose the road less travelled, he was only 22 years old. A foolish girl had told him he could never be what he wanted to be.  It both broke his heart and spurred him on.  So he left just after Christmas, laden with luggage, he flew first to New Jersey then to St. Martin then, he took a ferry to another island where he would study medicine for 16 months.

Only 22 years old, white as milk and a little green behind the ears, he landed on an island where he was known as 'white boy'.  You see T. can't tan, he only burns.

Fortunately, he ran into a man from Chicago and they quickly found a place to stay and moved in together.  Andre was older and wiser but he must have sensed that T. was an ok guy. At least that's what he told us months later when we were Skyping with T.: "Your son was a very good man and he is working very hard on this studies.

T. distinguished himself throughout his years and years of study on the island and later in Chicago and now, no doubt in Florida.  He had to leave the island after 16 months to pursue the practical part of his medical degree in Chicago.  Later, he would match at Mount Sinai in Chicago and graduate as an Internist.

Most people would have been happy to begin working and start chipping away at the mountain of debt but our brave boy wanted more.  That is why he is pursuing a fellowship in Florida, in the middle of the Covid pandemic.   His field: Pulmonology and Critical Care. His lovely wife told me yesterday that he is working 100+ hours/week...

So today, as I was hanging some of his ornaments on the tree, I cried for my boy, the 22-year-old who left home 9 years ago this month and for the 31-year-old working in Intensive Care with Covid patients.  

My boy is far away and he is in the middle of all that is most difficult about this pandemic.

Say a little prayer for him.

What is the fuel that lights your lamp?

Image via 

Women rowing North author Mary Pipher asks this question in her book and it was the theme of my reading circle's Zoom coffee chat this morning.

Most women said connection was the number one fuel that keeps them going.  No surprise. Most of us crave connection with our friends and family at this time. I haven't seen, let alone hugged or kissed our eldest son since January.  He and his lovely wife live in Florida where he is doing a fellowship in Pulmonology and Critical Care since July 1st of this year.  I often wonder when I will see him again.

Our second son is close by but as he is a nurse in the capital's largest hospital, we keep at least six feet between us except right after he tested negative for COVID.  That hug was the BEST.

Our daughter is also close by but as her family is larger and her children are adults with her own work/friends, we tend to keep our distance.  Phone calls are the format of choice for a visit.

Being a maker is a second most important source of fuel for me.  25 knitting projects this year and I've learned Shibori and Sashiko with a local school of craft.  I'm glad the workshops took place in early fall as restrictions are going to become tighter in the days to come.  Our province has 1, 000 new cases/day and the population is 4, 421 M only.

My third source of fuel brings me delight every day.  We have been feeding wild birds in our apple tree since August and we are feeding them throughout the winter. Yesterday a beautiful woodpecker perched on the suet feeder for a good minute allowing us to identify him as a Downy woodpecker.  Aside from him, we still feed Nuthatches and house finches.  We occasionally see a Blue Jay and today, a big fat magpie helped himself to the suet.

What is the fuel that lights your lamp?

At Home

I am not disturbed by the fact that I have to stay home.  I love being home!  Yes, after 4 or 5 days, I need to get out and see people but I can take care of that with Skype or FaceTime or FB Messenger AND being semi-retired is a blessing at this time.

The schools in Alberta have not opened since Friday last week so my supervision of student teachers is on hold.  No students to teach means... no practicum? We are still waiting to hear from the U of A what the decision will be.

I am thinking of all the parents who have to make long-term arrangements to have their children babysat until schools open again in September.  I am thinking of all the health care workers who have to take more risks than most of us and work tirelessly to make sure that we keep some measure of control over the next few months.

I am thinking of our two sons, one a doctor, the other a nurse,  and pray that they remain healthy.

I am thinking of small businesses and how the virus can be detrimental to them.

I am thinking of the losses in income and investments.

I am thinking about the increase in anxiety and worry.

I am thinking about my Dad whom I cannot visit because he is in a senior's home...

Meanwhile, because we must go on and remain positive,  here are some of the things I'll be doing at home in the weeks to come.  The longer the list gets, the more these things to do are infrequently done:

1. Knit/Punch needle project
2. Read (Now reading: Wildwood by Elinor Florence)
3. Watch movies, TV (mostly for the news) and Youtube
4. Try new recipes
5. Clean
6. Take walks (o.k. this is not inside but it's being done around my house/neighbourhood)
7. Clean the crawl space
8. Finish a quilt
9. Spring clean areas that have not been visited in a while
10. Sort pictures for the kids
11. Get my bloodwork and mammogram done
12. Clean the garage
13. Get the stove repaired (bottom element does not heat about 240 degrees F.)
14. Get three estimates for a new roof
15. Get moving on getting all our railings changed (they are getting old and wobbly)
16. Make some hand sanitizer for my family if I can get a hold of the ingredients!
17. Etc.

Although I am aware that social distancing, self-isolation and a state of emergency in my province are not as easily dealt with by some people as they are by me, I am grateful for everyone's efforts, big and small, to keep the virus from spreading.

Stay healthy everyone!