I Need a Silent Night (Amy Grant)

I've had a headache most of last night and all of today - I've taken Tylenol on a regular basis, but it barely makes a dent. I had to bow out of an invitation to a friend's birthday party this afternoon, and stayed home to take it easy - I truly believe this is stress-related...

Too many things on my ever-lengthening To Do List and not enough time to accomplish - thankyoujesus we finally had the plumbing situation taken care of Wednesday, as they re-routed all the piping through the attic (rather than ripping up the floors). Now it's on to replacing the tile from when part of the bathroom floor was jackhammered in an attempt to find the leak - will head out to get samples first thing in the morning and hope to have the tile guys come later in the week to get that bathroom usable again.

I'm still fine-tuning my holiday mix and should have that ready for duplication and distribution in a few days - bought the bordered stationery for our holiday newsletter and need to compose and print that... as well as address, sign, stamp and mail about 50 cards (bought last year but never sent).

Trying not to freak out at the fact we're presenting John McCutcheon this Saturday night - I'm in charge of booking, promoting and producing a second-Saturday-of-the-month concert series. Our performances usually feature a co-bill of a Florida artist with a national touring musician, and are of a high level of talent but affordable - I am proud to say I orchestrated the solo McCutcheon show, but had to up the guarantee (which I don't think we'll have problems meeting... but still...). Our local folk and acoustic DJ aired a phone interview with John earlier today... and as he was listing the number of instruments he'll be bringing to South Florida, my head pounded even more - our sound guys are great... and have been provided a tech requirement... but still... I am equally looking forward to and dreading Saturday night - I know I'm worrying needlessly... but still... :-)

Then there's holiday shopping and planning for our trip (two weeks from now, for a week away) - the beat goes on... and on... and on. I have vowed to wake up tomorrow morning, focus on what needs to be done and machete through my list like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Oh yeah... and get back in my walking routine... and make healthier food choices too - and don't forget World Peace!

P.S. More SMM here... and here...

SONG: I Need a Silent Night by Amy Grant

BOOK: One Silent Night : Women's Stories of Christmas by Janice Chaffee

POEM: Lessen the doldrums by James Broughton

Lessen the doldrums

of fellow bipeds

Coax their spirits

to busk and bounce

Squeeze their chakras

Ungum their works

Use any trick you know

to redeem humanity

from impotent glum

Inject with joy

inseminate with light

the wombs of mankind

QUOTE: "I can understand people simply fleeing the mountainous effort Christmas has become... but there are always a few saving graces and finally they make up for all the bother and distress." ~ May Sarton

Pools of Eden (Eliza Gilkyson)

We returned from our beach vacation this past Saturday, August 9 - the days following have been full of overload and catch-up and life re-entry, oh my!

Preparations the night before leaving had me almost pulling an all-nighter, getting in the bed at 4:00 a.m. to be up at 7:00 a.m... only to find there had been a power outage somewhere in that time frame - we had hoped for an 8 a.m. departure and, two hours later (no surprise there) we were on the road. My husband R and I took turns driving and, with the iPod on shuffle (everything from Roberta Flack to the B-52's to Joni Mitchell), the miles flew by. About an hour from our destination, I blipped on navigation and missed a turn (too busy singing along to Cat Stevens' Father and Son), adding another hour to the trip - sorry, family!

As we drove along the coast, we could see the island of St. George in the distance, and it seemed forever before we finally reached the bridge to get us across and over - each house we passed looked more beautiful than the next, as we drove by Whelk Way, Coral Street and Dolphin Drive. We finally pulled into the driveway of Seaclusion, our rental for the week (pictured above) to find my mom, brother, sister and her family (hugs all around!) had made themselves at home - organizer Mari had their food and supplies already stashed in the refrigerator and cupboards, drinks had been poured and bedrooms assigned. R and I were generously gifted with the master suite, with a king-size bed and a view overlooking the Gulf - thanks, Mare... :-)

Since it was close to 8 p.m. before we had our stuff unloaded and stored, we decided to order pizza and sandwiches from a bar and grill in town - Mari and Sarah went to pick up, and sweet S paid the tab. Our first night on the island was spent having dinner on one of the two decks, watching the waves and smelling the delicious salt air, sipping beers and anxiously anticipating the next 6 days - who knew how quickly they would fly by... yet how tangibly embraceable the magic moments would be...

Highlights:

~ our first full day there (Sunday, August 3), as we each followed our own path (getting up early or sleeping late, gravitating to the heat of the beach/pool or staying in the shady comfort of the deck, eating a heavier breakfast/lunch or snacking throughout) - I loved the hit-and-run pockets of conversation at various points and places along the way...

~ the island and surrounding area is called "The Forgotten Coast" because of its lack of development (what a concept), thereby presenting an amazing blanket of stars in the dark sky night after night - we could even view clusters of galaxies and constellations...

~ my brother took us all out to dinner at The Blue Parrot, and I had fried local oysters and broiled Gulf shrimp - washed down with a Yuengling, I was in seafood heaven!

~ finding sea turtle nesting in full swing on the island - we rented lounge chairs and umbrellas the first day, left them on the beach and woke to find everything tagged by the sea turtle watch volunteer organization, asking us to move the items off the beach each night, as they were in the path of the egg-laying females. There were also notices throughout the house, reminding us to turn off outdoor lights at night, so as not to be confused with the pull of the moon - it's a very respectful, protective emphasis on the birthing cycle...

~ we took turns cooking throughout the week, my husband and I serving up grilled bacon-wrapped fillets, roast potatoes and steamed veggies; my kids cooking plain and blue-cheese-stuffed turkey and regular burgers, corn on the cob and french fries; my sister making baked salmon and grouper one evening and chicken parmesan with homemade pasta (more on that later) another few evenings - yum!

~ we vowed to have Cocktail/Happy Hour each night, and we lived up to the promise - cheater that I am, I had bought frozen mini-quiches and sandwich spirals for our turns, while Martha Mari whipped up bacon-wrapped water chestnuts and salmon spread (god, she's good... :-) My son Rob (the bartender) mixed up frozen and over-ice concoctions each night - my fave was a spiced rum mixed with kiwi-lime sparking water with a wedge of lime run around the edge of the glass and then added to the mix).

~ one my favorite things to do at the beach is to immerse myself in a good book and, although reading opportunities were less optimal because of wanting to spend time with mom (and everyone else), I still managed to savor three terrific novels, the first of which was one of Mari's library books (but which I begged to read first because I'm such a fan of the author, and hadn't yet picked up the new one): Run by Ann Patchett, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman - I also had my sister read Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos (my new favorite novel), and urged mom to take it home with her to enjoy.

~ we celebrated my 54th (yikes!) birthday at the beach with a key lime pie, presents and cards - my brother had given me money and I had a grand time spending it during our souvenir shop excursion Thursday, picking up a very cool white lacy straw cowboy hat with shells around the crown ("borderline WT", Sarah told me), perfect for shading my face at the beach/around the pool, and some sun readers - who knew there was such a fabulous invention?!? (for the last decade, ever since I needed reading glasses, I'd just place my sunglasses over them... two inconvenient layers). We also came home with pirate mugs ("time flies when you're having rum" and "Surrender your Booty" from The Jolly Roger Shop for co-workers and friends and a sea turtle windchime for my next-door neighbors who brought in the mail) - photos of trying on hats and glasses: priceless!

~ I was proud of myself for walking my usual 45 minutes 4 of the 6 days we were there - I had brought my walkman as accompaniment but, given the solitude of the island, chose not to use it, instead concentrating and meditating on the breeze, the sounds and the smells.

~ our beach house faced south, so we had to drive to the northwest side of the island for a sunset angle - our three visits delivered one better than the other two but none perfect. No problem - you know what they say: "even a bad sunset at the beach is better than a good evening anywhere else!"...

~ our weather was perfect the entire trip, with about three drops of rain one afternoon (what? - gone!) - I slathered enough sunscreen on each day so as to tan but not burn (mission accomplished). We experienced daily dolphin sightings (mostly in groups of three or more) - there were dragonflies everywhere on the island (Dave, Dave, Dave... :-)

~ so, we did make a gigantic batch of pasta (under mom's expert tutelage), dried it out on the kitchen table for a few days and boiled it up to go with Mari's Thursday night dinner - it tasted even more delicious because of the memories embedded...

~ we are proud to claim we recycled all week (although it was frightening the amount of beer/wine bottles and soda cans we went through), and made two drop-off trips to the bins in the middle of the island - yay, us!

~ dear Sarah borrowed her office camera and documented all the snippets of magic moments that came together to make this a trip to remember (Julia on Eric's shoulders, our sandcastle decorated with shells, beachgrass and Corona bottles on the turrets, Rob playing Guitar Hero, etc.)... and she'll be uploading them to Shutterfly to make a bound book (complete with captions) for mom's birthday September 9... as well as for the rest of us.

Needless to say, mom was beyond thrilled at our ability to pull this trip together on such short notice (not to mention being able to take the week off), our desire to help her have this family vacation and our commitment to spending quality time together each day - she smiled, she laughed, she cried tears of joy... and she couldn't stop repeating how blessed she felt, surrounded by her children, he grandchildren and her sons-in-law...

As long as we retain the memories, we can return any time we choose... and we're already thinking positive and planning an encore trip next August - there's no place like St. George Island, there's no place like St. George Island, there's no place like St. George Island... :-)

SONG: Pools of Eden by Eliza Gilkyson (can't seem to find the lyrics anywhere... but here is an audio sample)

BOOK: Chicken Soup for the Beach Lover's Soul: Memories Made Beside a Bonfire, on the Boardwalk and with Family and Friends by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery, Peter Vegso

POEM: The Gardener of Eden by James Broughton

I am the old dreamer who never sleeps
I am timekeeper of the timeless dance
I preserve the long rhythms of the earth
and fertilize the rounds of desire

In my evergreen arboretum
I raise flowering hopes for the world
I plant seeds of perennial affection
and wait for their passionate bloom

Would you welcome that sight if you saw it?
Revalue the view you have lost?
Could you wake to the innocent morning
and follow the risks of your heart?

Every day I grow a dream in my garden
where the beds are laid out for love
When will you come to embrace it
and join in the joy of the dance?

QUOTE: "I find myself at the extremity of a long beach. How gladly does the spirit leap forth, and suddenly enlarge its sense of being to the full extent of the broad, blue, sunny deep! A greeting and a homage to the Sea! I descend over its margin, and dip my hand into the wave that meets me, and bathe my brow. That far-resounding roar is the Ocean's voice of welcome. His salt breath brings a blessing along with it." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

These Days in an Open Book (Nanci Griffith)

Here I am, home another day (sigh) - I forgot just how disgusting strep throat can be... and I won't bore you with the gory details. Tonight is my book club night, Nancy's choice of Lucky You by Carl Hiassen, and I still don't feel well enough to leave the house, plus I'm also worried about infecting everyone else, even if I have been on the antibiotics since mid-day Monday - the additional day (and evening) of rest and recovery will help, and I'll drop a note to everyone explaining (and mourning) my absence...

We actually just celebrated the six-year-anniversary of our book club, which first met late-September 2001 - we began with six members (M was one of the founders... :-), two of whom (Nancy and I) are still active, the rest cycling off over the years due to various reasons. We've seen many wonderful new participants (friends of friends), come and go along the way (we currently stand at seven), and we've restructured the format a bit.

We all agreed to begin with The Red Tent, for symbolic (i.e. feminist) and political reasons - one of the recurring threads has the women retreating there during their menstrual cycles, as a time to nurture each other, with massage, conversation and companionship. It's historically known that communities of women spending lots of time together will have their periods simultaneously - in earlier days, this took place during the new moon... so we try to meet as close to that time of the month as well...

We also decided from the start to contribute food that fit thematically with the book we were currently discussing - September 2001 (only a few weeks after 9/11, interestingly enough) found us sharing culinary treats Middle Eastern in nature: olive dip, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, grapes and oatmeal raisin cakes!

We began with the premise of novels by women authors and we would talk among ourselves and agree on the books we'd be reading (taking turns hosting the group at various members' homes) - as we went on, the fiction and female "rule" went by the wayside, and we were privy to a broader perspective (Nancy's excellent choice of Richard Clark's Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror among them). Sometimes our meeting would take place at a movie theater, to see the cinematic interpretation of something we'd recently read (Janet Fitch's White Oleander or Rebecca Wells' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) - we'd then go to a local cafe to dish over coffee and scones.

We later segued to having the person who is hosting that month choose the book, which has remained the practice - I love this, as it has most certainly "forced" me to read things I wouldn't otherwise pick up on my own (science fiction primarily). At first, when it came my turn, I'd select books I knew I already loved and wanted to enthusiastically share (To Kill a Mockingbird, Practical Magic, A Prayer for Owen Meany) - after a while I realized I had entirely too many unread books on my nightstand and began to choose literature I'd heard wonderful things about but hadn't yet gotten around to (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Confederacy of Dunces and, just recently, Eat Pray Love), so we could discover them together.

We eat first (during which book discussion is forbidden), catching up on what the others have been doing for the last month (although some of us see each other more frequently) - after the plates are cleared, we go around the circle with each member saying whether or not they liked the book, and briefly describing why... and then the host gives the backstory of why she chose it. After that, it's no-holds-barred, as we bring up various questions, issues and passages to support our opinions - what's immensely amazing is that, with our collective wisdom, we learn so much more about the book, each other and ourselves. We then serve coffee and dessert - the conversation at this point is usually a "cooldown" of the book topic, straying into other areas as well.

Two books previously suggested by others have garnered a place in my Top Ten: Prodigal Summer by Babara Kingsolver and Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos - wish I'd kept a journal of *everything* we'd covered... but some others are: The Lovely Bones, Beach Music, The Secret Life of Bees, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Time Traveler's Wife, Cold Mountain, The Handmaid's Tale, 84 Charing Cross Road, The Bonesetter's Daughter, Siddhartha, The Color Purple, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Kite Runner, Woman on the Edge of Time, Stranger in a Strange Land, Wonderland, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Good Mother, Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Wicked, Gift from the Sea, Seventh Heaven, Pull of the Moon, Six of One, Many Lives Many Masters, Wuthering Heights, The Art of Mending, Peter and the Starcatchers, The DaVinci Code, Until I Find You, How to Be Good, Naked in Death, Mandala, Saving Fish from Drowning... and so many others I can't recall. Books I'm secretly hoping someone chooses this year are Middlesex, The History of Love and The Golden Notebook (although I'll read them solo if necessary) - here's a link to a terrific website of options, plus accompanying discussion group questions...

I feel so blessed to have an extended family of women-booklover-friends, with whom I learn, laugh and cry on a monthly basis - Happy Reading!

SONG: These Days in an Open Book by Nanci Griffith

BOOK: So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

POEM: Having Come This Far by James Broughton

I've been through what my through was to be

I did what I could and couldn't

I was never sure how I would get there

I nourished an ardor for thresholds

for stepping stones and for ladders

I discovered detour and ditch

I swam in the high tides of greed

I built sandcastles to house my dreams

I survived the sunburns of love

No longer do I hunt for targets

I've climbed all the summits I need to

and I've eaten my share of lotus

Now I give praise and thanks

for what could not be avoided

and for every foolhardy choice

I cherish my wounds and their cures

and the sweet enervations of bliss

My book is an open life

I wave goodbye to the absolutes

and send my regards to infinity

I'd rather be blithe than correct

Until something transcendent turns up

I splash in my poetry puddle

and try to keep God amused.

QUOTE(S): "The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you the knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination." ~ Elizabeth Hardwick

"The main effort of arranging your life should be to progressively reduce the amount of time required to decently maintain yourself so that you can have all the time you want for reading." ~ Norman Rush