Summertime, and the livin' is easy

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich

And your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry

One of these mornings

You're going to rise up singing

Then you'll spread your wings

And you'll take to the sky

But till that morning

There's a'nothing can harm you

With daddy and mamma standing by

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich

And your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry

 

George Gershwin's "Summertime" epitomizes summer in the south.  You just can't listen to this sultry number  and not feel the sweltering heavy humidity or hear the drone of no-see'ums buzzing around your head.

As hard as our winter was, when we were praying for the ice and snow to give 'way to some warm weather, little did we know summer would come swooping in with record breaking temperatures.  Temperatures we're not used to in these mountains. 

Life in the south changes during the summer months.

It gets a bit slower.

Mine gets a little lazier.

Meals get a little lighter, and so does the reading.

Instead of enjoying a big pot of beef stew or chili, a bowl of fresh veggies seems just the thing.  What's spells summer better than homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet Vidalia onions?  yum.

As summer starts getting closer, we start seeing the "beach read" lists appear.  There are a lot of opinions on what this means exactly - everything from "light reading" in theory to "light reading" in the form of paperbacks rather than hardbacks.

One of my favorite forms of "beach reading" would be books with a beach setting.  Just as I'm a lover of the beach, I'm a lover of a good beach book. 

I've found a few of those this summer, and had a little "Beach in Boone" session with books I ordered.

Including  - - -

Cathy Holton's BEACH TRIP.

Karen White's ON FOLLY BEACH.

In addition to my love of mysteries and crime fiction, I'm also a big fan of women's fiction; sometimes referred to in what might be a not so complimentary way, as "chick lit."

You might remember how loudly I squealed about Beth Hoffman's SAVING CEE CEE HONEYCUTT. 

Not only is it a delightful, poignant women's fiction novel, it is most decidedly southern.  I'm also a huge fan of southern lit with all the eccentric characters that usually come with it.

Some of those I've discovered this summer include

 

Dorothea Benton Frank's LOWCOUNTRY SUMMER

and

 Susan Rebecca White's BOUND SOUTH

However.  Offbeat, eccentric characters aren't the sole property of the south.

I found a few that found their way into my heart in 

Helen Simonson's MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND

and

Liza Gyllenhaal's LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

and 

Ayelet Waldman's RED HOOK ROAD

and

Diane Meier's SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES

Some of these are light reading; some aren't quite as light as the term "chick lit" would lead you to believe.

But, it is all about escapism.  Pure and simple.

A few books that are either on their way, or already on my nightstand waiting for me are

Diane Chamberlain's THE LIES WE TOLD

and

Isabel Wolff's A VINTAGE AFFAIR

AND - - -

ta da . . . . . 

the latest by one of my all-time very favorite authors ever

Anne Rivers Siddons

Her latest novel, BURNT MOUNTAIN, shouts southerness as only Ms. Siddons can write it -

And I can hardly wait till it arrives.  Ms. Siddons' books are also referred to as Southern Gothic.

All these sub-categories just make my head hurt.  I'm sure they probably make sense to a lot of people, and sometimes they do to even me.  But I think I'd rather just say "Hey!  Here's a book I liked.  Maybe you will too."

Let me know what you think.

The Importance of Reading . . . and Writing! by Radine Trees Nehring

For more than 20 years, Radine Trees Nehring's magazine features, essays, newspaper articles, and radio broadcasts have shared colorful stories about people, places, events, and the natural world near her Arkansas home.

In 2002, Radine's first mystery novel, A VALLEY TO DIE FOR, was published, and in 2003 became a Macavity Award nominee.  Since then she has continued to enthrall her original fans and attract new ones with her signature blend of down-home Ozarks sightseeing and amateur sleuthing by lovable active retirees Henry King and Carrie McCrite King.  With her sixth novel, JOURNEY TO DIE FOR, which continues the series' pattern of earning "Best Mystery" awards,  Nehring takes her characters and readers for a ride on a historic train line into the middle of trouble, intrigue, and murder.          ALL ABOARD!

Radine Trees Nehring
The TO DIE FOR mystery series.
http://www.RadinesBooks.com
Now boarding: Take a JOURNEY TO DIE FOR. 

The Importance of Reading...and Writing!

by Radine Trees Nehring
 
I have several friends who are school teachers, and I've have heard their gripes that, these days, teaching has become a matter of preparing students for required tests to show whether or not they have mastered basic skills.  "Alas, no more processing of ideas, no more creative thinking," one said.
       
While I don't believe for a minute this is entirely true, still the trend is worrying, especially in light of what we see around us in the United States today.  I imagine everyone reading this has lamented over the decline in reading generally, especially among young people.  Oh, they can read and transmit brief bursts of information by tweeting, texting, and so on.  They can enjoy all kinds of video games and video-led interaction, plus today's version of the comic book.  (Lots of pictures telling a story.)  But, CAN THEY READ AND THINK?  Are they able to process ideas that require more than a quick grab of "mt u DQ, 8."?          

Well, as of yet, you won't find the abbreviated language of text messaging in books, whether read electronically or from paper pages.  Real reading requires a certain degree of quiet, of concentration, and of thought processing.  Even the wildest race-through-it thrillers demand this from a reader.
       
Most mature folks certainly read when they were in school, but many of them, (us?) too, have jumped through an information time warp and now find it easier to get news from TV sound bites, and Internet and radio rants.  Reading--and thinking about what we read--seems to be old-fashioned and too time-consuming.
       
My interest in this subject was enlivened recently by an article in the Spring, 2010 issue of the "Authors Guild Bulletin."  Katherine Paterson, author of THE BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, and other award-winning books for young people, was interviewed by Nicola Smith.  In the article Paterson is quoted as saying, "...unless people read, I don't think they are thinking deeply....  If you're going to have a democracy, you need thinking people."
       
Wow.  A link between sustaining democracy and reading?  That makes our efforts to promote what I will now call "Real Reading" doubly important.  So, what can you and I do?         

We can READ.  Newspapers, books, magazines.  (Does this seem too obvious?)        

We can carry a Kindle (or one of its cousins), or a printed-on-paper book in public as frequently as possible., and read on subways, airplanes, in waiting rooms, and while waiting in line.  (Might help create interest in reading if we aren't afraid to laugh or exclaim or even make comments while reading.  Honestly, no one will call the cops.  And, didn't you always want to be seen as  a bit different, and definitely above average?)        

READ TO KIDS.  (And ham it up if possible.)  If there are no kids in the home, how about volunteering to read anywhere kids gather.  In Christian Sunday School classes read entire stories directly from the Bible in book form.  (Basic Jewish and Muslim teachings require mastery of religious text by young people.)  Ask about volunteering to read children's books aloud in libraries, day care centers, clubs for youngsters.        

Broaden your reach!  PROMOTE TEACHING WOMEN AND GIRLS in far-away countries TO READ.  Donate to organizations supporting this.
       
GIVE BOOKS AS GIFTS.  Honor friends and family by picking books you're sure they'll enjoy.        

TALK ABOUT READING:  "Oh, is that what he said?  It's quite an idea, but just last week I read..."
       
Or maybe:  "I just finished a book about (fill blank--maybe taking care of your car?) and now I can change my oil with confidence."  (Perhaps more impressive:  "I just read this book and now I understand the International Monetary System--I think.")
       
OR:  "Have you read JOURNEY TO DIE FOR by Radine Trees Nehring?"  (Well, it could be ANY novel.)  "Loved the story, it seemed real, and the characters were like real people.  I was interested in seeing how they worked through problems."  Or:  "Great adventure."  Or, perhaps:  "Learned a lot about (again, fill the blank)." And so on.         

VOLUNTEER TO TEACH READING to young people and adults in your area who are struggling with this skill.  

WRITE.   If you're a writer, for heaven's sake keep doing it.  Let people know what you do and that you enjoy it.  (You do, don't you?)  Join a local writers' group and read your work aloud for critique.  If possible, meet in public places where your presence, as REAL writers, might draw passers-by to see what's going on.  And be sure others can tell what fun you're having!

Here's something else Katherine Paterson said during Smith's interview:   "If you don't read and you don't think about what you read, your ability to see other people's points of view is diminished, as is the ability to process complicated information or opinion."
        
Doesn't  this sound like something we really, truly need today? 

WONDER WOMAN LOSES HER CLEAVAGE by Shane Gericke

Shane Gericke is the national-bestselling author of the crime thriller TORN APART, which launches worldwide this week from Kensington Publishing. He starting writing for the local town weekly in high school, and liked it so much he never looked back. He spent 25 years in the newspaper business, most prominently as an editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, then left for the heady world of novels. 

His first, BLOWN AWAY, was named the nation's best mystery debut by RT Book Reviews (which will feature him on www.rtbookreviews.com starting July 6) and has been translated into German, Turkish, Slovakian, and two forms of Chinese: traditional and simplified. The series continued with CUT TO THE BONE, and now, TORN APART. 

Shane is chairman of ThrillerFest 2010, a founding member of International Thriller Writers, and a member of Mystery Writers of America.
 
He lives with Jerrle, his wife of 31 years, in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, where his series is set and is also home to noted crime-fighter Dick Tracy.

Shane invites you to visit him at www.shanegericke.com, where the words are hot and the drinks are cold. Albeit digital.

WONDER WOMAN LOSES HER CLEAVAGE

 by Shane Gericke

Thanks for inviting me into your digital home, Kaye. It's a privilege to be here. Because of the erudition and intelligence of the people who read you, I thought I'd begin my essay with a detailed analysis of the past pluperfect gerunds found in Tolstoy's grand romp through the absurdities of Czarist politics, SNOW JOB, DA. Then, if I had space, I thought we'd all diagram this sentence from James Joyce's ULYSSES:

"In ward wary the watcher hearing come that man mildhearted eft rising with swire ywimpled to him her gate wide undid. Lo, levin leaping lightens in eyeblink Ireland's westward welkin. Full she dread that God the Wreaker all mankind would fordo with water for his evil sins. Christ's rood made she on breastbone and him drew that he would rathe infare under her thatch. That man her will wotting worthful went in Horne's house."

Fun! Particularly the "Christ's rood on her thatch" part, which sounds deliciously naughty but is surely a literary allusion to the Bible or Stonehenge or something.

But then I thought, "Aw, #$%^&, who am I fooling? We wanna talk about Wonder Woman!"

And so . . .

Did you hear they've changed Wonder Woman's looks? It's true. In the latest edition of the long-running comic-book series (No. 600, for those keeping track), young huntress Diana Prince--aka, Wonder Woman, shazam!--loses her cannonball cleavage and butt-huggin' shorts. Instead, she's remade into Corporate Woman, kablam! Complete with long, black tights, a blue-black jacket, contrasting yellow accessories, and sensible navy shoes instead of the thigh-high red boots of old. No more red-white-and-blue lingerie for the world's most recognizable female crime-fighter!

Not only recognizable, but long-lasting. The DC Comics superheroine first appeared in December, 1941--right about the time Japan bombed Pearl Harbor--in All Star Comics No. 8. She's one of only three DC superheroes to be continuously published since DC began, the other two being Superman and Batman. (For a fuller discussion of her roots and symbolism, click on this Wikipedia entry.) She's worn the same outfit since the beginning, so the change was overdue.

But I sigh nonetheless. I loved Wonder Woman growing up, and not just for the (lack of) clothing. She was a feminist long before Helen Reddy sang "I Am Woman, Here Me Roar." She kicked bad-guy booty all over the world. She was strong and tough and powerful and had that golden lasso that forced people to tell the truth. She was smart and gutsy and rolled with the punches. She talked back to authority. She took crap from no one. Everything that women of the era were not allowed to do.

Yeah, her getup was sexist--in a 2006 interview about her work on the series, the novelist Jodi Picoult said: “One of the first things I did was ask if we could give her breast-reduction surgery, because as a woman, I know you wouldn’t fight crime in a bustier. But I was somehow shot down by DC.” Uh, yeah, no kidding. It's comic books, not Proust! Nothing about comics is PC. Superman had that big ol' bulge Down There. Batman lived with his, uh, "young ward" Robin--boy wonder indeed!  WW's attire grabbed millions of eyeballs, which sold lots of comics, which was the entire point of the drill. The great side benefit was that generations of children saw that girls could do great superhero-y things just like boys. And it was Good.

Bad lingerie included. Uber-feminist Gloria Steinem liked the getup so much--it symbolized Something Important, she said, though I don't recall what--that when DC tried to alter the costume back in the '80s, Steinem raised enough hell through her Ms. magazine that they changed it back to the Frederick's of Hollywood look we all worshipped.

But time marches on and sensibilities grow too urgent to deny. Thus, the makeover:

“She’s been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941,” J. Michael Straczynski, the new writer of the series, told the New York Times. He also altered her birth history, from Amazonian to something more modern. “If you’re going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up, and give her a modern sensibility.”

Exit, undies.

He's right, of course. This change is sensible, and good, and way overdue. We beat the Nazis and and Japan and the Commies so the red-white-blue scheme is a fossil (albeit sexy!) of Cold War muscle-flexing. And La Wonder will still kick bad-guy booty all over the universe. 

But the little Shane inside me still sighs for the bowling-ball chest and tighty-tights.

MY NEWEST THRILLER:    TORN APART
(and the gentlemen who were kind enough to blurb  about it - Jeffery Deaver and Lee Child; two of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet).

The proprietress of this space has been very kind in telling folks on the Internet that that my new thriller, TORN APART, launches worldwide this week.

It's the third in my cops-vs.-psychos series starring tough cops Emily Thompson (my own little Wonder Woman, but in police blue, not red-white-and) and Martin Benedetti. I really liked how this story turned out. It's exciting as hell, and the romance between Em and Marty is balanced nicely by the crashing mayhem of the murders, explosions, car chases, kidnaps, aircraft crashes, bombs, bullets and knives. The bad guys are real bastards, and you'll enjoy how Emily and Marty deal with them. And, there's cop jokes! I put an excerpt on my website, www.shanegericke.com, and I invite y'all to come over and read. Buying links are there too, and I'd be pleased if you bought a copy at the recession-friendly price of $6.99. It's also available as an e-book: Kindle, Nook and more.

What Kaye didn't tell you because she's too modest is that I named a character after her. That's right, our own Kaye Barley is a crime-fightin' radio dispatcher. She appears in a number of important scenes, complete with that adorable haircut and those dangly-thingies she loves to put on her ears.

I did this to honor one of the world's most avid and erudite lovers and bloggers of books, one who is so supportive of us everyday writers that it tickles me to be mentioned in the same space as her. So Wonder Woman, this character's for you! May you kick bad-guy booty wherever you go.

To the rest of you, thanks for reading this essay, and I hope you like my book.

Now get cracking on diagramming that James Joyce sentence. Call me when you're done . . .

Shane

P.S. To celebrate the launch of TORN APART, I've created a contest starring our very own writer of fine Irish crime fiction, Ken Bruen! He's a dear friend, and as supportive of fellow writers as anyone could possibly ask. This is my salute to Ken and his marvelous style of writing: Prose so tight and lean that it fairly drips with poetry.

Here's how the contest works: I wrote one entire chapter in Ken's dark, highly poetic style. You can't miss it; the style is very different from my norm. (But fits the mood of the chapter perfectly.) I'll award an Advance Reader Copy of TORN APART to the first reader who sends me the correct chapter number. Then, I'll draw four names  from everyone who sent in the correct chapter number, and send those four people ARCs too. It's a cool prize; only 100 of these full-color Advance Review Copies exist on Planet Earth. I had them printed special, for magazine reviewers whose long lead times require copies of the book months before my publisher hooks them on the printing press. When these ARCs are gone, there ain't no more nowhere except the ones in your hot little hands. So buy the book, find the chapter, send me the chapter number--it's right there on top of the chapter--and you could win something cool. I'll even sign to you personally.  Send your answer via my website, www.shanegericke.com; my contact page is right there on the home page. Here's hoping you win! 

Employees of Shane Gericke Worldwide are not eligible to enter. Which means, uh, me, since I'm the only one. Makes me sound important, though, that "Worldwide," doesn't it? 

The Winning Numbers!

The Winning Numbers !

Oh Boy!

Did I Pick 'Em?!

Did I win a beezillion million dollars?

Why, no!

BUT . . . . 

If I did . . . .

Does everybody play this game?

The "What if I won The Lottery" Game?

I know some of you may have issues with the lottery, and I may share some of those with you.

But let's not talk about those; be they moral, political, or whatever; as valid as they may be.

Instead I want to play in the world of fantasy.

I'm 61; friends I grew up with are retiring. 

Folks are beginning to ask if I'm planning on retiring.  I am, I guess, but not anytime soon.  There was a time when I thought I'd be retiring at 62.  There are a number of reasons why I'm not going to be doing that.

Number One - There is, of course, the whole heath care thing - that's a biggie.  And believe me, kiddies, as you get older it becomes even bigger.

There are other reasons, including the fact that I did have a period in my adult life - only one - when I wasn't working.  It was when we moved to Boone from Atlanta.  And oooooh - it was glorious.

For awhile.

Surprisingly, only for awhile.

I spent a long time unpacking boxes and getting the new house the way I wanted it.  I was able to spend time with my Mom.  I had time to cook the kind of meals I wanted to and I even had time to keep the house as tidy and clean as I wanted.  But then - - - all that got boring as hell.  Not yet having discovered the joys I now know, love,  treasure and cherish of blogging, and, admittedly, being at a low point in my creative life, I re-discovered daytime TV and picked up watching my favorite soap opera.  Even though I had not seen it for many years, it seemed like only yesterday.  John and Marlena were still there, and so were Bo and Hope.  I was hooked.

Soon I was watching the soap that came on before Days of Our Lives.  And pretty soon I was even watching the one that came on after Days of Our Lives.  And all those nice meals?  pfft!  No time to cook - I had soaps to watch!  And that nice clean tidy house?  pfft!  No time to clean - I had my "stories" to watch.

Time to go back to work!

If, however, we were wealthy and I could afford to do all things I would like to do without working, it would be a whole 'nother ball game.  

What would I do?

Well, I think I'd take some writing classes.  And I'd buy a new really cool camera and take some photography lessons.  When I wasn't out taking pictures, I'd be blogging up a storm and filling my pieces with my pictures.

What a lovely little dream that is.

But wait - we're not talking "little dreams" here - let's talk BIG dreams.

Winning The Lottery kinds of dreams!

Let Your Fantasy Begin!

What's the first question everyone asks those lucky people you see on TV who have won.


"Are you going to quit your job, Mr. JustWonABeezillionMillionDollars?"

Would I quit my job if I won a beezillion million dollars?!  Pfft.  Honey.  I'd quit my job if I won One Million Dollars. 

I know very well there are people who swear you better have at least one million dollars socked away in order to live a comfortable life when you retire.   But, Whoa - we are not going there.  

We're playing in the world of fantasy here, okay?  Try to remember - Fantasy . . .

Now that I've reached the age I am, I think I know myself pretty well.  I'm not being frivolous when I say my needs AND my wants have lessened.  And while I'm able to admire and see the beauty in a lot of things, they're not necessarily things I want.

Fantasy - remember - we're sticking with Fantasy.

Not the good works you would do.

Not the friends and family you would take care of.

Those things are all givens.  And they are lovely to contemplate.

But right here, right now, we're gonna play at being selfish.  As selfish as all get out with the beezillion million dollars YOU just won.

What are you gonna do?

O.K. I'm going to pretend that Donald and I agree TOTALLY on how we'd spend a beezillion million dollars .  I'm going to pretend I don't know that the very first thing Donald would do is buy a Harley.  (no no no, not another Harley Doodle Barley; a real Harley - you know; vrrrroooom vrrroooooom).

We're going to take care of basics, and then I'm going to wander on while Donald spends his half of the beezillion million as he wishes while I spend mine.




I'm pretty sure our lives would change by winning a huge lottery.  But I'm also pretty sure it wouldn't change in huge ways, really.

Would we move?  Off Proffit Road?  I don't think so.  We would, however, buy all those acres of land across the road that our neighbor Mike has for sale.   And we'd build a house.  Not this house . . .

But something more along the lines of this one that makes my heart sing  -

And it woud sit in the middle of a secret garden that looks sorta like this -

AND - you know how Donald and I feel about the beach.

Since we'll now have a beezillion million dollars we can also have a place at the beach.

Only fair, after all, to have the best of both worlds,huh?!

And is this what we'd go for??

oh my - this place, as gorgeous as it is, is kinda scary to me, so no, that's not it.


But now, THIS place fits right into my fantasy

Okay.

So.

We have living arrangements all taken care of.

What about clothes??  Won't need much since I won't be going to work, and even if I can hang around the house all day in cotton jammie bottoms and a t-shirt, I guess I'll need "real" clothes once in awhile.

Easy Peasy!  I'll throw myself a little shopping spree!  I'll buy jeans, white shirts, cowgirl boots, long skirts and long scarves from one of  my favorite on-line spots  -  Robert Redford's Sundance Catalog



Did you know I'm addicted to jewelry?  yep.  I am.   I love pretty jewelry.  Since I was a little girl, I have decorated myself with pretties.

Lord knows I won't need anything like this

 But while I'm shopping for clothes at Sundance Catalog, I can feed my addiction to Jes MaHarry's jewely, oh boy!

 Well, this has been a bunch of fun, but suppose there are a whole bunch of other people who have chosen the same lottery numbers I have!?  And I have to - EEK!  Share the wealth!  Instead of a beezillion million, I have to make do with a few extra thousand?!

You know what.

It's O.K.

I'll just continue working at a job I really do like a lot, and I'll continue writing this blog, which I love a lot, and I'll buy this wonderful Nikon D90 and take a few lessons . . .

And one of these days I really am going to take some writing lessons.

In the meantime, as long as I'm able to stay a little creative, buy a few books (well, okay - a lot of books)  now and then, have Donald by my side, Harley close by, and friends and family I love, my life is pretty dern good and I really can't think of anything I feel the need to change.  Well . . . . maybe it IS time to think about working part time instead of full time . . . 

What was the secret in that mysterious battered box in my father's closet? by Mary Jane Maffini

Mary Jane Maffini is a lapsed librarian, a former mystery bookstore owner, a previous president of Crime Writers of Canada and a lifelong lover of mysteries. In addition to the four Charlotte Adams books, she is the author of the Camilla MacPhee series, the Fiona Silk adventures and nearly two dozen short stories. She has won two Arthur Ellis awards for best mystery short story as well as the Crime Writers of Canada Derrick Murdoch award. She is having fun with the fifth Charlotte Adams adventure: *The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder* (Berkley Prime Crime 2011) and says she’s grateful for all the tips she gets from Charlotte. Mary Jane lives and plots in Ottawa, Ontario, along with her long-suffering husband and two princessy dachshunds. Visit her at www.maryjanemaffini.com

What was the secret in that mysterious battered box in my father’s closet? 
by Mary Jane Maffini 

  
Charlotte Adams is always trying to get us to clean out our closets. Usually we find too much clutter. But sometimes that closet yields a treasure worth keeping. After my father’s death, my brother and I discovered a small, battered cardboard box on a high shelf in his closet. Luckily it didn’t get tossed away in that distressing activity of clearing out. Inside the box, we found a collection of yellowed letters my father had written to my mother while they were courting from 1939 to 1941. People sure didn’t leap into marriage back in those days. They had weathered the Great Depression and were heading straight into World War II. After my parents met in New Brunswick, my father had returned to his home town of Sydney, Nova Scotia to help his father run the family retail business. My mother returned to her home town to manage the ladies’ wear

section of Eaton’s department store (A big deal if you are Canadian!). At that time, everyone wrote to keep in touch. Daily letters weren’t uncommon. People even wrote to make an appointment for a phone call.

A few years passed, before I could bring myself to sit and read those letters without unleashing more emotion than I could deal with. But when I did, I found insights into my parents as beautiful young people and also a treasure trove of heartwarming moments, and many chuckles. My dignified and elegant white-haired aunt -- mother of seven, grandmother of umpteen -- was portrayed by her brother as a spoiled and willful teenager. Abby, who would become my mother’s best friend, was then a vivacious young court reporter about to be surprised at a wedding shower held by my aunts. She bought a lot of hats too! My father was happy to announce all that. He regales my mother with details about the dances and parties he, his sisters and friends went to. The meals, the family skirmishes the parties, the outings and the trips to the beach. He asks about her family and friends, tantalizing tidbits for me after all these years. He talks about the movies:

I’ve been to see Rebecca, a very good movie. Have you had a chance to see it?

It was such an innocent time. Canada had entered the war, but no one had any idea of the tragedy and horror that lay ahead. In one letter Dad wrote: They’ve had to cancel the hockey tonight. That darn Hitler!  I never learned exactly how Hitler caused the game cancellation, but I am guessing a blackout.

My father had no idea of the terrible, tragic and incomprehensible times that lay ahead, that he would serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force and that his brothers would go overseas. While his brothers came back, cousins and friends and one brother-in-law didn’t. Other uncles languished in POW camps until 1945. Everyone’s lives changed.

This look into the daily doings of the surprisingly optimistic and cheerful young people in an era with no television and no computers had a big impact on me. I loved the mood and the surprising optimism. Later, I was able to mine those letters for *The Dead Don’t Get Out Much*, a Camilla MacPhee book set partly during World War II (where the vivacious Abby got a role as Hazel, and some nice hats)

I also learned that’s the thing about closets: you have to know what to toss and what to keep. Dad’s letters didn’t go back onto a high shelf. I gave that correspondence a new home in a beautiful new box. It has a place of pride in my office.

My dad was a quiet man, so the biggest surprise was getting to know him as a lively man about town. I learned how much he admired and respected his own father, how he was involved in his community, and more to the point, how much he missed that beautiful, elegant lady who would become his wife. Years later, they adopted me and later my brother, John David. Good news for us. We continue to thank them for the gift of history, laughter and the value of family and friends. 

 

Isobel Ryan and John Merchant were married 69 years ago today. Happy anniversary, Mum and Dad, wherever you are.

The Versatile Blogger Award

I'm excited.

One of my favorite bloggers, Michael, who writes the "Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer" blog, has bestowed me with an honor.

The Versatile Blogger Award.

I'm honored and tickled pink - thank you, Michael!

The award comes with some rules. 

• Thank the person who gave you this award  -  Easy Peasy - Thank you, Michael!
• Share 7 things about yourself - I can do that!
• Pass the award along to 15 who you have recently discovered and who you think fantastic for whatever reason (I'm going to copy my friend Jen who writes the wonderful blog "Jen's Book Thoughts," and cheat a little. And for the same reason Jen did.  We must be hanging out at the same places because a lot of the folks on Michael's list would have been included on my list - so many of my favorites are already recognized).  

But.  As time goes on I think I'll bend the rules a little more and pass this along kinda piecemeal when people are least expecting it.  Which may mean more or less than 15 people could be receiving this at some point in the future.  Is this a terrible thing?  My bending the rules like this?  I'm sorry!  I can't help it.  Truly!  I refused to color inside the lines when I was growing up, and I guess I just haven't moved beyond that.

But I can share seven things about myself.  They're probably not going to be new things to most of you though.  I seem to have very few secrets.  I need to work on this and become more of a woman of mystery, don't I?!


1.  I was a very clumsy child.  My parents, being concerned about how clumsy I was, mentioned this to our family doctor.  Dr. Wolff suggested they sign me up for dance lessons.  I took tap and I took ballet.  For a lot of years.  Unfortunately - I'm still clumsy.

2.  I am mommy to Harley the Wonder Corgie.

3.  I am wifelett to Sir Donald of the Loom.

4.  Two of my very best gal pals are Sissyfriss Sockmonkey and Lou Lou Skiptoo.

5.  I'm a lot like my mom.

6.  I like to bake.

7.  A sunrise, especially at the beach, is one of my favorite things ever; 'course, sunset at the beach is pretty special too.

 This was fun!  Thanks again, Michael!!