Holiday Giving .... and Getting

Posting 2 days in a row? Impossible. See what happens when I have some time off school?

Christmas came and went in the usual whirlwind, but I feel like we enjoyed it more this year than ever before because Scott and I simplified a lot of the usual holiday craziness.

As gifts for each other, we decided to go in together and buy one great camera. It came in about a month ago, and we've already got some great stuff. I am excited to see what it gives us this year as I learn more about how to use it. So far Scott is way better at it than I am, but I'm learning!

As gifts for my mom and my grandparents, my sister and I decided to do a family photo session with photographer Kyle Hale. I discovered him through a college friend of mine when she posted some gorgeous family photos a few months ago. Kyle was reasonably priced, easy to work with, and he came up to our home to do the pictures which I loved. The final results really feel like home - which is probably because it is my home - but you know what I mean. I think our comfort really conveys itself in the photos because we are in familiar surroundings, and he came up with so many cool ideas and angles in and around our house. (If you are in Atlanta and need someone for a wedding or general family photography, check him out at http://www.kylehale.net/.) When we got the pictures back, Melissa and I decided that they were incredible enough to be our gifts to one another as well. I know it's partly because it's my own family and I love them, but these photos took my breath away the first time I saw them. This is just a sampling, and we received 114 photos that are ALL frame worthy.

All of us on the porch - Mom loved this one!

We somehow persuaded my camera-shy grandparents to stop by for a while.

my favorite one of Scott and me

with the kids

my sister and her beautiful family

I think this one is my favorite!

And lastly, Melissa with little Emmie

At first, we just wanted a unique Christmas gift idea, but now I am so happy we decided to do this, and I will definitely cherish them for quite some time. In addition to these fabulous pictures, I received some much needed photo albums for all our Europe pics, a camera bag for the new Nikon, a couple of new books, and ..... a Wii! My arms are sore as we speak because I couldn't stop playing for the past two days.

My sweet yearbook students all pitched in together to give me an American Express card that purchased two lovely Target bookshelves, and believe it or not, the majority of my books have now found their way out of the basement and in to a (somewhat) organized place on the shelves that now grace our dining room.

So all in all, a fabulous Christmas vacation thus far, and I am happy to say I have 6 days left. I have an interesting idea brewing for a New Year's resolution that pertains to this blog, but I'll be thinking on that before I unveil it. I hope everyone's holiday is going beautifully and we are all ready to be out with the old and in with the new. Happy holidays!

Ron Rash's Serena

Back in August, I was fortunate enough to sit in on a panel at the Decatur Books Festival. The discussion, entitled “Down from the Mountain,” featured two authors from the Appalachian region. I was certainly already familiar with Lee Smith as an author I adore, but Ron Rash was new to me. During the panel, he read from his newest work Serena, which had not been published at that time, and I was anxious to read it after his reading and explanation. The novel did not disappoint.

In short, it’s an Appalachian retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It does not follow the story precisely; Rash is far more creative than that. It does, however, hinge on the theme of blind ambition, and the story centers around a female character you love and hate at the same time, one who steers the ship for her husband as they encounter obstacles on the way to their success. It is this character, Serena Pemberton, who keeps you turning the pages and makes the novel worthy of its hype.

Originally from the mountains of Colorado, Serena meets her husband in Boston before the two of them establish a lumber empire in the North Carolina mountains. Life in the lumber business is hard, and the workers in the lumber camp often lose limbs and lives in their day-to-day work. It’s clearly no place for a woman, but Serena has no difficulty holding her own here, and furthermore, she manages to present herself as a superior when the workers quickly understand that she, even more so than her husband, is the one to answer to and the one to fear.

With a white horse and a trained eagle on her side, Serena’s character is unmistakably mythic in her capabilities and in Ron Rash’s description of her. Rash describes her training the eagle; “Each dawn the following weeks, Serena walked into the stable’s back stall and freed the eagle from the block perch. She and the bird spent the morning alone in tree-shorn plain below Half Acre Ridge…..By the fifth day the bird perched in Serena’s right forearm, its head black-hooded like an executioner, the five-foot leash tied to Serena’s right elbow and the leather bracelets around the raptor’s feet” (102). The image of Serena dashing across the mountain on her white horse with the eagle perched alongside her is one that makes quite an impression on the lumber workers and on the reader.

A story of a vast lumber empire is not what drives the plot of the novel, however. Soon after setting foot off the train from Boston, Serena learns firsthand that her husband’s previous relationship has produced a son in these mountains, and like Lady Macbeth, that seems to be the one thing she cannot give her groom. Many twists and turns ensue from there, and the ending of this novel is one of the most memorable conclusions I have ever read.

All in all, Ron Rash reveals a story of violence and misery but also one of love and devotion, and Serena Pemberton is a character who will stay with you long after the novel is finished. It's certainly one of my best reads of the year.

Slow Going

Current Read? It's a sloooooow go. Not that long ago, I heard of a little book that was getting a lot of attention, and I decided to pick it up and try it for myself.

So I am reading - or attempting to read - Verlyn Klinkenborg's Notes of an Abject Reptile, and I am simply not that into it. This surprises me since it sounded like it would be just my style. As a quick summation, it is musings on English countryside told through the eyes of a tortoise who resides on the garden of an accomplished naturalist. Usually beautiful style and philisophical meanderings can keep my attention, but as my students say, "I'm just not feelin' it" with this one. I'm no quitter, so I am determined to plow right through. Hopefully I can report back with a change of heart and "feel it" soon. We shall see.

Anyone read this one before and can offer an ounce of insight?

The Great Divide

I clearly haven’t blogged in ages, and I’m sad to say that I don’t even really have a book post to finally write. I have been so restless lately, in every possible way. Jumping from book to book without really finishing anything is not very effective, nor is it really characteristic of my usual habits, but that’s what I have been doing lately. When I actually finish something, I’ll be astounded. What a terrible approach and an unfamiliar habit. Who am I?

There’s one thing I know I am and that’s addicted to politics this season. I’ll be the first to say that watching debates, listening to pundits, discussing / arguing about relevant issues has definitely cut in to my reading time (not to mention my sanity) these days. I don’t want to watch anymore, but I can’t stop listening and watching.

The truth is I am scared. I am astounded at how divided this nation has become, and I sincerely hope that whomever is elected can heal this divide. Months ago, my first thought was “Wow. How great! Everyone is really interested in politics this year, and apathy is out of style. How refreshing.” Now, however, I’m seeing that the intense fervor with which the nation is discussing politics is indicative of a much greater issue here. Each side thinks the other is so wrong that this country will go down an unfixable path if that opponent is elected. I cannot remember an election in my lifetime where each side is so earnestly scared of the other party gaining power. And that, my friends, is the scary part.

Take, for instance, this video. It’s only a couple of minutes long, but worth watching.



Now let me say that obviously a Democrat produced this video, and someone could most likely find some anti-McCain supporters at a rally somewhere who look just as crazy. But look at those people. They have lost every sense of sanity, of dignity. They have no regard for the facts or what is right and wrong. They simply want their side to win, and they are honestly frightened of the other alternative.

I had a 45 minute political conversation with my mother this week. Never a good idea. I think my ears were bleeding afterwards. But what I realize after speaking with her is that she is just as honestly passionate about her views as I am mine. I don’t think poor people choose to be poor. I don’t think public schools are a waste of tax payer money, and I don’t think vouchers are a way to fix its problems. I don’t think progressive taxes are unfair; to whom much is given, much is required. (I believe Jesus said that, by the way.) I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that every child in America must have adequate healthcare.

By the same token, however, my mother (and many others like her) passionately believes that most poor people choose to waste government money, vouchers are the solution to America’s public schools, there should be a straight percentage across the board for everyone’s taxes, and mandatory healthcare for children is one enormous step to a socialized nation. She is just as frightened of Barack Obama as I am of John McCain. Both of us genuinely see America descending on a permanent path to doom if the opposite party is elected.

My students are in the same boat. Everyday, specifically after debates, I have to tell students to stop yelling at each other about politics. I’ve never seen anything like this. I know most of them are regurgitating what their parents say, but it’s still reflective of this alarming trend.

So where does this lead us? I honestly don’t know. I am ready for the election to be here and to have a new, hopefully capable, leader for a change. But I am also nervous about the reaction of everyday Americans after this is all over. The truth is, when you look at popular vote, it is split reasonably evenly. This means that almost half of America will be appalled either way. There is no doubt that America is more polarized now than it was 8 years ago. It was Abraham Lincoln himself who said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” How did we get this way, and how do we fix it?

Good to be home?

We have been back from Europe for 5 days but it feels like years. So much going on and too long to explain. Let's just say I wanted to feel peaceful and cozy when I returned home but it has been anything but that. Why does everything seem to happen at once?

I start back to school in 10 days, and I can't believe I am saying this but I almost want to start back just to get my mind off the super-stressful business that has been occupying my time and energy these days. I am trying various approaches to bring peace of mind to myself, and so far early morning grocery shopping is the only thing that works. I can't even read these days.

Oh well. Let's not dwell on unhappy things. I will instead focus on that 16-day-long oasis from craziness. From now on, I will try to imagine myself back to .......

T.S. Eliot's footsteps in the reading room in the British Museum.....

the beautiful stained glass in King's College Chapel....

Cambridge, England - my favorite place on Earth.....

The Trinity College courtyard on a cloudy Sunday afternoon.....

a punt along the River Cam.....

the beautiful Roman Baths....

Where else can you be this happy in the pouring rain?

or maybe the quays of the River Seine....

or the lending library of Shakespeare & Company Books....

a stomach full of French food and an evening stroll in front of the Eiffel Tower....

the quaint canalside lanes of Bruges, Belgium....

Belgian countryside.....

the busy energy of Dam Square ...

the canals of Amsterdam....

Our trip was lovely, and I have so much to reflect on. Reflection will come, but for now, I don't have the energy or the time. I begin school in 10 days and I have a 700-page summer reading book to complete and a sudden lack of concentration ability - such a bad combination. As I've mentioned already, my mental and physical energy is being pulled a million directions at the moment. ....A death in my family, small issues that are unnecessarily being made bigger... and I am saddened by the news that a college friend of mine has been widowed far too early. Her pain is beyond my comprehension.

I'm thinking of her and everything else that is going wrong at that moment, but I am trying to focus on the positive. 10 more precious days of summer.