Early Swiss Chard

The stems were so pretty at
the Farmer's Market this
morning! I had to buy them.
You don't even eat those!
So I've got the leaves simmering
in onions and potato with some
spinach that I have , waiting
as it gathers it's juices to be
pureed. Recipe by Susan Loomis.
Maybe the cool morning made
me think of soup.

The Children of Green Knowes

Sitting in a doctor's office
this morning I read the beginning:

" A little boy was sitting in the corner
of a railway carriage looking out at
the rain, which was splashing against
the windows and blotching downward
in an ugly , dirty way. He was not the
only person in the carriage, but the
others were strangers to him. ...
There were two women opposite him,
a fat one and a thin one, and they
talked without stopping, smacking
their lips in between sentences and
seeming to enjoy what they said as
much as if it were something to eat.
They were KNITTING all the time,
and whenever the train stopped
the CLICK-CLACK of their needles
was loud and clear like two clocks."

...."I wish it were THE Flood," thought
the boy, and that I was going in the
ark.............What must it have sounded
like , coming along the tide? And
did Mrs. Noah just knit , knit and
take no notice."

Can't put this one down either!

A Walk Across.......

My son visiting NYC just
called and after going to
Central Park, the Met,
Chinatown, they went home
walking across the Brooklyn
Bridge. His feet are tired!
Shades of "Kate and
Leopold!"

My friend said to say HELLO
to Brooklyn Bridge for her
at church yesterday.
Surely he has.

Details

Length of river span: 1595.5 feet
Total length of bridge: 5989 feet
Wdith of bridge floor: 85 feet
Suspension cables: four, each 15.75 inches in diameter and 3578.5 feet long, containing 5434 wires each, for a total length of 3515 miles of wire per cable
Foundation depth below high water, Brooklyn: 44 feet 6 inches
Foundation depth below high water, Manhattan: 78 feet 6 inches
Tower height above high water: 276 feet 6 inches
Roadway height above high water: 119 feet (at towers)
Total weight, not including masonry: 14,680 tons

A Good Day in the Mail

Two letter writing friends
( both at my church but they
don't know each other) wrote
me today. Both used a similar
phrase:

"It all adds a pleasant aroma
to life!"

" I pray that I can be that
'sweet aroma' in the office
where God has placed me..."



2 Corinthians 2:14-16
But thanks be to God, who always leads
us in triumphal procession in Christ and
through us spreads everywhere the
fragrance of the knowledge of him.
For we are to God the aroma of Christ
among those who are being saved and
those who are perishing.



Vermeer, Girl Reading a Letter
at an Open Window
1658



And Larry Woiwode , who is
in North Dakota is 30 miles
from Kathleen Norris of
Quotidian Mysteries. She's
in Lemmon, SD ~~ up in the
northwest corner. They knew
each other in NYC. By the way,
third son is in Brooklyn for the
week . Long travel day on Amrak
yesterday!

+

Can't Put It Down

I'm taken with L. Woiwode's
new book. I love memoirs and
especially of writers. This one
loves poetry too. There are snippets
of poems that say exactly what he's
trying to write throughout the book.
Books and Culture has a review on
it. I'm glad to hear his voice again
in a new book.

He ends What I Think I Did with an echo
of John 1:16 ("For of his fullness we have
all received, and grace upon grace"):
"It has all been gravy, … and, better,
grace and gracious people put in my
way, and yet more grace."

From A Step from Death:
( I think this one sentence
is profound about each calling
of our lives , gifts and talents)

"The words wouldn't spring from
their sentences with the speed of
light, as it feels when I'm tripped
into the dimension of creative
delirium and glimpse a wink of
eternity, as in 'the seal's wide
spindrift gaze toward paradise'
in the wonderful conclusion to
a Hart Crane poem."

Today's quotidian mysteries :
laundry and vacuuming!
Maybe into the garden. Heat
is coming today, so I'm not sure
that will happen. Indoors cleaning
when the sweat will pour!

Good day at the library

Picking up holds today.
I always look through the
NEW Books and
today I found the newest book
by an author I had recently
wondered WHAT happened to
him? Larry Woiwode. His new
book is a memoir called A Step
From Death. He lives in North
Dakota on an organic farm-ranch.
I read What I'm Going to Do,
I Think ~~ years ago. Great title,
isn't it. This book is delightful
to read as he writes to his son
about his accident on the hay
baler. Severe accident. But then,
this is one of my favorite genres.

"So , dear son, where to begin?
It could be the August morning
I stood on our front steps
wondering whether to go in for
jacket, but first let me step back
as far as I can and say that what
I remember most about my
beginnings , besides the voice of
my mother striding down through
the layer of dark to where I lay
upon the wonder of the unrush
os sleep, is how I felt set apart."

I'm almost to page 50.

"The history of a family begins
with a woman, to condense Cather,
and the pressure of her hand
produces generations behind her..."

Other books on the HOLD shelf
picked up:

In Search of England by H.V. Morton
( gorgeous old book of his travels in
1927 )

The Children Of Green Knowe
by L.M. Boston ( for a read aloud
with Emma, although we usually
read faster by ourselves. It might
happen here and we share the book.)

and an Elizabeth Zimmermann
knitting book.

A good day. Plus lots of
quotidian mysteries : laundry
out on the line.

Update on Beach Reading

Always a wonderful timelessness comes
when you are at the beach. No matter
how short or long a time. That's what
Ann Lindbergh wanted to bring back.
Delicious food and we're eating shrimp
tonight that we brought back ,
fresh from the boat! Also flounder and
scallops going into the freezer for a day
when we need a reminder of the goodness of
the summer!

Got through Flannery O'Connor's Wise
Blood. Not sure what I thought of it yet.
Very depressing , but when the main
character is the head of the Church Without
Christ, it has to be. Not sure I saw any
redemption because of that. Modern ART
by Rookmaacker is so good. I took notes
to teach Aesthetics in the fall. Halfway
through Gilead. Yes, Beth ~~~ good
quotes from it so far. The style is interesting
but I know the last half is the best , at least
from what I've heard. Sir Walter Scott demands
attention. Not reading before bed, so I'm not
sure how Charlotte Mason read Scott then.
He's an author I want to know. I've read his
journal and a biography by John Buchan on
this Scotsman!

Maso -Dixon Knitting was excellent! Might
have to get that one. I never was drawn to it
because of the cover. It needs one of those
wonderful rugs or blankets on the cover. I
found myself wanting to converse with the
authors.Thank you Amber for mentioning
the book and where your log cabin blanket
came from!

from their blog: