Tales from Goshen: August 2009

For whatever reason, our weather here has been UNseasonably cool! For two days in a row, I've been able to walk outside and not sweat. For those of you in the South, you get what I'm talking about. In August, to walk outside and not sweat is just....weird. But the past two days, the highs have been in the low 80's. It feels like I'm in the mountains! It's gawgeous!

So, to celebrate All Day Daddy Day and the cool weather, we leashed up our dog, Bailey, strapped the kids in their strollers and took off down the hill to our nearest lake. I'm embarrassed to say that we don't take walks often enough and there are three primary reasons for this: 1) I don't own a double stroller, so walking the kids by myself is virtually impossible; 2) the heat...LORD, the HEAT! and 3) mosquitos. All very valid reasons.

Bailey, our Golden, was shocked to see her flexi-lead come out of the cabinet and immediately began running in circles chasing her tail which she catches and holds in her teeth while continuing to run in circles. Brooklyn immediately put on her new shades and grabbed Bailey's leash. (I later tried on Brooklyn's glasses and found the plastic so dark as to limit one's visibility...to the point of stumbling into walls).

The walk was everything I wanted it to be except that I made the mistake of attempting to push Brooklyn's stroller and hold Bailey's leash. Ha! Disaster city! Brooklyn's cheap-o stroller was obviously made for someone MUCH shorter than 5'7"! I had to practically hunch over to push her and make my legs take ridiculously tiny steps to avoid kicking the wheels of the stroller...all while juggling Bailey who was weaving in between me, Kyle and the two strollers, walking down a really steep hill and avoiding traffic. This could be another reason I don't take walks.

But Bailey did get an opportunity to swim out after some sticks and get deliciously wet!

And Brooklyn pondered the geese, the ducks, the sticks in the water that looked like crocodiles and life in general.

Me and my girl

7:56 PM

Plate Peekaboo

7:50 PM

Baby Kisses

7:34 PM

Maeve

12:44 PM

I've posted before about one of my favorite authors - Maeve Binchy. For years, I read books and would find a common thread among them - on the backs, there would be comparisons to the authors with Maeve Binchy...so clearly this was a woman with some esteem in the genre of books I was reading. Which are difficult to describe...books about real life in foreign countries, perhaps? Sagas of lives? I struggle to categorize them into one-liners, although I'm sure it's not that hard to do.

Maeve is incredibly prolific. Not perhaps, as prolific as say, Carolyn Keene who miraculously continues to produce Nancy Drew novels from beyond the grave! Such talent just can't be stopped! I kid. Not perhaps, as prolific as James Patterson who seems to have a new book out every week. I swear he must have a template where he just inserts new character names and locations. I say that having never read a single book of his and therefore, apologize for the massive generalization. Perhaps slighly less prolific than Danielle Steele whose books are also saga-esque, but oodles more depressing and tawdry. She doesn't do alphabet themes or schmaltzy things, but just writes about life as it really kind of happens, but with an upbeat feel.

I told Kyle yesterday, as I lifted my head from the pages of her newest novel, Heart and Soul, falling into another of her books is like drinking a good cup of hot tea. Soothing, familiar, comforting, home. This may seem strange considering I'm not Irish, and all her books are set in Ireland with Irish characters. That's another thing I like about her books - the characters lace across books. You recognize names, places, people, story lines that pick up years later, perhaps. It's great!

I am happy to say I found Maeve on my own, or rather, with the help of those author blurbs on the backs of existing books. I had no need of Oprah to steer me to her. And in fact, Oprah's plug for Tara Road made me not want to read the book. Although that makes no sense because I read it before Oprah plugged it. Another story...I'm not an Oprah fan.

Anyway, there are times when you want a good nonfiction - to be taught something you would otherwise never learn - whether it's about people or places or things. Or a good spy novel - a John LeCarre or Robert Ludlum. There's romance which makes you turn down the a/c and cuddle under quilts, longing for fire-lit nights. There's humor and mystery...all genres I love to absorb...each with differences that appeal to me in different ways! Much like food!

And then there's the type of book that isn't really a diversion from life, but rather a slice of it from a different perspective. Whether that's life as an Episcopalian pastor (Jan Karon's Mitford series) or life as an Irishperson (Maeve). But something about the style of these authors makes me just plain happy. They're idyllic...and poignant...and somehow real at the same time.

So, I'm back into Maeve. And while the kids are sleeping and I ran out of envelopes to address for Lauren's upcoming shower, I'm going to take advantage of the time I have to dive back in to life in Ireland. See you later!