The Night Circus

I love magical, mystical, unusual stories. I grew up reading fairy tales, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and all the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. I adore Roald Dahl. Madeleine L'Engles's books still make me think, deeply. Some of my fellow Christians have a problem with magical, mystical stories. But,  that is a debate for another time and place. I think one of the great things about literature is one can always close the book. I suppose the same can be said of this blog. Is this a great country, or what?  Diverse opinions and open forums for discussion are precious freedoms, indeed.

I just finished reading The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern.  The book was "recommended" by Amazon based on prior purchases. Sometimes, Amazon gets it SO right. I clicked it to my Kindle after being intrigued by the description and reviews, and spend the better part of three days immersed in a great story.

Keep in mind, I had no business reading for hours at a time. This is my busiest time of year for making and selling jewelry. The Christmas season is fast approaching, I need to strike while the iron is hit and "move the merch(andise)" as my cousin Lauren would say. I have four trunk shows scheduled in the next two months and Ed's 60th birthday party to plan. What am I doing spending hours reading a book?
Such is the problem of finding a really fabulous, enthralling, imaginative "can't put it down" book.

Ms. Morgenstern has a way with words that is so rare these days. She paints her scenes and her characters with very fine strokes. Do you ever read a chapter or two, regretfully close the book to do some mundane task and feel like you have been dreaming? I mean, REALLY? The NIght CIrcus affected me that way. I felt like I was dreaming as I read, and had to shake myself awake when I closed the book. Sort of magical, don't you think?

I am not going to give away any of this story. Read it, if you love good story-telling, the age-old battle between Good and Evil, Love and Loss, Choices and Consequences, magic and beautiful prose.
                                               
"The past stays on you the way powdered sugar stays on your fingers."
                                                             Widget, The Night Circus

Salmon In The Trees

What a summer it has been! Spending four months in Colorado, surrounded by mountains, trees and water could only be topped by a week in southeast Alaska with The Boat Company.

The Boat Company is the brainchild of Michael and Winsome Mcintosh. Michael and Winsome have dedicated the McIntosh Foundation, their energy, time and hearts to educating people about the largest temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass Wilderness. Ed and I have been fortunate enough to travel with  Michael and Winsome on the Mist Cove three times in the last four years. I believe the Boat Company is the only educational non-profit organization that uses this unique approach to raising conservation awareness by sending clients through the Tongass on their two boats, the Mist Cove and Liseron, for six glorious days of hiking, kayaking, whale watching and salmon fishing. The crew is committed to educating the passengers so they can spread the word of the beauty, fragility and importance of the old-growth forests and the amazing fishery provided by this part of our country. The relationship between the health of the forests and the health of the salmon population is best explained by seeing it first-hand. Honestly, a trip to the Tongass National Forest is life-changing and eye-opening. I cannot overstate the beauty, wildness and wonder of this national treasure.  The Boat Company advertises itself as a "luxury eco-cruise", which it is; but the relationships built between the passengers and with the crew members make it so much more than just a cruise. 


The boats are small, beautifully- appointed and comfortable. With only 24 passengers and half that many crew members, everyone becomes well-acquainted quickly. The food is gourmet, the staff is energetic and fun (without being cheesy), and every day is designed so that the passengers get to do any variety of activities. Every day is planned with each passenger's interests in mind. My husband is an avid fly-fisherman. The fishing, both spin-casting and fly-fishing, is phenomenal. I am a hiker. The nature hikes and talks are amazing. Although we have taken this trip three times, I still have hiked new places every year, seen sights I have never seen and learned new tidbits of geological, historical and natural lore that were completely unknown to me before. Ed and I love walking through the marshes, old-growth forests, along the coastline. We never miss the the chance to ride in a skiff up near a glacier to watch it calf.  Kayaking in a cove, viewing huge, colorful sea stars, jelly fish, sea urchins and fish at the base of waterfalls is incredible. Whale-watching? Practically guaranteed. We ALWAYS see whales. Bears? Grizzlies are also viewed, though some years they are rather shy and elusive. The naturalists and guides are always on the alert for brown bear, and are well-trained to keep passengers out of harm's way.  We have made lifelong friends with fellow passengers as we all share in the glorious beauty of "Southeast", as it is called by the locals. Yes, I am very high on The Boat Company.

Whether or not you are able or willing to explore the Tongass National Forest next summer, I hope you will read Salmon In The Trees, a collection of essays, photographs and audio that explains the Tongass and its amazing ecosystem far better than I ever could. Amy Gulick, whose photography illustrates the essays, has actually been a passenger on one of the  Boat Company vessels. The book is beautiful, informative and worth having on your coffee table. Look it up, settle back and read it, and then book a trip to the Tongass with The Boat Company. 

Quiet Time

When I was a child, Nap Time was dreaded. I could not believe that I had to stay in my room, in my bed, every single afternoon for a nap. No doubt, my mother needed a Quiet Time more than I did, but that is neither here nor there. I found the whole idea of naps demeaning, oppressive and utterly unnecessary. Never mind that my "nap years" were spent in Victoria and Houston,Texas, or Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where the summers could be stifling hot. I should have been delighted to spend the Heat Of The Day in a darkened, air-conditioned room, surrounded by my toys and books in a cozy bed. I always slept, eventually. Obviously, my mother knew that I needed that nap as much as she needed at least a little time to herself. (Oh, and I knew for a fact that it was the Heat Of The Day because every adult in my life told me so: "Nancy Paige Kemper! Are you crazy or do you think I am?!?!  Go upstairs RIGHT THIS MINUTE and get in your bed! It is The Heat Of The Day and your Nap Time, young lady!"

When I went to kindergarten at Ridgeview Elementary school in Oklahoma City, Nap Time was replaced by Quiet Time. After lunch, Miss Service, our teacher would command all 15 of us to get our Quiet Time mats out of our cubbies and lie on the floor of our classroom. She would dim the  lights, sit in her chair in the middle of our prone, wiggly bodies, and say the following in a soft, soothing voice:

"THIS is my Quiet Time.

My head is down, my eyes are closed;

My hands and feet are still.

THIS is my Quiet Time."

She would repeat the Quiet Time Mantra 3 times, and there was not a sound in the room. We didn't move, we didn't open our eyes, we were completely under her hypnotic spell. Quiet Time was serious business at Ridgeview Elementary.  I don't know how long Quiet Time lasted. All I know is that I never whispered to my friends, never opened my eyes and my hands and feet were STILL. I adored Miss Service, but the Quiet Time Mantra, besides being soporific, was somewhat terrifying. I don't know what I thought was going to happen to me if I squirmed, sniffed or giggled. I only knew that silence and stillness were essential to my survival and promotion to first grade.

I have matured considerably since I was a kindergartener. I have had many months, sometimes whole years go by without a nap to my credit. What a foolish girl I was!! What was I thinking?!?!  Nap Time is  Golden!

Although I appreciated the occasional nap  during college, I didn't fully realize the true value of an afternoon lie-down until I was pregnant with our first child. Napping was not a luxury, it was a compulsion that could not be ignored. By one o'clock everyday, my eyelids weighed 10 pounds each. My limbs felt like enormous water balloons that I could only move in slow motion. As soon as I could get home from teaching school (well-past the one o'clock siren song of slumber), I would throw myself face-first on the bed where I would dream, snore and drool happily until morning sickness hit me at 5:00 PM. Yes, I only had morning sickness in the evening. Fortunately, the seasick feeling only lasted the first three months of my Great Expectation. Otherwise, I believe Ed may have jumped the matrimonial ship completely. Bad enough to come home everyday to a wife with sheet marks all over her face, a cold kitchen as well made the future look pretty grim.

Young mothers are very resourceful when they need Quiet Time. I had a friend who was pregnant with Precious Baby #2 when Precious Baby #1 was 14 months old. My friend was desperate for a nap and #1 was not remotely interested in closing her Baby Blues for even a quick snooze. Desperate Mama closed the door of the Baby Darling's room with both of them in there, made sure all the child-proofing was in place, sprinkled the floor with Baby #1's favorite toys and climbed into the crib herself for  40 winks. Precious Toddler was perfectly happy to cruise around the room playing with her Fisher-Price collection and my exhausted friend was handy, although unconscious, in the baby bed. Now THAT is grace under pressure!

Now that I am beyond the child-rearing years, naps still have so much to offer. There are many nights when sleep eludes me,  so recharging with a Power Nap after hiking several hours in the morning is heavenly. I open all the windows, let the mountain breezes and bird songs take me away to the Land of Nod for an hour (or maybe two) and wake up refreshed and restored. The dog is a big fan of The Nap after a morning chasing chipmunks and running in-and-out of streams, so she plops down on her dog bed and snores right along with me.

I invite you to partake of a nap, now and then. Just close your eyes, think back to those early days when you would finally give in to the softness of your favorite pillow and blankey, and surrender to slumber for just a little while. The rest of your day will be ever-so-much-more pleasant for you and your loved ones, I promise. Repeat after me: "THIS is my Quiet Time...

Sweet Dreams.

And the Livin' Is Easy

So, summer is flying by and I can't help but wonder how it can already be almost the middle of July. Here in the mountains, we have only just begun to have any rain at all. The hiking trails have been very dusty, the wild flowers somewhat sparse. Now, that the rains seem to be sputtering to a start, I am looking forward to wild strawberries and raspberries on the edge of the trail.  There is nothing tastier!

We had a great 4th of July with family and friends, the fishing has been good for those who love to fish, the conversation at the end of the day has been lively with lots of laughter and memories of past summers and adventures. The dog has managed to catch a brook trout by the tail (briefly), have an encounter with a porcupine (unfortunately), and learn that baby calves' mothers are not to be trifled with (thankfully). She also caught a chipmunk and drowned it by dunking it repeatedly in the river when it refused to quit squirming. We have to call it The Circle of Life to keep from getting too maudlin around here.

I swear I am reading. I may not write about my book(s) until the end of the summer because aforementioned book(s) is/are extremely lengthy. I have also developed an addiction to playing Spider. For the uninitiated, Spider is a form of Solitaire available on IPad. It is a great way to end the day. It would probably be a great way to spend the day, but I am saved from that fate by the call of the outdoors and a dog who will only put up with a modicum of inactivity during daylight hours.

I am meeting one or two of my daughters in Aspen this weekend for a "girl trip." It is a chance for me to get haircut and color, go to great boutiques and restaurants with them, ride mountain bikes down to town from Maroon Bells, and just delight in the company of my precious girls.

Enjoy this summer with those you love. Play washers and pitch horseshoes, shoot targets at the gun range, fish and float some beautiful water, do jigsaw puzzles, play Bananagram, Scrabble, and Uno, climb a tree, build a fort or hide-out in the woods, hold hands and walk a road at sunset. Cook something new, invite friends over for homemade ice cream or watermelon. Wade in the creek, swim in a lake or river, ride a horse, play "Fetch" with a dog. Time is fleeting. Life is short. Savor every moment.

Summertime

   It might appear that I have been slacking off as far as reading goes. I can hardly believe that there hasn't been a new post on my website since March. I will give reasons (you might insert "excuses", if that suits you) for my lack of posting.

1. For the first 2 months, I didn't read anything I considered blog-worthy. Yes, I have been reading, but mostly very fluffy, uninteresting stuff. One of my biggest faults is an inability to close a book and walk away once I have started it, no matter how bad the book may be. What is the reason for such nonsense? Simply, I cannot imagine spending money on a Kindle download or an actual book and not finishing it. I am definitely a product of my VERY thrifty Scottish, Irish and German forebearers. Also, Hope Springs Eternal that the book will actually get better if I continue reading it. The number of times THAT has actually happened I can count on one hand!

2. I spent a few weeks in there recovering from hand and arm surgery. (Do I hear the sound of violins and soft, murmuring sighs and sobs?) I will not bore my readers with the details. Suffice it to say, it was follow-up surgery to remove scar tissue and plates from an unfortunate automobile  accident a couple of years ago. Typing was out-of-the-question for awhile is all I am saying. Excuse or reason? You be the judge.

3. I have migrated to the cabin in Creede. Now, that is not actually a reason  not to write all by itself. But, coming to the cabin  causes amazing physiological, psychological and spiritual changes. After the flurry of activity to "get settled", i.e., unpack, move around furniture, fill hummingbird feeders, wonder Why On Earth I brought so many clothes that I will not wear and forgot the pecans in the freezer, my Capo for my guitar, the right socks for hiking and my favorite sweater, it is TIME TO PLAY OUTSIDE. Playing Outside entails any number of activities depending on who is participating.  My husband,  Ed, considers fence-building, water-line laying, collecting river rocks for a fireplace,  transplanting willows, putting the boat together and fly-fishing as splendid ways to pass the time. I have a different approach. Hiking, hiking and hiking are on my daily agenda. With my dog, Babe, I can wander around these mountains for hours on end. Every hike holds the possibility of adventure, good and bad. We have been chased off the trail by coyotes, we have watched Canadian geese teach their babies to swim, we have been pelted with hail, rain, sleet and snow, and watched the sun set in a glory of pink, violet and orange. I have fallen into creeks on water crossings gone bad and shivered for the two
hour walk back to the car at the trailhead. I have learned to Be Still. I can sit on a rock by a stream and listen to the water until I am hypnotized by its sound, or climb up, up, up to an aspen grove that is a perfect place to have a picnic of peanut butter crackers and water that I share with my faithful Labrador.

The mountains are a spiritual stronghold for me. I can let go of all the trappings and complications of my life and revel in this place of indescribable beauty and grandeur. The smaller I am in my surroundings, the greater the significance of each labored breath as I climb.  The gratitude I feel for being right here, in each step, is profound. I understand why John Muir wrote "The mountains are calling, and I must go." The summons cannot be ignored and the rewards afforded by the solitude and struggle fill my soul and heart completely. I am at peace.

So, I have wandered around for the past couple of weeks on my favorite trails and re-acclimated (somewhat) to the thin air and the rocky paths I follow. But, I am reading, too. I will relate my latest discovery in literature when I finish it. In the meantime, I urge you to go play outside- alone or with friends and family. You will not be sorry.

North, To Alaska

   I have to confess to being quite overwhelmed by the current media obsession with All-Things- Alaska. It seems that there is suddenly a plethora of reality television shows devoted to our 49th state. On any given day, one can view Deadliest Catch, Ice Truckers, Flying Wild Alaska, Gold Rush, and Sarah Palin's Alaska. Every single show fascinates me- perhaps, because I became enamored with Alaska when my husband and I visited several years ago. In fact, we became such fans of Southeast Alaska's Tongass Wilderness, that we try to return ever year to hike, kayak, fly-fish, watch whales, bears, birds and just revel in the glory of old-growth forests in the largest temperate rainforest in the world.

   The beauty, wildness and lure of Alaska cannot  be overstated. Although HD television goes a long way in showing the breath-taking panoramas and natural vistas, as well as the dangerous remoteness of much of the state, visiting Alaska is far superior to an armchair tour by remote control. The state is extreme in every way imaginable- the temperature fluctuations, the sheer number of species of flora and fauna, the vastness of the land relative the number of people who inhabit it, the natural resources that bless the land above and below the surface. It only stands to reason that a place this unusual, this far away geographically, must have an extraordinary history.

   On our first Alaskan eco-adventure, Ed and I were fortunate to be with a group of very learned and respected students of Southeast's geography, geology, ecology and history. A book that kept coming up in lectures and conversation was Where the Sea Breaks Its Back, by Corey Ford. As the cover states, it is "The Epic Story of Early Naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska." Prior to our visit, I was completely ignorant of Georg Steller, the young German naturalist, scientist, botanist, and physician who accompanied Vitus Bering on his ill-fated expedition to the Aleutian Islands. Steller was a brilliant, tenacious, complicated man. He discovered, on his brief trip ashore, Steller's Jay, Steller's Eider, Steller's Eagle, and Steller's White Raven.  In the ocean, Steller's Sea Cow, Steller's Sea Monkey, and Steller's Greenling are all credited to him, as well as the first recordings of flora and fauna of the new land discovered in the far reaches of the North Pacific. The path that led to the Aleutian Islands was tortured for the men who made the voyage with Bering and Steller. The return to Russia was even more perilous, and the member's of the expedition aboard the St. Peter suffered some of the most horrific experiences of Arctic exploration. Where the Sea Breaks Its Back is a story that explores the personalities, politics, and plans that led to the Bering expedition's sputtering start and tragic ending. It is a riveting tale of the race among nations to find a new way to the New World and claim the resources there.

   No matter what you have read about the early history of Alaska and the vast numbers of fur-bearing animals that inhabited it, this book will astound and shock you. The wholesale slaughter of sea otters that led them to the brink of extinction is sickening. The treatment and slavery that was endured by the native people is heart-breaking.  This story is a cautionary tale that presents a rational, historical argument for good stewardship of the land and waters that is Alaska. No matter how peculiar and difficult Steller was, he was, first and foremost, a brilliant  scientist and naturalist. Surely, no one else could have recorded so faithfully and accurately  observations of a land so strange and wonderful. Sadly, some of his discoveries were extinct within only a few years of his voyage and we have only his sketches and descriptions of these lost species.

   If you enjoy adventure,  real and historical, then Ford's book is a must-read. If you are just interested in channel-surfing, I understand a new series on Alaska taxidermy begins in April. Either way, Alaska and its ongoing evolution is compelling. I urge anyone who has the slightest desire to see what all the fuss is about to book a trip as soon as possible.

The Game's Afoot!

   Who doesn't love Sherlock Holmes?  The razor- sharp intellect, ascerbic wit, aching melancholy and mystery of his personality- I adore the character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I loved all the Holmes stories, and still enjoy watching the old Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone, the Young Sherlock Holmes movie, and the latest Holmes incarnation featuring Robert Downey, Jr. Yes, there have been many different actors playing Holmes and Watson, and I have enjoyed watching most of them.

   I do, however, often take exception when writers attempt to ride the coat tails of highly successful authors of iconic books and characters. Everyone has read sequels to long-standing classics written years later that are grievously disappointing. Most attempts to extend the stories of beloved heroes and heroines fall very flat.

   There are, happily, exceptions to these botched attempts.  Laurie R. King has taken the beloved Mr. Holmes, Watson and others into their respective futures and done a commendable job of it. What if Sherlock Holmes were to meet and fall in love with a young (very young) woman who is as complicated and intelligent he is? Enter, Mary Russell, in Ms. King's book, The Bee Keeper's Apprentice. Mary Russell and Holmes meet under very interesting circumstances at a low point in each of their lives. They develop a mentor- student relationship which, over time, blossoms into a delightful and totally plausible romance given their shared interests, individual quirks, eccentricities and intelligence. And, perhaps best of all, THIS IS A SERIES! As I have written before, I hate coming to the end of a rollicking good tale with well-developed characters. It is just depressing to finish a book and wonder, "But then what happened to them? I am invested in these people, dammit!" Not to worry with Mary and Sherlock- there are quite a few books after the first one and they are fun to read. Ms. King gives little history lessons along the way, and many of the people to cross paths with Sherlock and Mary are straight out of the early 20th century. You've got to love it!

   Purists, give this series a chance, I implore you. I, too, was skeptical of the concept, but these books have good characters, great atmosphere and plot development, and are not even slightly cheesy or silly.

   I am told that some followers of this blog (do I actually have followers?!?!) are perusing it for possible book club selections. The Bee Keeper's Apprentice would be a perfect choice for group discussion.

   But, that is, "Elementary, my dear Watson."