Reading In the Rain

 (This was supposed to run a few days ago, but I guess I didn't schedule it correctly.)

"Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain." I don't remember a July with such lovely long rainstorms as we've had this past week or so.  July storms in my experience are usually more boom and flash than substance. It's been wonderful to have deep soaking rain during the hottest part of the summer.  It hardly seems fair that the rain I'm loving is creating havoc in other parts of the world. Some places are getting too much rain, causing flooding, and other places are so dry, water is restricted and horrible fires are destroying every dry morsel before them. 

Have you noticed that books are like rain?  Some are cool and refreshing.  They soak  in giving rise to knowledge, pleasure, and personal growth. Often they inspire the reader to be a better person, to stand up for beliefs and principles, to think deeper thoughts, and set loftier goals. Some are light sprinkles; they entertain for a moment, then are forgotten.  Then there are those like a severe drought, devoid of anything of worth. They appeal to those who care only about their own whims and pleasures.  They waste precious time and leave minds barren and discouraged.  

We don't all have the same taste in reading material and that's a good thing, but within almost every genre lurks both refreshing rain and dismal drought. I've always read a wide range of genres and my favorites have varied from time to time, but always I enjoy books that uplift over those which leave me depressed.  (If I want to be depressed I just turn on the TV and watch world news!) In my weekly review column I try to give readers a preview of one uplifting new book each week. 

As a reviewer for an LDS magazine, I don't often get to pick which books I read, but I'm seldom disappointed with the books that fall within the parameters set for my column and which are sent to me by LDS publishers and authors.  I read books that appeal primarily to LDS adults and older teens.  They don't always have a direct reference to the Church, but they do portray values compatible with Church teachings.  Of course I don't review every book I receive, but I try to read all of them. My reasons for reviewing some and not others depends on a number of factors. It's not dependant entirely on the book being the best book, but on the overall impression it gave me, whether it's something fresh and new, whether I've recently reviewed a book that dealt with the same subject matter or was written by the same author, how well it was researched, and sometimes if the errors and format made reading the book more chore than pleasure. I don't review teen books unless there's a strong adult interest cross over and I don't review books that use crude language. Lately there has been a flurry of excellent novellas printed and I don't review those either except as part of my annual Christmas column. 

Hmm!  What shall I read next?  Should it be a romantic suspense by one of my favorite authors who never disappoints me?  Or the new author with an intriguing world view premise?  There's nothing else quite like curling up with a good book while the rain beats a rhythmic tune on the window pane.

 

Thanks!

This isn't a blog as much as a thank you to my grandsons.  I've certainly learned grandsons are handy to have around. I have eight grandsons and during the past little while they've come to my rescue numerous times. (I have five wonderful granddaughters too, but today is for "the boys.")

Spencer has kept our lawn mowed while his grandfather recovers from his injury. Jayden removed a vent I can't reach and fixed it so I have air-conditioning in my office.  Calton picked up a huge bag of pinecones that were littering the lawn and flowerbeds.  When we get together for family events, it's David and Nathan I can count on to haul chairs from the basement, set them up, and put them away afterward. David has also taught me a few helpful computer pointers.  Conner and Brandon are the ones I count on to make dozens of trips up and down the stairs to get things for me, they put away dishes left on the table, and help tend the little girls. Conner has assured me he'll mow the lawn anytime Spencer can't.   Right now I'm feeling particularly grateful for Chris, who fixed my desktop computer,  improved the connection for my new laptop, and did the same for my husband's computers. He works so much overtime it was difficult for him to find time to look at my computer when it died almost two weeks ago, but was finally able to schedule a few hours.  It's working better now than it did when it was new.  In today's world, it's a good thing to have an IT man in the family!

Being a grandparent is great and I've had a lot of fun doing things for my grandchildren, playing with them, going to their games, concerts, and recitals, buying them things, taking them places, etc.  I've enjoyed doing things for them, but with the health problems my husband and I have faced over the past two years, it's been rewarding and something I hadn't anticipated, how much they've done for us. Thanks guys!

 

Crisis to Crisis

I was once asked to describe my lifestyle.  At the time I thought that was a dumb question so I flippantly responded  "crisis to crisis." How true that turned out to be.

After losing both a brother and a sister to cancer and almost two years of fighting my way through two knee replacement surgeries, a pancreas surgery, followed by a fourth surgery to completely remove my  luck.  Or maybe this is the new normal. Four weeks ago my husband stood on a platform sawhorse to boost a sheet of plywood onto the roof of the shed he's building.  There was a sudden strong gust of wind that sent him and the plywood crashing to the cement below. Though no bones were broken his back, hip, and knee were seriously sprained. He's getting around on crutches now and will begin physical therapy next week. That put an end to most of the travel plans we had for this month and kept me so busy I didn't get much writing done.

And about the book I'm working on.  I finally reached the point where I could do between 500 and 1000 words a day and both of my computers died. Fortunately the chapters I've written are saved on a thumb drive.  I bought a new laptop, a DELL with all the bells and whistles, but I'm convinced the new Windows 8.1 was designed by a sadist! Also it connects to the internet just fine at Best Buy, but back home it won't run without an ethernet cable connection.  I really need my oldest grandson to come for a visit!

I've mentioned before that I'm a news junkie.  That's what comes of years of being a news reporter and editor; it never quite gets out of your blood.  However today's news  is so depressing and scary it makes my personal problems look like nothing in comparison.

I'm not a naturally pessimistic person so I keep telling myself to think of good and happy things.  Well, let's see.  My insulin pump saves me four to six shots a day.  That's definitely good. We're enjoying peppers, onions, potatoes, beets, and chard from our garden and they're very good. My flowers have been beautiful this summer.  I've had a good supply of excellent books to read and review this summer. I'll have a story called Santa Loves Me in my publisher's Christmas anthology called Christmas Treasures    which will be released in October. A grandson has kept our lawn mowed since his grandpa was injured. And though I'm a day late my new computer will let me post this blog. 

I found Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm a tiresome book when I was a kid, but I have to admit, if we really try we can find an up side to most discouraging events. 

Proud to Be An American

Even with all of the problems our country currently faces, I'm proud to be an American.  Those words have resonated with me ever since I attended a convention a few years back and the man seated behind me suddenly stood and began singing those words.  He was nearly down the aisle, striding toward the podium before I realized he was Lee Greenwood. It was an exhilarating experience, but I've always been glad I was born in the USA.  I take great pride in knowing someone in my family took part in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, both World Wars, the Korean War, Vietnam, and Iraq. My family has been represented in all four branches of the military. I come from a long line of patriots who fought for freedom.

Even more important than military service is the way my family, like our country, is built from a conglomeration of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. My mother is a descendant of some of our country's earliest European settlers.  My father grew up in Canada and his grandmother was a runaway wife of an English nobleman. She joined the Mormon Church and was disowned by her husband. She then stole her children and fled to America.  Another of my great grandmothers, a native American, grew up on an Indian reservation in the eastern part of this country.  One of my brothers-in-law is part Shoshone and another is a descendant of the Trail of Tears Choctaws. My husband's great grandfather was a Danish fisherman, a descendant of the fierce Vikings.  One of our nieces married a Japanese-Hawaiian man, a nephew and his wife adopted three African children, our daughter-in-law's father is Puerto Rican and her mother, Hispanic, and another niece adopted five Russian children.  Our oldest grandson's wife is from Russia. Throw in a few kings, queens, pirates, outlaws, bootleggers, preachers, farmers, cowboys, a cobbler, an express rider, and a Mountie to complete the family picture.

When I hear of the limits on education, particularly for girls, in some countries, I want to weep.  I'm grateful for the public education and the choice of colleges I attended here in America.  I feel great gratitude for those who taught me to read and write. I'm thankful for the freedom to attend the church of my choice.  My life has been richly blessed with the family I grew up in and the family I parented as an equal partner with the man I chose to marry.  America is a land of great beauty and I appreciate my upbringing in the mountains and along the streams of the west, but many of the cities from Seattle to San Antonio from Salt Lake to Washington DC hold special places in my heart as well.  I love the freedom this country affords me to work and play, the choices it gives me, and the expectation of fairness.

Of course, there aren't always happy outcomes, even in the land of the free. Though this country's constitution is based on justice and freedom for all, I can think of many injustices that have occurred throughout our nation's history.  Many of those injustices touched my family.  The Trail of Tears was a horrible example of injustice as native families were forced off their rich tribal lands into a long march to barren Oklahoma land with many suffering and dying along the way.  One of my ancestors, a young man from Wales lacked the means to build a handcart to travel west in the 1850s so he indentured himself to raise the money for a later trip.  He disappeared and the rumor persists that because he was a dark skinned Welshman, he was sold south as a slave.  Just recently a family member who has risked his life numerous times to save others and who has been awarded two Purple Hearts for wounds he suffered in our nation's armed forces, was the victim of a court case based on a lie and the liar won. 

Immigration, jobs, freedom of religion, medical care, racial animosity, war, bullying, education, politics, energy development, biased journalism, judicial activism, homosexual rights, and the list could continue of those issues that divide our country. Some of the solutions proposed by both the left and right are absurd.  (I heard one opinionated man propose a law that for every illegal alien who crosses our Southern border we deport a liberal democrat to wherever the illegal came from.)  We won't solve anything with absurd one-sided nonsense. We're not going to solve these problems by not getting involved.  We won't solve them by shifting responsibility to a bigger and more powerful central government anymore than we'll resolve these problems by tossing out the rule of law and becoming a bunch of vigilantes. On this Fourth of July, our nation's birthday, it might be well to remember this country has a constitution, one many of us believe was inspired by God.  It is our own unique set of laws by which this country is to be governed and by no other. Real solutions come through open discussion, compromise, respect for others, and turning to God.     

America isn't perfect.  Our history has its share of heroic events, dark tragedies, idealistic splendor, and cruel injustice.  It isn't enough to say "but it's better than any other country in spite of its faults."  It's up to us to be aware and be involved, to make it the best. Though I respect and admire all the many lands my family derived from and wish them well, even cheer for them in sporting events unless they're playing America, the USA is my native land and I'm proud to be an American. 

It's customary on birthdays to wish the one celebrating a birthday many more birthdays.  On this birthday of America it is my fervent wish that all we Americans in our various shades of red, white, and blue get our act together and make sure we have many more birthdays to celebrate in the future. Let's ensure many more Fourth of July celebrations by standing up for what is right, getting involved, and appreciating what we have.