Spring is taking a long time to get here this year. We finally had some sunny warm weather the last two days but the evenings were rainy with prolonged thunderstorms. It's going to rain all day today and temperatures are going to drop again for a few days but there were some small signs of spring among the mess of last year's garden: crocuses and the first of the daffodils are trying to break through. I was so happy to see them!
Also robins have been spotted both by eyes and by ears, I just love their happy songs this time of year and I hung the finch feeder on Sunday, they finally noticed it yesterday and I got to see the bright cheery yellow outside my kitchen window.
Spring break was less than stellar. More cold miserable weather that kept us indoors. Fortunately books were read and a puzzle was worked on. I thought the Winter break puzzle was a challenge, well for Spring break I picked a black and white panorama of New York.
Needless to say we are still working on it
Hopefully it will be done this weekend as the kids are sleeping over.
I have been trying to keep up with my reading goal of two books a week. One audio and one either paper or ebook seems to work. Don't know how this will be during the summer as I have less time to myself, but I am going to make an effort to keep it up.
I have been listening to two podcasts about books: Books on the Nightstand and Literary Disco. Both are excellent and fun to listen to.
I have been feverishly adding to my wish list on the library site and have read many of the Books On the Nightstand recommendations. I have yet to hit a bad suggestion. I am also following the short story arc. Anne Kingman has challenged herself to read a short story a day for 2013 which she has designated Project Short Story I am not quite that ambitious but I am reading some of the suggested short stories, especially the ones that are readily accessible on the internet or library or on podcasts, such as Selected Shorts and The New Yorker Fiction.
I had some misgivings about tackling short stories. They have never been on my radar so I have not been exposed to the genre since high school and college days. But I read a few of the first suggestions and have been pulled in. It is truly a unique writing style and takes an amazing ability to give the reader a completely satisfying story in a few paragraphs.
A really wonderful experience was listening to Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt" read by Stephen Colbert while taking the kids to the Botanical Gardens. It was a "driveway moment" to have them want to sit in the car when we got home and finish the story and then have them say "That was great!"
I have to try to remember the stories I've read so far this year and make a list. It might be a goal to try and read one or two a week.
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