Treehouse Jukebox: Adventures In Earth

Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring

down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring

I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue

like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:

how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else

my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her –
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.

~ Mary Oliver

I’m starting on a new adventure soon. The Kundalini Yoga Adventure!

*cue music*

Wiki describes it thusly:

“Kundalini yoga is a physical and meditative discipline, comprising a set of simple techniques that uses the mind, senses and body to create a communication between “mind” and “body”. Kundalini yoga focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body’s potential for maturation, giving special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system in the understanding of yogic awakening.”

This going to be a major adventure for me. I’ve never done yoga before, except for a few poses along with the TV. I’ve wanted to start for years, but many things prevented it - mainly anxiety.

Now, I think I am ready to do it and I’ve focussed in on the kind of yoga I want to try. Saturday morning should find me setting foot into a yoga studio. I’ll let you know what happens…

Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is…

What’s the most desperate thing you’ve read because it was the only available reading material?

If it was longer than a cereal box or an advertisement, did it turn out to be worth your while?

I know I have perused odd magazines while sitting in waiting rooms. And on occasion I have read and re-read brochures I’d picked up somewhere along the line and stuffed in my bag.

But really this doesn’t come up too often for me, because I am very much of the If You Might Possibly Need A Book, Bring One school. Also, our car is full of books.

Yes, it’s true. There’s not good public transit around here, so we take our car everywhere. We very rarely have any passengers in the back seat, so that seat is free to be…a bookshelf! There are at least 20 books neatly lined up back there, I’d say.

If a reading emergency strikes…I am prepared!!

As you read here, each Wednesday in June I’m asking a book-related question. Answer in the comments and you’ll be entered into the drawing for a booky prize at the start of July! Each comment on a Wednesday Book Question Post will count as a entry, so be sure to comment at least four times this month!

Today’s Question (is not in the form of a question):

Tell me about a book (or series) that may not be well-known, but that you really enjoyed and would like to recommend to others.

Tell me as much or as little about the book in the comments. That’ll enter you in the drawing for booky prizes and also give me and your fellow comment-makers some new reading list ideas!

It’s the last Wednesday in June already! So, this is the last Wednesday Book Question. Thanks so much to everybody whose participated. I’ve had a great time! Comments on the four WBQ posts will be considered entries in the contest as long as their made by the end of the day Friday, June 29th (whenever that day ends where you are). I’ll announce the winner next week.

****

Here’s a book and the start of a series that I think is much too unknown: Cordelia Underwood: Or, The Marvelous Beginnings of the Moosepath League by Van Reid.

The series starts out in the year 1898 in Maine. You can read a bit about the plot(s) using the link above, so I won’t repeat that. (I do think the plot descriptions there sound watery and fluffy, though. Try the book to find out what it’s really about.) 

What makes these books so great is…well, many things. They’re written in the style of the time, but with enlightened sensibilities (you will not find racism or sexism here). The plots are complex and engaging, but there’s also a lot of lighter whimsy. The Moosepath League are charming and inspiring. Their motto is: Curiosity, Humor, Compassion, and Tolerance. I love it.

These books are smart an interesting, but very positive. I come away from them feeling comforted and kinder. Those a big pluses to me.

You can find Van Reid’s Moosepath League site here. The author seems like a great person. He and Pine have exchanged some very nice emails.

These books got some attention when the first one came out, but I think they deserve a much wider readership. Try one and see what you think.

***

Now…your turn!

One of the things I love about this blog is the fact that I can do a post whose sole purpose is to say: Hey! This looks neat! Here’s one of those posts.

Some Summery Drink Recipes:

Citrus Blueberry Slushy

Mint Tea Punch

and an Iced Tea

And now are you ready for a sweet, piratical kitty? I thought you might be.

This is Winky the Pirate Sweater Kitty! Isn’t he adorable? He’s available for sale here, at the FluffyFlowers etsy shop. I really love Winky’s whiskers.

What’s “PBM,” you ask? It’s Picture Books Monday!
Or Picture Book Mondays!
I’m not sure which.

But my plan is to shortly and sweetly highlight a picture book here each Monday.

My purpose: To share good books with you. We all know picture books are fun for kids, but some of forget that as adults we are free to keep on enjoying them. They’re quick, often visually inspiring, and fun.

Getting down to business:

This week’s PBM book is The Octonauts and The Only Lonely Monster by Meomi.

Why Read It: Cuteness and more cuteness and also serious adorableness. Great design, layout, and colors. Good story, too.

Themes: Friendship. Being unique/unusual is good.

Bonus Bits: Meomi has a great Octonauts site here. You can print out coloring pages, download free desktops, etc.

I finished the 2nd baby bootie!

It turned out pretty well, except for one thing. The picture that went along with this pattern showed a ruffled edge. The first bootie had a straight edge and I thought: Well, this picture isn’t so accurate, is it!

But the second one does have a ruffled edge.

Oh. I guess it was me, not the pattern, that wasn’t so accurate.

So, I have a pair of booties now! They just don’t quite match.

I’ve been tagged! DaveP tagged me with the 7 Things Meme. I don’t know if that’s what it’s really called, but we can call it that. We could also call it How to Speak Russian with Squirrels. Anyway!

Apparently the rules are the you write 7 things about yourself, then tag 7 other people to do the same. And so it continues.

1. I love novelty erasors. I think they’re painfully adorable and if I was going to purposefully collect something - they might be it.

2. Amongst my favorite movies are: Amelie, Travellers & Magicians, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Big Lebowski.

3. I’m a big believer in reusable bags - tote bags, string bags, etc. There’s almost never a situation where you need to use a disposable plastic bag if you have some reusable bags. They cut down on waste and litter and they’re a billion times stronger than plastic bags. Reusable bags!

4. I love good food. One place I can spend way too much money is the grocery store (cue reusable bags).

5. I like to be barefoot or in just socks or sandals as much as possible. Shoes? No, thanks.

6. I am very impressed by things that are handmade, people that are very skilled at making things, etc. I think there’s a lot of beauty and magic in handmade items (socks, bread, chairs, etc.) - perhaps especially now that so many things are made by machine. (No offense, Machines.)

7. I currently track 198 feeds on bloglines.

That was harder than I expected. Why?

Well, I guess it’s time to tag people, but I don’t really like to tag. So, if you read this and want to do this meme - please do! And please leave me a comment so I can check out your post. The end!

As you read here, each Wednesday in June I’m asking a book-related question. Answer in the comments and you’ll be entered into the drawing for a booky prize at the start of July! Each comment on a Wednesday Book Question Post will count as a entry, so be sure to comment at least four times this month!

Today’s Question:

What are you reading?

Tell me as much or as little (but at least the title) about the book as you like.

***

Yes, today’s question is a simple one. I don’t know about your part of the world, but here we’ve been hit with a heat wave. It’s been about a billion degrees every day. Just hot and then more hot. So, my brain is melting and today’s question is that basic one we often ask friends: What are you reading?

There’s what I’m reading. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert.I heard about this book when it first came out last year and added it to my to-read list. Books can dwell on that list for a long, very long, time, but in between then and now Pine read this book and told me I had to read it. And now I am and it’s great. I am really enjoying it. A lot.

It’s funny, sincere, wise, and down-to-earth. I’ve just started the third section of the book - Indonesia. This is a book I know I’ll be sad to finish.

Now, your turn!

I’ve had this phrase in my head today: how to fly.

I don’t know why, but there it is.

So, I went online to see what that phrase would bring up. Here’s one thing I found, by Jenny Mills.

To fly you must pick up the feathers
that have landed to the ground outside
and save them
You need enough for wings

Glue them tightly to yourself
so when you open your arms and run
the currents float you up
above a grid laid out in streets
the earthbound river racing you
as you climb higher to chase the birds

You will never oversleep again
or dye your underwear pink in the wash
worry about peanut butter allergies
or collecting dust

Though you don’t have hollow bones
like Icarus you cast your wings towards the sun
Gravity is a fool’s restriction
and passing planes are just machines
for those who don’t believe