My Thoughts

I am truly enjoying reading the novels of Willa Cather recently.  Set in the Plains states during the late 1800s, I am getting an opportunity to experience what would've been the life of my Swedish ancestors.  Many of Cather's main characters are of Swedish descent, and the reasons for their migration across the Great Plains was often financial opportunity and the promise of carving out a life.  Although fictional, much of Cather's life is recorded in these stories.  I did not select the Cather novels because of these factors.  In fact, I had no idea what she wrote.  I just knew her name. Imagine my great surprise when the topics of her novels allowed me to connect with my Swedish ancestry.  To date, I have completed "My Antonia" and "O Pioneers".  I have started "Song of the Lark"; I am not sure what to think about it yet. My other trip through history comes with "Downton Abbey".  It only offers a glimpse of history related to th

As the sky began to wake this morning to the melody of morning doves and pigeons, I sat with my first cup of coffee in hopes of finding something on cable to distract (interest) me while I had some time to myself.  I love this time of the morning when the world is just beginning to wake and I am left alone to my own devices.  Often, I spend this time reading (blogs, news stories, book reviews).  It's sorta my "New York Times" review of those things that interest me.  Twenty years ago, I read "USA Today" and "Newsweek" and sometimes threw in "People" or "TV Guide".  The advent of the internet has significantly altered this pattern of reading.  In fact, I am surprised that many newspapers and magazines are still in circulation in paper form. Finding "Julie and Julia" on cable, I settled in for what I thought would be an hour or two of relaxing.  That goal soon changed.  Catching the movie at the beginning, I was so motivat