Von Arnim, Rediscovered

About a year before California happened for me I was reading a daily devotional with my mother by Sarah Ban Breathnach entitled "Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy." (They don't have it for my Kindle yet, but...) At one point in Ban Breathnach's writings she mentions a book that she recommends, called "The Enchanted April."

I didn't go out and pick up the book right away, but one day at the Greene County Library I thought, "Hey, what's that book I was going to look up? Some woman with three words in her name. Something about an April." I approached the librarian's desk with the same shyness as Francie Nolan and offered my scanty information for the search.

"THE ENCHANTED APRIL!" the woman cried out. "Yes, Yes! You will absolutely LOVE it!" We located the book, I checked it out with my white and green library card, and away I went. It sat on my end table a few days, and then I took it out to the balcony, with Bess in one slouch chair and I in the hammock chair among our mint and container garden flowers, and I started to read.

I DID fall in love. The prose was simple, pure, the narrator honest and innocent, and the setting downright restorative. (And nope, I am NOT going to tell you the premise of the book. Go find the damn thing. You'll need it.) It became my second favorite book of all time (after "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn," that is, but that book has the same wonder in child form); ripe with optimism and travel and sunshine and sea and did I mention travel? "The Enchanted April" gave me a world to hope for seeing.

Somewhat jaded by the experience of California, I smiled with new and different hope when I was browsing the Kindle bookstore this morning and found among my recommendations Elizabeth Von Arnim, "The Solitary Summer." Looks good. Bought that. Then I did a book search by author.

My God.

There's my girl. :)

*Little known fact about Von Arnim, by the way...she is the cousin of another down-under writer named Katherine Mansfield.

Ah, my sweet Lord, let the gift of April restoreth my soul. I want the innocence and hope of world travel back.

Take me out of the warehouse and to a sea cliff.

Go See the Tiger

This past Christmas season when there was an "issue" at the San Francisco Zoo that provoked the killing of humans and tigers, I mentioned the idea that maybe, just maybe, if we wanted to see a tiger bad enough we should grow some balls and go see it in its natural environment.

Lately I have been eating my way through "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and in chapter three have dawned to another thought that you could say spins off of the "go-see-the-tiger" sentiment, and that is the exportation of food from other countries. Yes, without exportation we would never get to taste champagne or prosciutto, but wouldn't half the fun of visiting France and Italy be in finally getting to taste those things?

There is the argument, says co-author and author's husband Steven Hopp, that by purchasing imported food we are "contributing to developing countries." But, Steven says, that argument is lost on the fact that corporate brokers of the import are the ones making the lion's share (pardon the word choice) of the profit, while the farmer reaping the harvest in Brazil makes little more than "$6 a day." Something to think about--there's always a company making money from something that's compromised to the end user. Flowers, raspberries, bananas, certain cheeses, etc all have to come from overseas. My mother tried a pineapple once, and got a fruit the size of a hand gernade, but there's a reason God doesn't want you building the Tower of Babel in Ohio. Mom's pineapple looked cute but tasted like wood.

I'm not advocating giving up any imported food, although I would like to. Still, I want to keep the few friends that I have, and I just discovered lamb about 4 years ago, and I don't think they raise much lamb in the Bay Area. The thought process is this, however. Kingsolver's family is starting out with some weeding out, so to speak. They begin their adventure with limiting themselves to picking out just one thing each that they can't live without. Mr. Hopp picked my favorite, COFFEE.

Although, if I moved to Hawaii I could get that locally along with Mom's attempt: a nature-intended pineapple.

Make a trip once a year to visit food and wild animals...try to buy local when you can...try keeping to mass transit...suddenly, SUDDENLY, my reason for being here seems a bit more clear. Try to the local stuff wherever I live. THAT is the big adventure.

Mmmmm....what to taste NEXT? :)

Visiting New York Never Easy

Saw this movie on Saturday night...and fell in love with it. There seem to be more and more movie comments on the Patriot Act and immigration--I wish I knew the balance between Ellis Islands and boxcutters.

I wonder if there is a balance?

More on this movie to come.

The Other Shoe

Lots of natural disasters coming around lately...

Perhaps Someone is asking if we have saved for a rainy day.