Insatiable Appetite for Reading

Doesn't it figure that the year I loosen my reading expectations, lower my book reading goal on Goodreads, and quit my book club, is the year that I develop an insatiable appetite for reading.

Last week I had to increase my reading goal on Goodreads from 30 books to 40 books for the year. I was seven books ahead of schedule and it is only the end of March.

I recently finished Stephen King's book On Writing. His top piece of advise to writers is "read a lot and write a lot". I am well on my way this year, although I did feel a bit sheepish when Stephen said he is a slow reader, finishing only 80-90 books per year. If he is slow, I am almost comatose. We won't talk about how many words he writes a day.

I usually have a tangible book, and an e-book going at the same time. The great thing about e-books is that I can be reading it on my iPad and then when I have to wait somewhere, like the grocery story line or the doctor's office, I can continue to read the book on my iPhone. I recently have taken the plunge into audio books. I love listening to a book while I am at the gym, it is a great motivator. I want to keep listening to the story.

I have also found that if small talk isn't your God given gift, being a reader helps you to find a topic to discuss. If you read enough you are bound to find common ground. On our recent cruise with some of my husband's co-workers and their spouses, I found this very helpful (small talk not being my God given gift). I was reading Brave Girl Eating on my iPad on the plane. The book is written by the mother of a high school age daughter with anorexia, a well written book since the mother is a professor of journalism. That book was discussed many times over the course of our cruise, it is amazing to me how many people know somebody with an eating disorder.

I found Brave Girl Eating on BookBub.com (another recent addiction), it is all e-books, either on Amazon or iBooks. They send out a daily emails with the specials of the day, e-books ranging from free to $2.99. You choose the categories of books you are interested in when you sign up for the emails.

One of my favorite daily activities on the cruise was to wander the among the lounge chairs on the upper decks looking at the covers of books people were reading (this is one downfall of e-books), I am a sucker for a good book cover. I discovered a few good ones in my wanderings, one being The Widow by Fiona Barton. It was interesting to see how many people were reading the same book or the same author, I saw a lot of Jojo Moyes.

I didn't finish all the books I brought on the trip, but I did finish two and started two others.

The best moment came when we were at the Miami Airport on our way home, we had a couple of hours before our flight. I had had my share of sitting for the week, so I left my husband in charge of the carry-ons and wandered off towards the bookstore I had spotted on the way to our gate. I went in not with the intention of buying, only to capture interesting book covers with my iPhone. When I returned to our waiting area, my friend Stacy was back from her own wanderings. We discovered that we had each taken photos of book covers for future reading ideas. We compared photos.
Stacy's captures:

My captures:

These five have been added to my very long to-read list.

First Quarter Reads:

Tangible Books:
On Writing - Stephen King - 5 stars
Imagined London - Anna Quindlen - 3 stars
A Detroit Anthology - Anna Clark - 4 stars
Thunderstruck - Erik Larson - 2 stars
Wanderlust - Rebecca Solnit - 3 stars
The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp - 5 stars
All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr - 5 stars
The Storied Life of A.J. Fiery - Gabrielle Zevin - 5 stars
The Paris Wife - Paula McLain - 4 stars

E-Books:
Brave Girl Eating - Harriet Brown - 4 stars
The Longing for Home - Frederick Buechner - 4 stars

Audio Books:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris - 5 stars

Not a bad start for the year. I would love to hear what you are reading right now.

Obsessions

Writers need obsessions. Photographers need obsessions. Obsessions help us to develop the gifts and talents we have been given.

Last year was my year of obsessions, although this year seems to be shaping up the same way. Some obsessions are the same as last year, some old obsessions have been replaced by new ones.

The first few months of last year I was obsessed with my water project, I am reliving that obsession now as I reread my Morning Pages journal entries from last year. I was constantly obsessing over the weather, getting blog posts done, and taking photographs for those blog posts. I hope to not be as obsessed with one particular thing this year, I don't think I can stomach reading about it day after day next year.

I think the turning point to ending that singular obsession came one morning last April. It was a day for shirt sleeves, I was out exploring a county park I hadn't been to before. As I hiked along the soggy grass paths, I realized that life is too short to focus so much on one thing. I was missing out on all the other things I enjoy. Once I got back to the parking lot, I sat down at a picnic table next to the historic barn I had spent the morning photographing, I took my notebook and pen out of my backpack and began to make a list of all things that interest me, an obsession list. The list was long.

Finished with the list, I repacked my notebook and pen, gathered up my water bottle and backpack and returned to my car. I drove home with a new perspective, determined to not waste any more time ignoring all my other obsessions. Wouldn't life be more fun if I dabbled a little in all of them. When I got home, I transferred the list I had made in the notebook to the notes app. on my phone. I wanted to be able to see that list at any moment, and maybe even add to it.

This morning I went to the notes app. to see if the list was still there, it was. I haven't look at in a while or added to it, but the list did what it was suppose to do, it got me out of that single obsession rut.

Here is my list from April 2015, in no particular order:

• travel
• coffee shops
• people watching
• water
• barns
• iPhoneography
• leading lines
• self-portraiture
• food
• vintage items
• color
• walking
• parks
• Mallory
• Great Aunt Viola
• Grandma
• old buildings
• history
• reading
• small town life
• typography
• old signs
• decay

I thought I would make a new list for this year, here is my list as of March 2016:

• reading
• people watching
• writing
• storytelling photography
• walking
• learning
• handmade pottery mugs
• old buildings
• painterly landscape photo processing
• neutral colors - white, gray and black
• beaches
• audio books
• podcasts
• fog
• natural light
• wide open space with horizon lines

My list is smaller this year, but I feel it is more focused than ever, there is still plenty of room within many of these to develop sub-obsessions.

Don't be surprised if you see some of these obsessions being turned into future blog posts.

What about you? What are your obsessions this year? I would love to hear.

Lessons in Observation - Midnight Blue Sky

The dog stood by the door, his signal that he needed to go outside. Not getting a fast enough response he turned his head and fixed his melt-your-heart brown eyes on me. I didn't understand his need to go outside, he had just been out there ten minutes earlier and done all his morning business. Maybe going outside after eating his breakfast was just too much a part of his normal routine, even if he didn't have to do anything.

The eyes won, I grabbed my long, down coat from the closet, pulled on my paisley rain boots, snapped on his leash, and at the last second grabbed my mittens from the counter. I opened the door from the garage and we were off.

He made a beeline down the driveway to the bike path, he thought we were going for a walk. This was not my thought at five o'clock in the morning. Once on the bike path he stopped, giving me a moment to catch up. That's when I noticed it - the enchanted winter wonderland that had been created over night. The stillness. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground absorbing all sound. Above me was the deepest, darkest midnight blue sky, filled with tiny golden lights. Also floating in the sky were jagged edged islands of sooty gray clouds. A weak moon shown through the breaks in the clouds, illuminating the path before us.

Maybe I would indulge the old guy for a quarter mile or so, it was too magical out here to go back to the warm house so soon. We set off down the unplowed bike path. When we reached the subdivision corner, it was time to turn around, my head was cold from the lack of a hat. The dog was disappointed, I have a feeling he had more things he wanted to show me.

Back in the warm house, I gave him one of his big biscuits, to thank him for the breathtaking adventure. Maybe tomorrow I won't forget my hat, and we can travel a little farther.

Lessons in Observation - Winter Storm Warning

The weather service has issued another winter storm warning. Since when has 3-5 inches of snow merited a winter storm warning? Have we become wimpy here in Michigan? Maybe it is the lack of snow this year that has created this new panic, anything more than an inch or two seems like a blizzard. As I sit here by the window preparing for a morning of writing, drinking my freshly brewed coffee, I watch the parade of pickup trucks with snow plows attached travel up and down the road. The snowmen are hungry for snow, hungry for the money clearing other people's driveways brings them. As I watch the snow gently fall, I realize this is the prettiest storm I have every seen. 

**I am in a writing class called Story Slices. Creating bite size stories about every day observations. I am hoping to turn these into a new series - Lessons in Observation. Some many turn out to be longer; reminiscent of The Coffee Shop Chronicles days. I know this is a style of writing I want to get back to, without always having to go to a coffee shop to write them. I have also started an additional Instagram account @herlifeinvignettes, which I will be using as a working creative space for story ideas and life observations. 

I Remember...

This week in my writing class one of our writing prompts is I Remember... This is intended to be a free writing prompt, meaning write down anything and everything you remember from any point in your life. At first I glossed over this prompt and moved on to the second one, Write About the Family Dinner Table. But when that prompt wasn't going anywhere I went back to I Remember... I thought the prompt would be too vague for me to focus, but once I started thinking about it I realized I could come up with a lot of things. To help narrow down my focus I picked a topic to remember about. Since it is cold and flu season, I chose to write down things I remembered about being sick as a kid.

I remember my dad making me hot lemon water laced with a little whiskey when I had a bad head cold. I don't remember my dad being a drinker, an occasional tall can of Schlitz beer on a warm summer afternoon was the extent of his drinking. Maybe he kept the bottle of whiskey just for my colds, I don't remember him ever making this concoction for my younger brother when he was sick.

I don't remember throwing up often as a child, but when I did have the flu, my mother would place the Farberware stainless steel 6 quart stock pot along side my bed for those just-in-case moments. The funny thing is, that was the same stock pot she made soups and stews in, the even funnier thing is that I repeated the same pattern with my daughter.

I remember my chest being smeared with Vicks Mentholatum, I hated the warm, burning sensation it created.

I remember being dressed in my flannel granny nightgown, my arms wrapped tightly around my loved-to-death brown teddy bear.

I remember how I loved the citrusy orange flavor of Bayer Children's Aspirin. I would sneak into the bathroom medicine chest to find the bottle, I figured out quickly how to align the arrows and pop the top off. I enjoyed one or two of those orange treats even when I wasn't sick.

I remember my mother coating my nose and lips with Vaseline. She would smear it on so thick that it would clog both my nostrils, no wonder my lips were so chapped, my mouth was the only orifice left to breath through.

Didn't Intend

I didn't intend to stop at the beach yesterday. Now those of you who follow me on Instagram are probably saying "Yah right Sarah, you go to the beach everyday". But I really don't, I go on Mondays every week, and maybe one or two other times during the week in the winter. Now summer is a different story, but we are a long way from summer.

My intention yesterday afternoon was to do some antiquing. To escape the blinding white of winter shooting, I have been doing some still life photography. I am enjoying the challenge of lighting, prop placement and post-processing. I also found the perfect table to set all this up on, it is the perfect size to nestle next to the north window in our bedroom.

My husband called before I left the house to "check-in" and see what I was up to for the afternoon. I said I was going out. I told him I would probably do some shooting while I was out. Having spent the morning writing, I needed some visual stimulation. Shooting usually means to me, dressed in my winter wardrobe and paisley rain boots, carrying my iPhone. But at the last minute I decided to throw my camera backpack with my Canon in it into the car, just in case I needed more than my phone.

I set off for two antique stores with my mental list of photo props I was looking for. After a couple of hours of wandering the aisles of other people's cast off treasures, I decided to call it a day, not having found one thing that was on my mental list. Although I did find a couple of small, vintage bottles; look for those in future posts.

Leaving the second store I had the intention of stopping at a marshy nature preserve near by. But I was chilled to the bone from wandering this second store, I swear they don't have heat in there, maybe that is to keep the antiques preserved. So even though my car temperature gauge said 37 degrees, I felt damp and chilly, and decided to skip the preserve and return home, start making the soup for supper.

As I was driving along the lakeshore towards home, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a cop two cars behind me. Why does this always seem intimidating? On that road I will never be guilty of speeding, going too slow is a possibility though. The road to the beach by parent's home was approaching so I signaled and turned off the main road, watching the cop car cruise on past.

This beach of my childhood is filled with memories, and other than the months of July and August it is almost always deserted. Known only to the local and summer people. I turned into the empty parking lot, and parked. I debated about getting out and walking down to the water. Having been warmed by my car's heater for the last twenty minutes, I felt ready to do a little outside wandering. I grabbed my iPhone off the seat next to me, hoping to capture that color combination I love; golden dune grass, gray sky, pale blue water and stark white snow.

I was not the first person to walk the trail over the dune to the water, I followed the trail of footprints. Reaching the shore, I was pleased to see less ice and more water due to the warmer temperatures, but what I wasn't seeing was that perfect color combination I was looking for. Disappointed I began the climb up the dune, returning to my car. As I was slowly driving towards the exit gate, I saw it, the clump of golden dune grass lit up by the weak February sun, set against the sparkling blue-gray lake water. I stopped my car in the middle of the parking lot. Knowing my iPhone wasn't going to get the shot I wanted, I reached into the back seat for my Canon. I fitted my 85mm lens on and stepped around the car to capture the image that gave my heart that fluttering feeling.

*I have been reading my friend Lissa's blog, who I met through Instagram, were she journals about her daily life. She inspires me to record small snippets of my life on a more regular basis. I am working on the small part of it. Her blog is Electric Journal.

Preserving Stories

I am suppose to be working on a writing class assignment that is due tomorrow. But instead I am caught up on something I read in Monday's lesson --- things that touch me are worth writing about.

Something touched me this week...I read that another one of my dear friends is throwing in the towel on her blog. This saddens me; another creative, inspiring voice is exiting the scene. 

I completely understand the need to take a break from blogging now and then. I do it myself at least once or twice a year. I find it refreshing to step back for a short time and experience life without the need to write about it or share it with the world. But eventually I miss this space, miss my readers who are my friends, and most of all I miss the growth that comes from pushing myself within this creative space. 

In early January, I was contacted by Artful Blogging magazine to write an article for them about my blog. They wanted more than the "What Does Blogging Mean to Me" response. They preferred for me to write about a specific event or experience that was significant to my blogging life. Needing some kind of starting point I scrolled through the archives of my posts. What a trip down Memory Lane that was --- seeing past adventures, vacations, creative series like Walk and Click Wednesdays, Backroad Adventures, The Coffee Shop Chronicles. Those posts brought back delightful memories and confirmed the joy of the journey that blogging has taken me on in the past four years. 

I know without my blog, I would not have done most of those things (who am I kidding, I wouldn't have done any of those things). It was the accountability of my blog, sharing my adventures with my readers, pushing myself to learn and get better at photography and writing that kept me going. There is no question that these things have shaped me into who I am today.

Looking back at those old posts, I realized though that the main reason I blog is to document my life, to preserve my stories for my daughter and my future grandchildren. My great-aunt Viola was the family historian on my dad's side of the family. She did a wonderful job keeping all the old photo albums, still, at best I have old disintegrating, black paper photo albums filled with black and white photographs, spidery handwriting labeling a few details under most photographs. But I want to know more; what is my great-aunt's relationship to the guy in the photograph? Were they dating? If so, why didn't they get married? Is that why she remained single her entire life? These are the things I would love to know, but yet will never learn because she passed away over a decade ago. She died before I reached the curious age. 

I want something different for my daughter and her family. I want them to know the stories. Even if something were to happen to my blog someday within the inter web workings, there are still boxes of notebooks in our storage room filled with first drafts and sometimes second drafts of these blog posts and various memoir style essays about my life. I would never have written any of that down if I didn't blog.

I realize that blogging isn't for everyone, and it doesn't need to be, but I sincerely hope that you are doing something to preserve the stories of your life.