This Christmas is a particularly wonderful one for my husband and me. Both of our children are happy! If you're a parent, you understand what I'm saying. Being a parent doesn't stop when the children turn 18!
Steve, our son, has his own business in Dallas which is thriving. He and Marie are parents of our three wonderful grandchildren, Isaac, Eric and Emily. They were here last weekend for Darwin's big birthday dinner, along with Paula and her new husband, Jeff. I have never felt so blessed as I did looking around the table that night.
Paula and Jeff got married December 8, and are thriving and happy. Yesterday we spent Christmas afternoon at his aunt's home with his sister, his mother, and his aunt. We had a wonderful time. Jeff is a delight. We are thrilled to have him as part of our family, and thrilled that Paula is part of his family.
We look forward to this new year with expectation and joy, thankful that we are both healthy (for now) and productive.
I hope your Christmas was wonderful, and pray that your new year will bring many joys. If there are problems and sorrows, which there always are, I pray that you will be given the strength and grace to triumph.
Let's keep reading.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
A king, a kaiser and a tsar
Living in a democracy, like we do, it's hard to understand the importance and power of absolute monarchs. However, until World War I ,monarchs in Europe had absolute power, and according to many historians, the absolute power of three monarchs in Europe led to plunging the world into war in 1914.
Recently I read a book entitled King, Kaiser, Tsar by Catrine Clay which describes the three most relevant monarchies in Europe in the 19th century. The three monarchs were KING George V of England, KAISER Wilhelm I of Germany and TSAR Nicholas of Russia. In addition to being monarchs, they were also descendants and relatives of Queen Victoria of England, the granny monarch of England for so many years who sent her children to marry into the various royal houses of Europe.
The author clearly details the lives of these three monarchs and shows the relationships among them. They were intriguing people. George and Nicholas were good friends...."Georgie" and "Nicky" in their letters to each other. Wilhelm "WIlly" always was the third wheel, odd man out, even though his mother was Queen Victoria's eldest daughter. His personality was prickly and strange and obsessive. He loved to visit England and dress up like an "English country gentleman." In fact he loved to dress up. He had uniforms for every regiment in the German army, the Germany navy, the English army, the English navy, the Russian army, and the Russian navy. He rarely wore civilian clothes.
In addition to the relationships between the monarchs, were the relationships between the women in their lives. Tsarina Alexandra had a very strong influence on her husband, and King George's mother Alexandra was also very influential. I didn't know it, but the Danish royal family was very important in these relationships. King George's mother, Alexndra, was a Danish princess and Denmark was where all the royal families liked to go in the summer for their vacations. The Danes played practical jokes on each other, one photo shows the Danish Queen Mother holding a monkey on her lap, and were much more relaxed than the other three royal houses.
Eventually, the relationships among these three monarchs became so poisonous that they could not pull the European continent back from war. It was a hideous war. More lives were lost than Americans realize. This past March, a group of us went to Belgium and France, and one place we visited was a World War I battlefield named Vimy Ridge. We got to walk through the trenches and travel down in the tunnels the soldiers lived in. These were awful! We learned that people still die every year from unexploded ordnance in the fields of northern France....eighty years after the end of that war.
Basically, I read this book to find out what happened to Kaiser Wilhelm after World War I. I knew that Tsar Nicholas was assassinated and that King George survived and prospered in England. I had no idea what had happened to the Kaiser. At the end of the book I learned that he lived in exile in Holland until just berfore the beginning of World War II. No one in Europe wanted him, but the queen of the Netherlands wouldn't let another monarch be chased down and assassinated, so she gave him asylum and protection for the rest of his life.
I like history, so found this book fascinating. The end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century is one of my favorite eras to read about. We don't realize it, but World War I is still affecting us.
Recently I read a book entitled King, Kaiser, Tsar by Catrine Clay which describes the three most relevant monarchies in Europe in the 19th century. The three monarchs were KING George V of England, KAISER Wilhelm I of Germany and TSAR Nicholas of Russia. In addition to being monarchs, they were also descendants and relatives of Queen Victoria of England, the granny monarch of England for so many years who sent her children to marry into the various royal houses of Europe.
The author clearly details the lives of these three monarchs and shows the relationships among them. They were intriguing people. George and Nicholas were good friends...."Georgie" and "Nicky" in their letters to each other. Wilhelm "WIlly" always was the third wheel, odd man out, even though his mother was Queen Victoria's eldest daughter. His personality was prickly and strange and obsessive. He loved to visit England and dress up like an "English country gentleman." In fact he loved to dress up. He had uniforms for every regiment in the German army, the Germany navy, the English army, the English navy, the Russian army, and the Russian navy. He rarely wore civilian clothes.
In addition to the relationships between the monarchs, were the relationships between the women in their lives. Tsarina Alexandra had a very strong influence on her husband, and King George's mother Alexandra was also very influential. I didn't know it, but the Danish royal family was very important in these relationships. King George's mother, Alexndra, was a Danish princess and Denmark was where all the royal families liked to go in the summer for their vacations. The Danes played practical jokes on each other, one photo shows the Danish Queen Mother holding a monkey on her lap, and were much more relaxed than the other three royal houses.
Eventually, the relationships among these three monarchs became so poisonous that they could not pull the European continent back from war. It was a hideous war. More lives were lost than Americans realize. This past March, a group of us went to Belgium and France, and one place we visited was a World War I battlefield named Vimy Ridge. We got to walk through the trenches and travel down in the tunnels the soldiers lived in. These were awful! We learned that people still die every year from unexploded ordnance in the fields of northern France....eighty years after the end of that war.
Basically, I read this book to find out what happened to Kaiser Wilhelm after World War I. I knew that Tsar Nicholas was assassinated and that King George survived and prospered in England. I had no idea what had happened to the Kaiser. At the end of the book I learned that he lived in exile in Holland until just berfore the beginning of World War II. No one in Europe wanted him, but the queen of the Netherlands wouldn't let another monarch be chased down and assassinated, so she gave him asylum and protection for the rest of his life.
I like history, so found this book fascinating. The end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century is one of my favorite eras to read about. We don't realize it, but World War I is still affecting us.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
An Unlikely Romance
Many of us read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights years ago. In many ways they set the gold standard for romances, and for a century and a half, romance writers have followed the patterns set by Emily and Charlotte Bronte. Some preferred the book Jane Eyre, and some preferred Wuthering Heights.
Learning about the authors while I was young added interest to the novels. How could two young women living in an isolated parsonage in the isolated town of Haworth, England write these romance novels? How could they ever experience and know enough to write these books? Evidently, that is what Juliet Gael, author of Romancing Miss Bronte wondered too, because she delves into their lives in her new novel.
The first thing I can say about this book is that I learned a lot. I had never known that Charlotte had married the young curate who came to assist in her father's parish. I knew nothing about Arthur Nicholls, the man she eventually married.
Another thing I learned was about typhoid fever, and how it swept through parts of England destroying so many. Charlotte lost two sisters to it, and two sisters to misuse and abuse at a school.
Another thing I didn't know was about Charlotte's time in Brussels and her passionate attachment to a tutor who was married. This attachment colored her life for a long time. She placed total confidence and energy in this relationship, while the tutor considered her a student. A very modern situation.
The author swept me into the story, so much ,that I could barely put the book down. I did not expect this to happen. I felt like I was living with Charlotte in Haworth. Although some letters of Charlotte's had been burned, several friends had kept her letters and the author made good use of those to bring Charlotte and her family to life.
The main characters, Charlotte, Emily, Rev.Bronte, and Branwell were fully realized. However, the person who sticks with me still is Charlotte's unwanted and unappreciated suitor, Arthur Nicholls, her father's curate. His depth of feeling and understanding of Charlotte, and his patience, were almost unbelievable. After reading the novel, I checked several historical sources to discover whether this depiction was accurate: it was.
Indeed, this was a most unlikely romance, but he was a tenacious and perceptive suitor, and Charlotte came to love him, married him, and eventually knew the happiness she had only been able to imagine and write about. He was indeed her Mr. Rochester.
If you want good holiday reading which will take you through every emotional imaginable, read Romancing Miss Bronte.
Learning about the authors while I was young added interest to the novels. How could two young women living in an isolated parsonage in the isolated town of Haworth, England write these romance novels? How could they ever experience and know enough to write these books? Evidently, that is what Juliet Gael, author of Romancing Miss Bronte wondered too, because she delves into their lives in her new novel.
The first thing I can say about this book is that I learned a lot. I had never known that Charlotte had married the young curate who came to assist in her father's parish. I knew nothing about Arthur Nicholls, the man she eventually married.
Another thing I learned was about typhoid fever, and how it swept through parts of England destroying so many. Charlotte lost two sisters to it, and two sisters to misuse and abuse at a school.
Another thing I didn't know was about Charlotte's time in Brussels and her passionate attachment to a tutor who was married. This attachment colored her life for a long time. She placed total confidence and energy in this relationship, while the tutor considered her a student. A very modern situation.
The author swept me into the story, so much ,that I could barely put the book down. I did not expect this to happen. I felt like I was living with Charlotte in Haworth. Although some letters of Charlotte's had been burned, several friends had kept her letters and the author made good use of those to bring Charlotte and her family to life.
The main characters, Charlotte, Emily, Rev.Bronte, and Branwell were fully realized. However, the person who sticks with me still is Charlotte's unwanted and unappreciated suitor, Arthur Nicholls, her father's curate. His depth of feeling and understanding of Charlotte, and his patience, were almost unbelievable. After reading the novel, I checked several historical sources to discover whether this depiction was accurate: it was.
Indeed, this was a most unlikely romance, but he was a tenacious and perceptive suitor, and Charlotte came to love him, married him, and eventually knew the happiness she had only been able to imagine and write about. He was indeed her Mr. Rochester.
If you want good holiday reading which will take you through every emotional imaginable, read Romancing Miss Bronte.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thanksgiving thoughts
I have always loved Thanksgiving. Maybe it is because I was born on Thanksgiving day, but I don't think so. Thanksgiving epitomizes all that is good and sacred and wonderful in our lives. Each Thanksgiving I think back on past ones, and rejoice that I am able to celebrate another with loved ones.
We consider ourselves especially fortunate, because in our later years, instead of shrinking, our family is growing. We came to grandparenthood late, but that has made it all the more wondrous for us. When Steve married Marie, March 2004, we became instant grandparents to Isaac. He was a great first. He took us into his life and love, and we began to appreciate the joys of being grandparents. In July 2006, rambunctious, energetic, funny, funny Eric entered our lives. He keeps us on our toes. Last November, 2009, beautiful, sweet Emily came to bless us all, and we thought, completed the family.
However, life has a way of surprising us, and this year Jeff came into our lives, and he and Paula will soon be husband and wife. He is a delight, and a perfect match for our Paula. We have met his family, and will share Thanksgiving with them this year. Our lives just get more exciting and fuller each day.
It is a shame that there are not as many Thansgiving books as there are Christmas books.....if you know of any good ones, please share those titles and authors with readers of this blog. No doubt we all read stories of the first Plymouth Colony Thanksgiving, and that celebration has shaped us in ways we don't even know. Several years ago another professor and I led a literary tour to New England, and part of that trip was a Pilgrim style feast at the Plymouth historical site. We were very glad that we have today what we have.....but that was an intriguing peek into the early settlers' lives, and we have much to thank them for.
Growing up, my big chores were to polish the silver, set the table, and help clean up. Then, when my own family came, I did the cooking and hosting. When our two were in high school, we had numerous teen age guests, sometimes we didn't know how many we'd have, but it was exciting. A couple of years about 10 of us sat around the table after dinner cutting snowflakes for Christmas decorations......each of us trying to be exceedingly creative with paper and scissors. Now, our children's generation is taking over some of the hosting and I will be preparing side dishes while my daughter cooks the turkey.....and the traditions continue. May you all have a blessed, relaxing, tummy-filling Thansgiving.
We'll talk again afterwards.
Any good Thansgiving books?
We consider ourselves especially fortunate, because in our later years, instead of shrinking, our family is growing. We came to grandparenthood late, but that has made it all the more wondrous for us. When Steve married Marie, March 2004, we became instant grandparents to Isaac. He was a great first. He took us into his life and love, and we began to appreciate the joys of being grandparents. In July 2006, rambunctious, energetic, funny, funny Eric entered our lives. He keeps us on our toes. Last November, 2009, beautiful, sweet Emily came to bless us all, and we thought, completed the family.
However, life has a way of surprising us, and this year Jeff came into our lives, and he and Paula will soon be husband and wife. He is a delight, and a perfect match for our Paula. We have met his family, and will share Thanksgiving with them this year. Our lives just get more exciting and fuller each day.
It is a shame that there are not as many Thansgiving books as there are Christmas books.....if you know of any good ones, please share those titles and authors with readers of this blog. No doubt we all read stories of the first Plymouth Colony Thanksgiving, and that celebration has shaped us in ways we don't even know. Several years ago another professor and I led a literary tour to New England, and part of that trip was a Pilgrim style feast at the Plymouth historical site. We were very glad that we have today what we have.....but that was an intriguing peek into the early settlers' lives, and we have much to thank them for.
Growing up, my big chores were to polish the silver, set the table, and help clean up. Then, when my own family came, I did the cooking and hosting. When our two were in high school, we had numerous teen age guests, sometimes we didn't know how many we'd have, but it was exciting. A couple of years about 10 of us sat around the table after dinner cutting snowflakes for Christmas decorations......each of us trying to be exceedingly creative with paper and scissors. Now, our children's generation is taking over some of the hosting and I will be preparing side dishes while my daughter cooks the turkey.....and the traditions continue. May you all have a blessed, relaxing, tummy-filling Thansgiving.
We'll talk again afterwards.
Any good Thansgiving books?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Introduction and Invitation
I love to read. I have loved to read for at least 67 years.....yes, since I was four years old! Books have been my constant companions. Some were great, some were good, some...I couldn't get through the first chapter! But, if that happened, there was always another book.
I also love libraries. I remember the first book I ever checked out of a library: it was the school library of Harriet B. Sayre Elementary School in Chicago, and the book was a child's biography of Mozart....a yellow binding with black figures on it. I worked in the school library in junior high school and in the college library for four years of college. I consider libraries the bulwarks of civilization. When I travel, I visit libraries! So, that's a little about me.
I just finished a mesmerizing, wonderful book about 1941, the year before the U.S. entered World War II. The name is "The Postmistress" the author is Sarah Blake. The author pulled me into the story and never lost me. There are three major female characters, all separate from each other at the beginning of the book, and the way Blake brings them together is profound. One lady, Irene, is postmaster of Franklin, Massachusetts (the last town on Cape Cod); the second, Frankie is a war correspondent in London who travels across Europe riding refugee trains for CBS; and the third is Emma, the young wife of the town doctor. Each woman comes alive, and I was invested in all their lives. The characters live.
I learned more about the immediate pre World War II era than I had known, and felt like I was back there and then. Noone had recommended this, I just happened on it at, yes, the LIBRARY!!!
What have you read that you like? Let's talk.
Carolyn
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