a poem on a tuesday.

it's february 1st, and i haven't posted for . . . oh, has it been a week?
yeah. something like that.
one of my favorite authors, bonnie grove, shared this on her facebook this morning.
you know, since they now allow you to post more than 500 characters. hah.

anyways, the last time i --er, someone named lyddie [my littlest sister]-- used my camera, there was this cutie in the nursery. he was a sweetheart. for every smile you gave him, he gave you one right back. easiest going little one in the nursery at church that day.

. . . the sunset on january 30th.

. . . the sunset on january 31st.
you can now read this lovely poem, and i'm going to go finish watching tangled [only for the second time in my life, crazy, i know? what with a little sister who does the smolder all the time. lol] with lyddie . . . have a fabulous wednesday :)

Happiness 
by Raymond Carver

So early it's still almost dark out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.

When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.

They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these boys.

I think if they could, they would take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.

They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.

Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn't enter into this.

Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

talents, reading, and coffee crises.

'Tis a speechless day. 

Didn't wake up at a remarkable time. 

Haven't done anything remarkable, except for much less computer time. 

Oh, and wearing this racer-back dress to feel cooler. 

Making coffee with some of the last of almost-forgotten reserves. Yikes. That needs to be remedied. Finally doing the David study today. 

And make the beginnings of Dad's favorite broccoli salad thing-- broccoli, run through the dang food processor on the grate blade; Marzetti's slaw sauce, minced crispy bacon, and sunflower seeds. 

Hmm. I'm on my third cup of my last reserves--Caribou coffee blend. Gosh. We ran out of the normal dark roast we get at our co-op for a nice price. How did we get that way?!?!?!

Well. That's me, staying up late reading, needing that coffee in the morning so I can stay awake.
:)

As it dripped, hot and dark, filling the kitchen with the lovely aroma, I put my hand on my heart for dramatics, mostly. 

"I feel a calm come over me when I watch it brew."

Anna laughed. "You're weird."

See those hooks? That's what I was talking about in the beginning of this post. It's so darn handy to have so many.

They go on forever.

I love it.

The cup was burning hot from the fresh coffee, so my thumb could barely touch it.

But I took the picture anyways.

Don't look at me like that.

This is my stack of books lately.

Anna just read The Heart Mender book I won in that blog giveaway by Abbie. Oh my word, go check out her new little blog! She hasn't posted since the first one, but really, it has a ton of promise. :) And it does have a cute name, doesn't it? heh heh.

So I'm reading Chateau of Echoes. It's really really good, and since the author, Siri, is a military wife and has obviously traveled a lot, all the interesting details are just that: interesting and real.

You can see I'm enjoying it very much. And have plans to buy all her books over the course of....well....the future. ;)

I've done 2 days of the David study so far today.

Just lovely.

I loved this part of inbetween narrative in the study...

God does not play favorites. 

Anyone who cries out to Him, He answers.

Anyone who surrenders to His call, He uses.

1 Samuel chapters 21-23

To be honest, I stared at the huge stack of mostly primed canvases earlier and felt quite...nothing. Maybe that oil painting shop ruined me for a while.

Feeling quite untalented when I'm not at all practiced in creating Italianate land-and-city-scapes. But oh well, ya know? Not everyone is meant to paint like Picasso or . . . whoever all those canvases were by. Everyone's got their own...thing....don't they? Their own little talents.

one of my favorite authors: alison strobel

Alrighty.
Let's talk fiction once again for a wee bit.
...I finished the Operation Firebrand series by Jefferson Scott. And I plucked this off my shelf. :)
I've read it before...sometime last year. I snagged it last summer for gracing my bookshelf. Heh heh.
Another one of her books, also good --and by the way, both of these made me cry, and ya just know that means they're good. ;)-- is called Worlds Collide . . .

http://www.alisonstrobel.com/
Here's my idea: Violette Between in one hand, and a HUGE mug of hot green tea with honey in the other hand.
Mmmm.

one of my favorite authors: karen hancock

Her last book was The Enclave, but what made me fall in love with her books and writing was Arena. :) Sci-fi, maybe, but she hooked me.

I don't visit her site, because I'm too busy with life computer stuff and blogging...and Facebook. But here's her site if you want to know more about her...

http://karenhancock.wordpress.com/

. . .  .Sorry, a picture of Karen is next to impossible for me to find right now, urgh . . . So, my dears, you'll have to settle for the cover of #1 in the LotGK series. (big smile)
<="">

Her Legend of the Guardian King series is amazing. Anna, Dad and I have read them, all 4 lovely books... Wow. Yeah, they're really, really, really good. :) Allegory going on, there's suspense, romance, mystery, action, some freaky parts that had me biting my nails...but then, for those of you who know me, that's not abnormal. :) Oh well. It's that kind of mixed-wonderfully book series. :)

Dad, looking over my shoulder, said "What, you're reading about my books? The Abramm books? Did ya tell them they need to make them into movies?" Obviously he didn't see the Blogger icon or really know what it means... :) But, to say it again, they would make positively lovely films. But I say, if someone butchers them, I'm going to find out where they live... ;)

Read them. :) Pretty darn sure you won't regret it.

one of my favorite authors: lisa samson

Here's her official site --though, random fact; her hair is much longer than the picture that greets you, haha-- and I have to say, she's on her FB way more than her site. :)
http://lisasamson.com/

And this, my friends, is her typepad (however not-brought-up-to-date it is):
http://www.lisasamson.typepad.com/streets_with_dwellings/

Now, let me say this. I love her books. I have not read Songbird, or her first books/a little series, but heck, she got better with time, just like wine. (Um...how would I know? Nevermind.)

I received Quaker Summer for my birthday a few years ago (I think it was my 16th?), and I went on a rampage, getting all her books from the library. Soon, of course, I ran out. It was a pretty sad day when I finished the last one. I had read her latest (in that year) , and went back and read her older ones, and then there were no more! Can you spell 'depressed'? (laughs)

But really. I was very sad that I hit the bottom of this talent. I love the points of view she writes in, it's soooo very easy (well, for me) to get into it, and the women and their stories are plain straight-up and quirky, so dang real, they have a familiar and unique perspective, and I love it all. :) I'll stop gushing now. Haha.

But really, you should try reading one of her books. There are different subjects mostly including social justice, serving the least of these, and good, thought-provoking stuff like that. So, high-tail it over to your library.
Who is your favorite author?

one of my favorite authors: susan meissner

http://susanmeissner.blogspot.com/

This is the blog of one of my favorite authors. :)
Her latest book, White Picket Fences, is not what the cover and title make you think of. Haha. And darn it, I didn't get to read it yet because when I got it from the library, I happened to be very busy when it finally came in.

Her book Blue Heart Blessed is one of my favorites, though, and The Shape of Mercy.
I love the point of view she wrote BHB in, the wedding dress shop the main character runs, the coffee she drinks on the flat top of the building for down-time...the priest... It's a good book, peoples. :)