Book Babes AGM in the Time of Covid

This book club started in 2003 and the AGM started in 2007, an annual get together hosted by Nicki up in Haliburton. We use the AGM to enjoy each others company, pick the books for the year ahead, and if the weather is warm enough (or people are brave enough), a splash in the lake. 

Hopefully our annual tradition will be back to in person by next year, but this year we had to resort to Zoom to make our book selections. Definitely not the same as last year's AGM or the years before that, but when it came to picking our book list for 2020-2021, it was a definite success!

This year each member suggested 2-3 titles via Zoom and we voted to settle on the one for the month. We all hope for a return to face to face meetings in the months to come, however an interesting side effect will be that those members who are away at conferences or on holiday may end up joining meetings virtually. So, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger (kinda, sorta).

Mostly fiction with some memoir:

• Sept (Virginia)  Save Me the Plums, Ruth Reichel 
• Oct (Liz) Bunny, Mona Awad 
• Nov (Sheila) Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver 
• Dec (Nicolette) Island of Sea Women, Linda See 
• Jan ~no meeting ~ 
• Feb (Debra) The Innocents, Michael Crummey 
• Mar (Nicki) Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens 
• April (Miriam) Moments of Glad Grace, Alison Wearing 
• May (Diane) Late Breaking, K.D. Miller 
• June (Louise /Nicki) Normal People, Sally Rooney

Honourable Mentions

Five Wives by Joan Thomas

A Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Educated by Tara Westover

A Short History of Indians in Canada by Thomas King

Childhood by Andre Alexis

The Body by Bill Bryson

The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman

Lost Connections By Johan Hari

Endurance -A Year in Space by Scott Kelly

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehshi Coates

From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle

Motorcycles and Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor

Invisible Women -Story of Big Data by Caroline Kiato- Perez

The How of Happiness by Sonya Lyubomirsky

That time of year

A full day in the garden!

I'm not sure if it was the pollen but I felt extravagantly tired by 11:00, but kept on going anyway, getting that natural woozy high that is part delirium. Everything looks amazing and saturated with colour. It takes twice as long to accomplish something but it doesn't matter, the minutes are like molasses, slow and sticky.

There are some overgrown spots I couldn't bring myself to thin and will save for another day.

Flopped down in the grass to stare up at the blue sky, and then tried out different garden views, testing perspective in comfy chairs.

Alex came by to pick up plants for his backyard. I love the thought of them finding homes there: bloodroot, geranium, rodgersia and different ground covers.

Not caring to face the crush of garden centres I was mostly transplanting: ferns and wild ginger into the ravine, daphne to the front. Herbs and roses in pots. Portulaca under the evergreen, in the space the city left bare. Nasturtium seeds thumbed into the dirt.

Also planted some vivid salamander-coloured begonias in the front where they are already starting to protest the sun and need to be re-sited. Looks like I'll have to visit the garden centre after all to find some sun-lovers for that spot... during the weekday.

Refreshed myself at the end of the day with with a frosty glass of ice cold Orangina and a sprig of mint. A nice and fizzy garden mocktail!

Epitourists pique nique

Still a few months into the pandemic, we got together for some social distancing, Epi-style. I took a day off work for a drive north of the city. What a glorious afternoon! Late spring, it felt like a summer's day.

As host, Caroline set the theme of a French pique nique. Each person would prepare their own meal and dress their own table, and we would eat at a respectful distance. We turned her front porch into a bistro, sans wait staff.

It was definitely fun, but I really did want a taste off my Epi's plates as the food looked absolutely delicious!  Now I will simply have to make the recipes at home. 

Caroline's crepes were savoury and had a yoghurt sauce in place of bernaise, while Kaarina had prepared a French pressed sandwich called  pan bagnat. Unfortunately Laura wasn't able to join our trio in the sun this time.

Being somewhat pressed for time I ended up curating my plate to create a classic French meal with ingredients from my favourite grocery store, McKewans. This was the first meal that wasn't home-cooked in several months and I appreciated every bite. Grilled salmon on top of salad nicoise with a Normandy camembert, and fizzy lemonade on the side. I packed everything into a cooler so it was wonderfully chilled when served. The green beans were expertly blanched so they were tender but firm, the hard boiled yolk held no traces of green to proclaim an overdone egg, the salmon with its picture perfect grill marks.

Eventually things will return to normal and we can have a real feast again, but until then I look forward to our next meet, whether it is virtual or enjoyed at a distance.

I do savour time spent in this company.

Try, try, try again

The benefits of meditation are widely studied and proven. 

I have been meditating for many years but I'm still not as disciplined as I would like. In the past I've been able to manage daily for two or three months at a stretch but then fall out of the consistent practice. 

Why? Why? Why? 

Try, try, try again.

The Science of Happiness course I've been taking these past weeks has been useful in trying to engrain the habit.  

What I think I've come to appreciate is that I need to make meditation as routine as my morning yoga. For the past couple of years I was scheduling it into my daily work calendar in 15 minute increments. These short bursts were a big lift when I managed to do them, which was about once or twice a week. I also tried evenings at home, but with a busy calendar wasn't able to commit to the same time each and every night. 

A technique to build successful outcomes is to socially commit, so today I reached out to my brother Dave to share my intention. We've shared silent retreats together in the past, so I know he will be understanding and supportive.

My tack now is to follow morning yoga with meditation, five days a week. I'll vary the approach so I'm not doing the same thing every day, to help keep it fresh. Sometimes guided (Insight Timer app, You Tube, etc) but mostly on my own; switching up metta or tonglen or pranayama or just plain breath counting. I'll persist with other meditation in the afternoon or evenings, so it will be more of a bonus when it happens on those days that I can fit it in.

Zubin on Zoom

Zubin is an inspired and gifted teacher. I've enjoyed my intensives with him over the years (2012, 2015, 2016) Usually in person at Yoga Centre Toronto, this time over Zoom.

Two classes, each two hours. He was teaching in Mumbai to one hundred students across the world. Time zones in Japan, India, Germany, Canada and the US had to be accommodated. I was skeptical when the opportunity came up, but signed up anyway as my past experiences have been so enlightening.

This was definitely not a 'gym-yoga' class, but a deeper experience of going inward and tasting the asanas in new ways, with the encouragement to develop mind-body-spirit awareness. Zubin invited everyone to really focus on the feelings and sensations arising through the sequence of asanas. 

How does your side body feel now... can you imprint this memory to recreate the upward lift in sirsana? How can you create a sensation of heaviness in your back leg to balance in Virabhadrasana III? When you lay your torso on your thigh, how does that make your spine feel?

Each session ended with a challenging pose. I've never tackled danurasana sirsana or sirsana padmasana at home, but after two hours of effort and focus was ready to try with the wonderful surprise that I was able to take on each posture. Intense and motivating.

danurasana sirsana

sirsana padmasana

This online class was different in many ways. I felt far less crowded than I would have in a room with one hundred other students, but also comparing myself less with others because I couldn't see them in my peripheral vision. I started the classes with less confidence about whether I was doing this or that pose with the 'right' alignment, but as time went on felt more trust in myself. At ease in my own space. 

When the class ended today Zubin wished some of us good morning, and others good night. Reflecting now I feel such a strong sense of connection with souls across the world who shared this brief experience. 

Life does have its moments.

Daily Bread

Rob has discovered making sourdough, and with Caroline's virtual support has produced some outstanding loaves. He's also talked a few of his guy buddies into trying it out, who I call his "sour bros."

Photos of sourdough are everywhere on the internet, to the point of people being mocked and derided for their sourdough obsessions. Of different ways to spend your days in lockdown, I can think of far worse (day drinking, for instance).

I love the way the house smells, with bread fresh from the oven. Sooo good. These loaves are also very satisfying. With cultured butter or a nice cheese they are a meal unto themselves. 

Walnut apricot loaf 

chocolate babka

The Loft

For many years after my son moved out, the space was still referred to as Alex' bedroom. When Caro stayed overnight and dubbed it 'the loft,' the moniker stuck.

The room did triple duty as guest room/tv room/yoga space when we were undergoing the basement reno. I've been doing yoga here for months now because I love the morning light, as does the ficus.

However, we are going to swap out the tv stand and return the teacher's desk that Rob rescued and refinished years ago for Alex' studies. The light is perfect for sketching, watercolours or small scale projects like working on models.

Once the desk is in place we''ll see whether it makes sense to add some built-in shelves without overcrowding.

Definitely want the kit kat clock to stay!

Full Flower Moon - May 2020

Every day there is something new to see in my backyard. I wonder how I could not notice the red exotic flowers at the root of the wild ginger before?

wild ginger flowers blooming at the root

They only last a day or two, maybe I never really looked at the right moment, or mistook them for leaf debris. I've been growing this for more than a decade and never really caught them in bloom.

And the mayapples, rude and comical at once. Again, never really noticed the small round heads perched just so at their very tips. Will those small green beads turn into the white flowers? Will have to wait a few weeks, I think.

Mayapples

The blood root poked up on April 15 and was in full bloom ten days later, attracting bees like crazy. By May 2nd there were still some flowers but fallen petals were distracted by the green broad leaves. 

blood root

Tulips, and more tulips, and daffodils.

Primrose, pulmonaria. Ferns. Leaves popping. Oh-I-do-love-this-time-of-year.

If this isn't nice, I don't know what is!

I've had this quote on my blog wall since 2008:

"I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" 

Such serendipity to hear the author speak the words, when I came across this Kurt Vonnegut lecture on the Shapes of Stories.  His Uncle Alex would frequently say them aloud at family get togethers. A viral-worthy phrase. Infectious gratitude!

The lecture on the Shape of Stories was humorous as well as a unique way of mapping the arc of a character's journey.

The straight line on the graphic above is Vonnegut mapping Hamlet and remarking on how the genius of Shakespeare is the lifelike ambiguity that keeps us from knowing whether developments are "good" or "bad." He did stop short of quoting the famous line, "for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

Which is why it IS so important to notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."

Media Diet

This started out as a log in January but by mid March we were watching a lot more tv due to the Covid lockdown. By April it was already the 19th before I made note of my media diet, so only the memorable titles are listed. Now May, and all the blue font makes me wonder when we'll sit in theatre seats again.



excellent = italic font and bold / worthwhile (entertaining, informative) = italic font / okay but not outstanding = normal font / avoid = small font
@home is blue
movie theatre is deep orange

Where'd You Go, Bernadette * Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) MAY Fantastic Funghi, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), Storm Boy, Boy, Far From Heaven, Platform, Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera)  Ugly Delicious, Tiger King  APRIL This is Us * Forever * Valhalla Murders * Midsommer Murders* Midsommer * Bombshell * Zorba the Greek * Crashing (Phoebe Mary Waller-Bridge) * The Hunters * The Good Place MARCH You Tube: Aurora Borealis Nature Relaxation; Birds Singing in the Morning (Garden Birds Video and Birdsong); Time Lapse of Container Ship travels; Waves on the Beach * 1917 * Network (1976) * Better Call Saul * Love Sick * Groundhog Day * Miss Americana * Grace and Frankie FEBRUARY Grace and Frankie * Hustlers * Succession * Wonderful Day in the Neighbourhood  * Golden Globes Awards * Our Man in Japan * The Vanishing * Mrs. Maisel JANUARY Jo Jo Rabbit * Parasite DECEMBER