flight paths discussion

Now that I have finished up my reviews for 2020 I can get down to some reading!
Have you all been surprised by the lovely list GR has for each of us? I am going to enjoy checking you all out!

Have started new fiction Songs for the End of the World by Saleema Nawaz
I enjoyed her previous Bone and Bread and it seems she's gotten more confident. It's swept me right in, altho its yet another dystopia that eerily mirrors current conditions and is reputed to have an upbeat ending.

What are you reading to start the year?

And what about New Years Resolutions??
I have committed to being more peaceful, in equanimity and joy. A sparkling shower of love to you all!

You finished your reviews! Congratulations!

I am bringing The Case of the Reincarnated Client into the New Year with me. I'm about half done now.

I don't make resolutions but continue to try to be a better person at the end of the year, with more understanding (and patience), than I started out the year being. Some years are more successful than others. :D

Happy New Year from a frosty and locked down Cambridge, better times ahead :-)

a quiet day, new books for the new year.
GR seemsto have been overwhelmed. For a while I couldn't get in...then no notifications and when i came here anyways Ices message was posted under the name goodreads reader. i figured it out rightaway but hesitant to leave amessage with all the glitches. When i went to add my new book i noticed that my currently reading list was doubled. Now thats a first.
seems all normal now.

Petra it sounds as if you do have a meta-resolution which is your resolve to be a better person. its strange, weve never met in person but I think you are among the better people i know.
And when I think about it, in terms of caring, ethical, compassionate upbeat, i can extend that to Ellie and Megan. Ice too but not so upbeat anymore.
we are so lucky to have found each other, I think.
May we all have a safe and joyful year.
Siunds like a tricky combination but i suppose we are grown ups now, we can pull it off
Love Light and Enduring Grace

Happy new year everyone! I hope we all have a year with more love and joy in it.
I’m on my last day of my Xmas break, so it’s back to work tomorrow after 11 days off. I am looking forward to having a routine again.
My husband’s new year resolution is to do yoga with me in the evenings. I’m looking forward to that.
I got a tarot deck in December, so I’m looking forward to working with it.
I have a goal to read 100 books this year. I really wish I got paid to sit home and read it truly is a passion of mine.
It needs to snow more here so I can get x country skis out more. It’s very icy so I just do a loop around the school field by my house to be safe.
I’m currently reading the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I also finished reading a dog training book because we’re getting a puppy in two weeks!
Looking forward to another year of flight paths with all of you lovely people 💕

Happy New Year everyone. My resolution this year is not too make any resolutions! I feel like this year won't really begin for me until after January 20th.

I do like your intention Petra. If I have any intention, it's to continue to be increasingly present in my own life and to others.

My reading goal this year is 50 books but I'm hoping to read more than that. I'd rather read more than my goal than less!

I am almost finished Little Dorrit! I can't believe it. I play the audible while I'm on my exercise bike and lifting weights and it has helped a lot.

I got a lot of books for Christmas. I'm starting with Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland. So far, very readable. Certainly a topic I'm interested in.

Megan, enjoy your puppy!

Happy New Year!!!!
I wish us all a year of smiles and happy times. May we all be able to emerge from our caves soon and meet again.

Our bathroom renovations have begun. It's going to be a noisy couple of months. Sigh. But the bathrooms will be nice in the end. We've almost finished picking all the tiles, lights, cabinets. Then we can just sit back and wait, while the job gets done. Earplugs may be in my near future for awhile.

Ice, I hope things are okay in Cambridge. I hope the lockdown helps the country move towards lower case numbers.
Keep as active as possible. I hope you can get outdoors for a walk occasionally.

Magdelanye, I agree. We truly are lucky to have all met and found such a warm place to meet up at. It's always so nice to see a new posting here. I know I'm going to hear from a friend when I open it.

Megan, 100 books! That's a goal I endorse!
How is your first week at work coming along? Are the schools open? How is your son adjusting?
Tarot cards should be fun to learn to read.
A puppy! That is truly awesome.

Ellie, congrats on almost finishing up Little Dorrit. I haven't gotten any further. I am reading very little lately.

I finished reading The Case of the Reincarnated Client and finished knitting a small blanket. I have hopes of donating it to a Seniors home as a wheelchair blanket. If that can't be done in these times, I'll donate it to Project Linus as a toddler blanket. I used up some left over colours and made a many-coloured, striped design.

I'm now reading The Black Cathedral. It's dark but very well written and engaging.
I am carving another hillbilly figurine. It's keeping me focussed on something other than the renovation noises.

just popping in here to say hello and hoping everyone is coping well with the new year. I imagine lots going on with renos, new puppies, and whats jan 20 Ellie? Ice i hope your friend is recovering.
I'm reading The midnight library by Matt Haig. What fun!

Good morning!
Busy week. We've got to be up, dressed and ready for the workers every morning. It's like our morning routine while working again. LOL. Then the two workers arrive and the hub-bub of the day begins.
They are doing a terrific job. Every detail is well done and solid.

I've gone for a run, a walk with a friend and a tai chi practice this week, with another run planned for this morning because there's no rain (yet). Oh if only one could meet a friend for coffee or a lunch instead of the constant walks. Sigh.....the good old days. LOL.

I'm currently reading Cold Comfort Farm and enjoying it.

Magdelanye, that sounds like an interesting book. I'm going to see if the library has a copy. It's a theory I've thought about a lot over the years, where each decision we make splits our astral planes into two or more directions. Some choices wouldn't matter and the streams come back together (ie: which blouse is worn one day), while others could change a person's life direction (ie: choosing one job offer over another).
Also, the idea of a library like this reminds me of The Library of Lost Plots in the Thursday Next series. It's a library that contains every piece of work ever written and not published or brought to the public eye.

I hope everyone is doing well.
Ice, I hope your friend is recovering and feeling better.
Megan, I hope you have been able to take the skis out for a run.
Ellie, things will be fine. They always are, eventually. The possible violence is a concern, though. That's something I wouldn't have thought we'd ever have to think about in a peaceful transfer of power, but here we are.

Keep smiling everyone. It does help change people's outlooks. You could change someone's day in a positive manner with your smile.
:D

I have started regular workouts for Absolute beginners ! With infection rates so high I am selective about walking at present. We nearly had snow today, but the rain ruined it !

Ice, that's wonderful--good luck with however you do it!

I'm scheduled to get the first dose of the vaccine tomorrow. I have to ask how to schedule the second dose. If they can't answer me, I'm not sure I'll take it.

Petra, good luck with the renovations! I hope it all comes out beautifully. Cathedral sounds interesting--I like the title! I want to check it out.

I'm almost finished with Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland which is very interesting. I'm also reading The Experience of Insight: A Simple & Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation in conjunction with a meditation challenge I'm doing daily with a teacher from the Insight Meditation Society. It's been good.

My son has been asked by his advisor at his community college to apply to a special program at Yale. Whether or not he gets in or even if he does, decides to go, it's exciting that he's been asked.

Had planned to get back on the laptop today but it appears i won't .Attempting to finish off a book for returning it tomorrow. Ive an appointment with the tech there for help with my devices .
Eeek Ellie. Did you go through with it?
daily reports please. This is not the right thread.

Petra it seems theres quite a little sub genre of libraries for lost/unwritten books. thats why i wanted to be on the lap top so i could list. Next time!
Hope your renovations are almost done. I know the routine well and it loses its novelty.

Taking your advice to heart, I am smiling, even if only to myself! And at the grocery checkout every 4 or 5 days.
And here now as I write this at you all

and Ellie! what an honour for your son!
Congratulations David! such a great opportunity

Ellie, congratulations to your son! That's quite an honour. Do let us know what he decides. Whatever his decision, it will be the best for him.

Did you get the vaccination? You're the third American I've heard has an appointment to get the vaccination. Things seem to be moving much more quickly in the States than up here, where I haven't heard of anyone I know getting it or being notified that they could get it.
I hope the appointment went well.

Renos are on-going. They are still working on the first bathroom.
Magdelanye, they are going to be here for about 2 months for all the bathrooms. It's crazy the amount of time that goes into renovations. They are doing a fantastic job.

Ellie, I enjoyed The Black Cathedral for the characters and the intrigue of the story. I think it would have benefitted me to know more about Cuba and how/what Cubans think in terms of their land, their needs, their wishes in real life. This book assumes the reader knows that, I think.
I'd read more by the author if it were translated. He's got an interesting style.

Magdelanye, sometimes I only smile to myself & hubby, too, as we're the only two people we see in the day. Strange times.

I'm currently reading Cold Comfort Farm. It's humorous but a bit slow. But not slow enough to stop. I do like Flora Poste and the book starts with a hint of a mystery that I'd like the answer to.
On my jogs I'm listening to Arabian Sands sands and enjoying it.

I just saw that Cold Comfort Farm is on our library bookshelf for this group! It's nice to see a current read of mine has been enjoyed by another member of this group. :D

Has anyone else recently read a book that they'd like to see added to the bookshelf?
If so, please let me know the title and which of our shelves the book fits onto. Select all applicable shelves. I'll add it quickly. Thank you.
(or you can add it yourselves, I think)

well well, this seems to be working! although it will
take some getting used to but! I was given a tablet and I had a meet up finally yesterday with the tech person at the library and got it going. Sadly I do not see the option for linking titles so I guess its not ideal but it is kind of exciting to have.

Ellie did you do it? Tell all! I am rather worried about you.

And Petra, two months seems excessive. Brings back awful memories I'm afraid to say. I wish you patience.
I seem to remember that you said you and hubby agreeing to pass on the vaccine. There must be some evidence by now how its affecting people. What about the others? Me, no.

Cold Comfort Farm did ring a bell with me. How nice to find it in our library. I have a heap of titles to add. Next time. I am about to start Shuggie Bain. if the book is as tender as the cover I will be glad.
And! today is the first day of The Best Year of Your Life Summit. It's pretty mainstream but well worth checking out.
I'm more excited about The Revolutionary Love Summit with Valary Kaur starting Thursday. How lucky I am I to have picked up my hold yesterday.
big smiles and
enduring grace

Magdelanye, hubby and I will be getting the vaccine when it's available, most likely. I think you're confusing us with another couple?
We figure that by the time we're able to book an appointment, we'll know what to expect as far as side effects and maybe about effectiveness.

How wonderful that you got a tablet! That should make logging on much simpler.

As for the renos, we are in our third week now and they just started the second bathroom today. It's the largest and will take about a month. The powder room will be last and should take about a week. It's a long and noisy (at times) process.

Ellie, I hope it goes smoothly tomorrow for the entire States. We'll be watching the News carefully all day. Peace to the Country.

The sun has just cleared the treetops and I am beckoned outside, just as I entered flight paths. I noticed we have an entire thread already for spring and feel a shard of hope in me. But I have already allowed myself to get distracted by a review that came up when I opened GR to come here and do a few updates. I also spent an unproductive hour trying to access the opening ceremony of the Revolutionary Love Seminar. The link is just not working.

I feel just a little sheepish about my ignorance of the events and the dates and the players in the political drama downside of the border. It was making me too anxious. I was disappointed that it was Biden who got the democrat endorsement: I'd feel different it that was Marianne Williamson being sworn in. At least that lunatic is gone. If he repatriates all the stolen children locked up in refugee camps in the USA, then I will start to take notice.

So Ellie I hope you weren't so alienated by my remarks that you are boycotting the group. We are all I'm sure waiting to hear from you. I hope its not because you are ill that you havent checked in. It's understandable if you're taking a break from social media, even us.

Petra! If your weather is synced to ours, you may be off for a run at the first siting of the sun today, a welcome escape from the renochaos. May the sun shine there every day until you have peace and quiet in your home again.
I have to smile at your reference to a powder room. I haven't heard that term in years. My parents dream home had a powder room on the main floor. That meant that there were 4 bathrooms for 5 people. I shared one with my sister, who monopolized it, so I often preferred to use the powder room. Whats your colour scheme? I actually have a book, Toilets of the World which I was surprised to find on the GR database. And I remember the surprising elegance of some of the bathrooms in the back of tiny Thai or Spanish restaurants.
And I have been been wondering if Megan, our youngest member, even knows what a powder room is. The word has very different connotations today. Do women still powder their noses?
Or is it now a sly reference for some other activity?

Clearly I'm a bit unmoored today.
I may just attempt to read a bit outside. Here are the books I am reading now, altho I was very close to abandoning Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. It is not particularly tender. I dont care for any of the characters yet. It's well written but have I the strength for Irish working class troubles at the moment?
Much more enjoyable is See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur. I hope this event with her happens. I cried yesterday just reading the introduction. I am also reading a more mainstream book by a psychologist Me, Myself, and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being by Brian Little It's actually quite interesting and gets me more up to date in the field.

Sunny smiles

yes! read a bit on the deck in the sun, then tried again and the issues were resolved. Valarie Kaur is one amazing human being. I am looking forward to the 10 day workshop but will try to keep up here.
May everyone be well!
revolutionary love!

Magdelanye, it was a lovely day here, too.
Thursday is for Tai-Chi. We have a practice in the park whenever weather permits, and today it permitted. It was a lovely morning. I took my jacket off half way through the practice.
It must have been a refreshing day to sit outside and read. Nicely done, Magdelanye.

Yesterday I went for a walk with a friend and tomorrow I'm going on another walk with another friend. Covid may be trying to keep us apart but we thwart it by walkin'-n-talkin'.

Now that I think of it, I haven't heard the term "powder room" in some time. I guess it's passe. LOL!
Our main bathroom is a light teal colour. We aren't sure yet about the other 2 bathrooms.

I haven't heard of any of the books that you're reading. I will look into them.

I am enjoying the pictures of Bernie Sanders & his mittens. My favourite, so far, is of him on the bench with Forrest Gump. LOL.

Ellie, how are you doing? Hoping that you'll check in soon.
I'm glad that the inauguration went well. The world is more stable again.

O Petra you must be thrilled to get back to tai chi in the park. I wasn't aware that it had started again.
Writing this on my new tablet. It's a wee bit awkward with this keyboard. Not a lot of room for comments either as the keyboard takes up half the screen. don't think I will be able to import photos either. o listen to me complaining. I do feel lucky to have been given this.
Megan hope things are more stable there now tho you might be muttering a bit if you read Petra and me crooning about the weather. I remember that last year it was well into the year before the snow was gone in your neck of the woods.

Ellie may this find you calmer
And Ice as well
enduring grace

Petra, yay for tai chi in the park!

I feel like I'm finally recovered, reading-wise from pandemic stress. I have gone back to The Mirror & the Light and am enjoying it. Too early to say if I like it as much as the first two in the trilogy but it's a great relief to be able to concentrate on fiction again.

I got the vaccine Sunday--3 1/2 hour wait in the cold. But it's done and the appointment for the second dose made. They're canceling many appointments for the first dose as the city is running out of vaccine. I had no reaction to the vaccine (although apparently it's the second dose people tend to react to) but was laid up most of the following day from standing on concrete for so long.

I'm doing a meditation challenge built around Joseph Goldstein's book The Experience of Insight: A Simple & Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation which I'm enjoying.

Magdelanye, I hope you enjoy your tablet, despite its challenges.

great to hear from you El
May you feel better every day
glad you are back to reading some fiction again.
Apparently Shuggie Bain won the Giller. Bleak and well written, I'm glad i didnt quit on it. I seem to be weeping my way through Revolutionary Love.

Petra what picture of Bernie S and mittens? isnt he completely out of the picture now?
Another day with blue sky tho freezing on the ground.
i remember the powder room wallpaper at my parents, shades of gold stripe, it gave the little room a touch of elegance.

I am just grateful to have a fully equipped bathroom at last

Cheers everyone!

Here's the original picture of Bernie at the Inauguration, just trying to keep warm:



Poor Bernie has been photoshopped into all sorts of pictures. He may never be "out of the picture" again. LOL.

Here he is with Forrest Gump:



Here, on a roller coaster:


There's even now a Bobble Head Bernie in this pose.

Real Life Bernie is taking it really well.


The mittens have gone viral, too. The lady who made them & gave them to Bernie is a 2nd grade teacher who makes mittens from old sweaters. She got a bit of publicity, too, from this event. LOL.

Ellie, I'm glad that you're feeling a bit better today. Keep resting and relaxing until you feel yourself again.

Magdelanye, our powder room is a deep blue-violet colour. We like it so might be looking to find something in the same colour family for the reno.
Our appliances are currently a dark burgundy (oh boy!! Who chooses a dark burgundy toilet/sink?!!!). They'll be replaced with white ones, which will brighten the room and accent the darker blue-violet colour.

The vaccination plan for the Province was revealed today. If everything goes as planned, hubby and I should be getting our vaccinations in June (him) and July (me). That gives us time to see how people are reacting. So far, reactions seem to be almost nil and only if one is allergic to something.

wow Petra thanks for posting hilarious pics and bringing me up to date. Now if I can watch Forrest Gump I might even get it.
At this point we can only hope Biden will be able to undo some of the damage done by his predecessor.

Good morning!
How was everyone's week?

Our renovations are continuing. It's getting rather old. LOL. "Visitors" every day, extra cleaning, noise. The end results will be good. The bathroom already done is wonderful, except that it's missing it's new vanity (back-order) and has an old vanity/sink installed for use.
The ensuite is entirely gutted and rewired, replumbed. I think the flooring might be started today.

Magdelanye, yes, let's hope that Biden can undo some of the damage done in the previous years. It's been very quiet South of the border. It's rather strange (and peaceful) not hearing something from the White House in the news every. single. day.

Magdelanye, you haven't seen Forrest Gump? It's a warm, lovely story. If you can, it's worth watching. In the picture, he's at a bus stop, just waiting for a bus, and he's holding a box of chocolates.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Petra, I remember vividly the excitement watching the construction of the house my parents had built for them. The smells of the fresh planed wood, how everything fit together. If I would have been a guy I would have disappointed my family by becoming a carpenter rather than a doctor like my dad.

and its true, i may be the only person over the age of 3 who hasnt seen gump.
Remember, i live in a remote community Even if i could figure out transportation, there are only 2 theatres on the coast so the choice is very limited.

Ellie may be able to fill us in more but even i have heard that he is starting on restorative justice. Trumps absence is a positive presence.
I did plough on with Shuggie Bain, a rough as it was a

got cut off there: it was brilliant. Can see how it won booker.

also need to add that i dont own a tv either where i suppose Forst Gump is on roration. But it is on my bucket list

Magdelanye wrote: "The sun has just cleared the treetops and I am beckoned outside, just as I entered flight paths. I noticed we have an entire thread already for spring and feel a shard of hope in me. But I have alr..."

Hi Magdelanye--No I have not been boycotting at all nor was I at all offended by anything you have said. For some reason, I've been unusually busy, mostly with people although also with this meditation challenge and my own practice and I'm having trouble even keeping up with my email. I apologize for my absence.