Boots, raingear, gloves. My trusty London Fog with the zipped in winter lining proved reliable. We were all pretty wet once back on the bus. The rear of the bus looked like a laundry room - trying to dry out.
It was a great start to our tour, but man, we were tired when we got to our first hotel. Forced ourselves to stay awake. I made it to 9 pm.
This was only the beginning of a unique adventure.
It proved to be a very worthy read. Theo is 80+ years old and from Portugal. He's a man of independent wealth and he comes to Golden, GA to "visit". This visit proves enlightening for all who meet him.
He has questions and truly meets and talks with people. He's buying portraits from a local coffee shop and then gives them as gifts to the actual people. A story is told, a friendship is born, and a life altered (back blurb).
This is a story of giving and receiving and being seen. It's about creative generosity, wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another. (back blurb)
I'll be honest. A lot of friends recommended this book. When I started reading it, I thought it was almost too perfect. A bit too contrived. Then it pulled me in and Theo captured my heart. And then the finale...
Holy crap. You just have to read it for yourself. Whew!
yes, in October - the rainy season. More on that later.
But it's also the best time for the northern lights.
Here you go. Hotel Siglo. 25 miles from the Arctic Circle. Called us at 10.30 pm - "There's activity."
Ya think? holy cow. Totally mind blowing
You are welcome!!!
Now, in the coming weeks, you must live through a lot of waterfalls.......
Just saying....
Iceland is exotically cold, rainy, beautiful, and fantastic. Enjoy
Dominic and his three kids are caretakers for Shearwater, a tiny island off the coast of Antarctica. Sea levels are rising and they are packing up their life mission - the seed vault. Researchers and scientists have left. (some mysterious circumstances are hinted).
A woman, Rowan, washes up on shore, badly injured. Turns out she's the wife of one of the researchers.
What the heck is going on? Sabotage. Blood. How many secrets are there?
p. 168 and now there is this day. Here on a windswept, starlit hill, and I think I have found something, and the broken years fall away. ...............I am quite certain I have found his grave.
p. 261 Orly the young lad who loves the plants, the seeds, and the stories of the island. It's all he's known as a kid. He's very protective of the seeds. Here's his thoughts
The banksia will wait, and wait, and wait for this fire to come. Only with flames and smoke licking at everything around it will it open its valves and let its seeds be taken on this hot burning wind.......
which the untrained eye would look at and see death - comes life, bursting free....
McConaghy writes a very near future tale - very aware of climate change, global warnings, all the nature concerns we have. It's also a tale of a family without a mother. And a mysterious death? maybe.
Wild Dark Shore is a wow of a tale and kept me hooked until the end. Highly recommended.
Welcome Great Pumpkin, indeed
(All I got was a rock.... poor Charlie Brown)
and I have laundry to do, groceries to shop for, and I am jetlagged. I got these two photos off the internet, just as a teaser.
I have to say when we booked this, it was on a "what the heck" whim. We did not research that October is the super rainy month. And fairly cold (like 40s plus some wind chill). Ray and I were in shorts in Texas as we packed for adventure hiking.
Stories to tell gang. Just give me a second to settle in.
Enjoy a spooky Halloween week
I appreciate my blog friends and we do live on in our writings
Go hug someone today and enjoy your weekend
Let's have a flashback to my Dad. He's been gone two years now.
I missed him on my birthday, and many other days.
Sigh
I'm on hiatus and adventure. Meanwhile, enjoy these flashbacks.
I'm on hiatus now - many adventures to show later.
Meanwhile, enjoy this fall flavor and have a super weekend
Ancient history.
We stay in touch now via Facebook. He and his wife have been in Oregon, but I think they are now in AZ with grandkids.
Flashback Fun
It was a very nice day. A walk. Water aerobics (the whole water class sang Happy Birthday).
Lunch at 54th Street - I love the Havana Club sandwich and fries. Plus, I got my "free" birthday dessert - caramel cheesecake. Yum. Thanks Ray!
Now, I declare it birthday weekend. My excitement on Friday is my semi-annual med check doctor visit. May I refuse to weigh in? There should be a birthday excuse allowed.
Nothing else special is occurring, but I'm basking in the glow of all my candles (in my head).
Feel free to treat yourselves to something special and you may thank me and say, "Hey, it's okay. It's Joanne's birthday weekend. " Enjoy.
1976 - Charlie's Angels ushered in a tv revolution. It featured three single female detectives. The stories revolved around fighting crime, not around supporting men.
Jaclyn Smith became a household name as Kelly Garrett in a tiny white bikini. But prior to that she danced on Broadway and was a commercial actress. A Breck Girl. Max Factor cosmetics. She was a Texas girl with a dream, a lot of ambition, and a willingness to say yes and work hard to learn her craft.
This memoir is very pleasant to read. Smith seems fairly down to earth and very aware of her skill set. She presents humble but hard driven. Fortunately she came from a very loving family - two caring parents and an older brother. That's unusual in the brutal Hollywood business. There's a lot I didn't know about her or had forgotten. She forged a huge brand partnership with K-Mart back before that was a real thing. She took the design work seriously and truly wanted women to look good at a decent price.
Acting, entrepreneurship, a breast cancer fight, some marriages, and two loved children - Jaclyn Smith writes it all down. Plus she emphasizes her long term friendships with her original Angels - Kate Jackson and the late Farrah Fawcett. I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie is a very fun glimpse into a global star.
In 2000, AJ Graves wants to work for SNL, but is stuck in a video store. Noah Drew ends up working with her. Why is this rich kid from the Drew acting dynasty slumming it in small town MA. There's a crazy bond - first friends, then acting with his aunt Eudora as a coach. She's from a cult favorite sci-fi show.
Fast forward to 2017 and AJ is hired to be in a reboot series of that sci-fi show. Who walks in? Noah - now a Hollywood heartthrob. cover blurb - As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. They must confront the truth of what happened long ago - and face the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart.
Brodie writes a compelling story filled with chemistry, yearning, and quite a journey. AJ really has to dig deep to forge her success, while orbiting the Noah Drew magnetism.
John-Calum Macleod (he goes by Cal) takes the ferry home after an art school education. Home is the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. Nothing has changed at his childhood home. His father, John, is a sheep farmer, tweed weaver, and lay preacher. He's also dismayed by Cal's long hair, strange clothes, and unwillingness to be SAVED (cover blurb)
Thank goodness for grandmother Ella, a cursing Glaswegian whose steady warmth helped Cal weather the sudden departure of his mother. (cover)
Cal has a secret.
John Sr. has a secret
cover blurb - John of John is a singular novel about duty, passion, and the transformative power of truth. I admit I ended up surprised and pulled into the stories of both father and son. Quite the surprises.
The book is powerful and well written.
Here's an example of a delicious sentence:
And he could see, at the rocky cold bottom of her smile, pooling like syrup at the bottom of a sundae, she was storing, savoring, the delicious taste of revenge.
Mic drop...........oh yeah. So damn good. This book is a treat and will surprise you, I promise.
cover blurb - This story roves all over NYC from Windows on the World to Sugar Hill, to show that in New York and the lives of Whitehead's vivid characters, it's what's below the surface that reveals the truth.
1981 - Ray Carney - business owner/ master fence has just been named Sterling Furniture's Northeast Regional Dealer of the Month. His wife, Elizabeth, needs a loan for her new travel agency. The banks refuse her, so Ray gambles on one last heist. It's always one more.... uh oh
1983 - Pepper, Carney's buddy and partner in crime, is feeling his age. But he takes on a bodyguard gig as a favor to Elizabeth. The art/club scene prove problematic, but Pepper knows the language of violence.
1986 Carney has a chance to rescue his dead cousin Freddie's son. But he's sworn he was going to stay straight. Oops. One more deal with Pepper. Everything has to go down smooth. Will it?
I love Colson Whitehead's writing. He's just so cool. He's funny. He creates the perfect Harlem/ NYC vibe.
example A per me: Ray's meeting a guy
You did not lam it in a second rate pizza joint. More unforgivable, their slices exhibited low structural integrity when folded and thirty seconds after hitting the paper plate bled out orange grease. It was shameful to pass through their doors.
Treat yourself to some time with Ray Carney, Pepper, and quite a cast of characters. And find a decent slice of pizza while reading. Enjoy!
Look Up
This nice message made me smile - Shine Anyway
That's your goal today - muddle along and shine. September is almost over and the final quarter of 2026 begins on Thursday. Yikes!
