Books in Spring

Mercy, Danny, and Oak listening to Noah tell about his latest adventure race.  On the table are the mud-spattered maps that guided each part of the race:  kayaking, biking, rogaining (hiking and navigation), rappelling.  It was a 12-hour race, but Noah's team finished in 9:45.  He said, "it wasn't such a hard race" but he also described his muscles cramping up mid-race so badly that he lay on the side of the road, hurting like one of his worst migraines.

Springtime!  We have two magnificent magnolia trees blooming outside the kitchen window.  Running over the giant, beautiful petals in my car feels like driving on riches.  The smell of honeysuckle is sometimes so strong that I can taste it on my tongue.  Forget-me-nots. "Rhodos" (rhododendrons).  Giant white lilies growing wild along the road.

I like it when Dan and Megan put their books on their blog, so I'm including the books that I finished in the last couple of weeks.

World's Best Short Stories: I started this enjoyable book almost one year ago after picking it up at the annual, 24-hour used book sale in our local sports stadium.  It's a long book - almost 500 pages, which is only part of the reason that it took me so long to read.  I always felt that one short story was enough for one day.  Sometimes one story carried enough punch that it felt disrespectful to start into the next story for a week or even longer.

World's Best Short Stories, Reader's Digest compilation 

Women at Church by Neylan McBaine

Thanks, Melissa Kemmerle, for this intriguing book, Women at Church, by Neylan McBaine.  Once I started it, I could hardly put it down.  An interesting discussion of LDS gender roles and how the role of LDS women might be expanded within the framework of the current church policies.  This book includes many practical suggestions gathered from wards and stakes around the US.

The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum

Wizard of Oz:  A fun read-aloud for the girls at night.  A few parts that weren't in the movie, such as the tin woodman chopping the heads off of all the wolves and making a big pile of the bodies.


Kiwi moments this week...

• "Fancy Dress" night at the elementary school.
• Discussion in Relief Society of how Maori powhiri (traditional greeting to welcome visitors on to the marae) relates to the temple
• Dropping Noah off at Will's house before the race, and seeing the classic Kiwi-country way that these good people live:  old, wooden farmhouse tucked in between green hills, gumboots and shorts, soft-spoken and hard-working people. Taranaki Hardcore.