Autumn

We're sopping up every last bit of autumn - taking long walks, doing some front-porch sitting, and lots of my favorite kind of interval training, which involves playing tennis on the backboard for a little while, then pausing for a bit of reading. Repeat until it grows dark.

Here is Josie's approach to zen:

For awhile Josie just sat in the water. Who knows how long she would have kept doing this if we hadn't grown tired and urged her to hop out?

Both dogs enjoy going to the backboards with me, but it's one of Margo's life joys. When we get close to the park she starts to "dance," racing from one side of the car to the other. While I play on the backboard she sits quietly, taking everything in. When I pause to read she army crawls her way over to me for snuggles. It's definitely our zen.

Margo is still in the lead for Best Face. There is no language barrier. We always know what she's thinking.

Tomorrow we're expecting our first snow of the season. Time for winter boots and crunching through the white and that exquisite silence of being inside a snow globe. 

exciting updates

Robert converted my grandpa's desk into an adjustable desk! I now spend most of my days standing, which my back appreciates. I'm also antsy in general so it allows me to bebop around while working and as an added bonus, it's much easier to get closer to projects and art with my face if I'm doing detail work. I have been talking nonstop about it with everyone and can't believe I didn't think of doing it sooner.

We've started cavorting through the woods again. There are still lots of people out but we were able to social distance just fine. Josie was super clingy and I spent a lot of time tripping over her. She hadn't been to the woods in so long I think she was completely overwhelmed.

I've been doing a weekly online storytime, which has been an interesting and unique experience. I haven't blogged about it because I have no idea what the patrons think! Doing a storytime with no feedback from patrons is about as bizarre as programming gets. Josie has been joining me for all the storytimes and has been such a well-behaved and comforting presence for me. I've also started playing the ukulele even though I'm still learning and very much a beginner.

Robert snapped this shot of us waiting for storytime to begin. Josie is always camera ready!

early morning surprise

Robert and I have seen and heard some bizarre things on walks recently, but this takes the cake. 

The squirrel appeared to be alive during the whole process, and the fox didn't care that we were nearby.

 

one of the few acceptable kinds of creeping

Picture book happiness: 

From After Squidnight

Favorite September Reads

I read a fair amount of good books in September. It was a good month for finding books I will recommend to patrons, but not necessarily books I personally love.

I did love these three books though!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! by Ree Drummond (Adult Nonfiction)

 

 

Easy-to-make comfort food with delightful pictures and stories to accompany the recipes. Her recipes were little a-ha moments for me. They weren't too crazy, but they offered different ways of making the foods my family already enjoys. The best example of this is making hash browns in a waffle iron. They're not the best hash browns my family has ever had, but they are so much fun to make and allow us to use the oven and stove for other things we like to make for a big weekend breakfast.

 

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha (Teen Graphic Memoir)

 

 

Robin's surprise move from South Korea to Alabama is jolting, frustrating, and completely life-changing. I cannot imagine how awful it must feel to be completely uprooted from your home and moved to a new country where you don't speak the language and are thrown in with a new family that doesn't embrace you. Robin does a beautiful job illustrating and writing about this journey. Each illustration of her face bursting into tears is so beautifully portrayed, it feels like you're being repeatedly punched in the gut. I was ready to kick some stepsister butt several times and was outraged by how her classmates treated her. Despite the awful surprise move and the bullies, Robin flourishes and finds friends she clicks with. I love how text-heavy Almost American Girl is. I also appreciate the piece about her mom that's tucked into the acknowledgements. I only wish I had thought to check for a glossary! I was so engrossed in the story I didn't flip to the back until the very end. Because I enjoyed this book so much I read every single word in it, including the copyright page. That is where I discovered that the really cool chapter openers came from comics Robin created as a teen. Amazing!

 

Saving Jemima by Julie Zickefoose (Adult Nonfiction)

Zickefoose's journey of raising a sickly baby blue jay and slowly reintegrating it back into the wild will warm a lot of hearts. I enjoyed the variety of pictures, artwork, and adorable stories of Jemima bonding with the family, especially Zickefoose's two teens and their dog, Chet. This was my first book by the author, but it's definitely not my last!