There is no frigate like a book...

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

Emily Dickinson

I remember learning this poem when I was about ten or eleven. It came rushing back to me yesterday as I was finishing a novel. Not just a novel, but the first novel I have read in months and months. Just for fun. Just to escape into another world, just to board a frigate to take me lands away. And I have to say, that though this book was randomly chosen out of the library at school and was at times both morbid and disturbing, I soaked it up. At times I was so engrossed that I would be shocked to find reality rearing its head as a door shutting or phone ringing....so desperate was I to read, to imagine, to be the recipient of language and creativity instead of the giver of it.

Then, to top off the literary wonderfulness that was yesterday, I watched the new version of Pride and Prejudice. How many hours of happiness has Jane Austen provided me? Many, many, many. Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Pride and Prejudice....the books, the movies, the beauty.

I do realize, and Joel likes to remind me often, that reading novels can become a waste of time if you are neglecting other things and it becomes mere entertainment. Oh, but what fun for an afternoon! I am also reading a soul-nurturing book that is convicting, refreshing, and more than entertainment for sure. I'll review it for you soon. For now, though, I hope that you have the time to get lost in a good story in the near future. Just curl up with a good book (whatever that may mean to you), and a cup of tea, and preferably a kitty if you have one:) Its worth the time.

A Winter Wonderland....

This is what we woke up to on Monday morning....

Our first snowstorm of the season!! Joel is in absolute heaven as he looooooves the cold weather and snow. He did ride with a friend to school that morning, but on Tuesday he was back on his bike happily peddling through the snow! I, on the other hand, look longingly at my "summer drawer"' of flowey skirts and my neglected flip flops underneath the dresser. I have never missed Hawaii so much since we moved. It is beautiful here and the mountains look just as they should look, but it just isn't my favorite. I better buck up though, as this is just the beginning. When we moved here in May there were still three snow days before the warm weather started to show its face.

Anyway, as I sit here at the sunny kitchen table eating grapes and strawberries and hot chocolate with cool whip while looking out at that snow....I can't complain. I have a cozy little house to keep me warm, good music playing(Jonie Mitchell, Jack Johnson, and Keith Green:), yummy snacks and lots to keep me busy.

Hope you all are doing well, whatever the weather may be where you are. Jen