Category Archives: Reading

To The Lighthouse —

Posted on December 11, 2014 by

“If you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for … Continue reading →

Posted in Japan, Quotes, Reading, Writers | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments

Of Making Many Books, There is No End — or Reward?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

“Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Ecclesiastes 12 It was that way right from the beginning, I’m sure. Carvers in stone, makers of runes,  scribes in papyrus and parchment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddha, Challenge, Etcetera, Personal Essay, Quotes, Reading, Writers | Tagged , , , , , | 123 Comments

A Little Game of Tag — Wanna Play?

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

Fellow blogger Jen of Random Acts of Writing [ + Art]  challenged me in a recent post to a little game of Tag. Nowadays the idea of playing tag leaves me languid in an armchair, but when I was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Etcetera, Friendship, Memory, Reading, Writers | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Forbes Library, Volume II

Posted on December 4, 2011 by

When we were still in the Berkshires and considering a move to Northampton, every person we mentioned it to had exactly the same comment: Oh, it’s so vibrant! It got so we expected it, and sure enough, it came every … Continue reading →

Posted in Etcetera, Photography, Pioneer Valley, Quotes, Reading | Tagged , , , , | 30 Comments

I Saw A Ship A-Sailing —

Posted on October 11, 2011 by

I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea; And, oh! it was all laden With pretty things for thee! There were comfits in the cabin, And apples in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts … Continue reading →

Posted in Etcetera, Memory, Poetry, Reading | Tagged , | 17 Comments

Aiding the Spelling-Challenged —

Posted on August 16, 2011 by

Lots of people don’t spell at all. Never did. But now that there’s Spell Check on computers it’s more than ever before a dying art. I was a pretty good speller, probably due to visual memory strong on letters — … Continue reading →

Posted in Etcetera, Reading | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

To Make It Taste A Bit Better —

Posted on August 6, 2011 by

(Poetry lovers, maybe you’d better skip this post. It may strike you as irreverent — although those who appreciate and love good food may find it a refreshing, even provocative, observation.) Prolific author Alexander McCall Smith’s first fictional creation is … Continue reading →

Posted in Etcetera, Food, Poetry, Quotes, Reading | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Serendipity: Today’s Story

Posted on May 18, 2011 by

The word “serendipity” was coined by Horace Walpole in the 18th century. He said he formed it from a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip, in which the heroes were continually making happy discoveries by accident — and, … Continue reading →

Posted in Desert, Quotes, Reading, Wisdom, Writers | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments