Birthday Month Reading List

I thought it would be nice to revisit some of my childhood favorites and some favorite authors who write young adult and juvenile books during this my natal month. I do have to admit that this will not be the first time I have re-read these books. Some of these books I have loved so much I have read them more than a dozen times! (No lie!)

Right now I am listening to one of my favorite juvenile / young adult authors read one of her books to me. Who? you ask. Madeleine L'Engle. How can this be? you may also ask. Not difficult when you consider that most cars have CD players these days. I listen to books on my way to and from work instead of listening to the radio.

The book is A Wrinkle in Time read by the author herself. And when I first started listening to the audio book, I had a delightful surprise. Before she began reading the book on the recording, she commented on how the book came about. She told the story about how she would write and tell stories to her children, who would urge her to write more about the Murrys (the family in the story) which in turn gave her reason to persist in trying to get A Wrinkle in Time published. It finally was in 1962.

I really enjoy the mixture of science fiction, fantasy and philosophy in her books. And her characters are so very well created and so very interesting. I don't think I will re-read the rest of L'Engle's Kairos and Chronos books (the two intertwined series) at this time, because there are several other young adult and juvenile books I want to re-read.

The other books I plan to read this month include M.M. Kaye's The Ordinary Princess - a wonderful fairytale about the lucky seventh daughter of a king and queen who made the mistake of NOT inviting the fairy Crustacea to the celebration of their little princess's birth. They invited many fairies hoping for wonderful gifts such as great beauty, charm, a sweet disposition, etc. which their little daughter (named Princess Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne of Phantasmorania) indeed received. However at the last moment the slighted fairy arrives and bestows a gift on the tiny princess - the "gift" of ordinariness. And as she grew up Princess Amy was indeed very much different from her six lovely sisters. She was freckled, had brown hair, was plain looking and preferred playing in the woods to wearing "fine clothes".

I can't wait to hold this book in my hands again, to read the story and to look at the beautiful illustrations drawn by M.M. Kaye herself. I highly recommend this book to any mother or grandmother to read to a young girl who might have a princess fixation. It may bring her back to earth.

Another two books I hope to have time to re-read are by Robert A. Heinlein - Have Spacesuit Will Travel and Tunnel in the Sky. Have Spacesuit (published in 1958) is a great story about a boy who dreams of space travel and tries his hardest to win a trip to the moon but has to settle for another prize (he didn't win 1st place), an obsolete but genuine spacesuit which he puts back into good working condition all by himself. Of course, Kip (the teenage boy) ends up having a very unusual adventure and getting to the moon anyway.

The other Heinlein book, Tunnel in the Sky is a classic sci fi teen "Survivor" story. Bearing in mind the book was published in 1955 and therefore some of the science has been disproved, it is very interesting how MUCH of the science is accurate (this statement goes for Have Spacesuit as well). The premise of this book is that teenager Rod Walker dreams of becoming a professional colonist on another planet but he must first complete the final test in his Advanced Survival class - staying alive on an unfamiliar planet for anywhere from 2 to 10 days along with the other members of his class. Unfortunately, the survival test lasts much longer than 10 days and the students eventually come to believe they have been "planted". I never read Lord of the Flies (believe it or not) but I imagine Tunnel in the Sky is somewhat similar though it takes place in the future and on another planet.

I own the last three of these books and look forward to reading each of them again. I would very much recommend anyone, teen to adult reading these - just for the pure enjoyment. But with Heinlein's books I love reading them for the science and admiring the man's vision of what might be possible compared to what has actually come to pass. It is just amazing.

Museum Tour

Recently I was privileged to go on a special bus trip with a friend to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We had special tour tickets for the Van Gogh exhibit. What was really special about the tour of the Van Gogh exhibit was that it took place during the hour before the museum opened to the public. We also had a human guide who talked about many of the paintings and about Van Gogh's life.

One interesting fact I learned was the reason he signed all his paintings with just his first name. He wanted his paintings to give the message that he was a friend and brother to all. Family and friends call you by your first name. There are also many paintings he did not sign but they are known to be his because he gave them to family and those paintings have passed down from person to person giving the paintings a provenance.

Winslow Homer's painting "A Temperance Meeting"

How incredible to be able to stand so close to these masterpieces! To be able to have my nose a bare 4 inches away from a canvas and see the individual brush strokes! Not just with the Van Gogh collection but all the rest, Monet, Matisse, Turner, Picasso, Pissarro, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, just to name a few. A very few.

I could have spent the whole day there but we only had a few hours. We took a break for lunch and discovered just past the cafeteria an interactive exhibit based on Van Gogh's painting, Rain. Visitor's were encouraged to write a Haiku inspired by his painting. So I had to enter my effort.

"Undergrowth With Two Figures" by Vincent

I want to go back. I WILL go back. It was expensive to go on the bus tour but it was definitely well worth the expense. I used my Christmas money for my ticket and to buy a souvenir mug with a Vincent painting on it. One of my favorites from the exhibition - no, NOT Sunflowers. But a truly French forest image called "Undergrowth With Two Figures". It is beautiful and slightly haunting. This particular painting is on loan to the exhibit from the Cincinnati Art Museum. I highly recommend everyone to go see the Van Gogh exhibit while it is still touring. There are paintings from many museums including the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands as well as others from private collections. The next stop on the tour will be Toronto.

Poem ~ Haiku: On Vincent's Rain

The Haiku I wrote, inspired by the masterpiece "Rain" painted by Vincent Van Gogh.

"Rain "by Vincent

On Vincent's Rain

Grey rain streaking down

curtains the lush green landscape

splashed by Vincent's brush

written 2/12/12 by mARTa weller

Poem ~ Snowflakes

 In honor of our "non-winter" and 
the forecast by Punxsatawney Phil 
for six more weeks of winter 
(or six more weeks for winter to arrive), 
I am posting this little poem.

               Snowflakes

                  Feather light crystals

                  float gently down,

                  Softly they blanket

                  branches velvety brown.

                  Barren grey landscape

                  now downy white,

                  Covered by snowflakes

                  twinkling diamond bright.

                                                 -mARTa weller

                                                               January 9, 2009

                    (snowflake photos from Google Images)

Groundhog Day

I am back... finally. I am really falling down on the job. My ideal was to post something at least once a week. But the problem is, I don't believe in posting something just for the sake of posting something. I don't want to waste my time or any potential reader's time. Be that as it may - I write....

You may notice from the date of this post that it doesn't really match the title of the post. (Groundhog Day occurred two days ago.) But I feel I am still allowed to comment on this recent annual event.

Punxsatawney Phil February 2, 2012
- photo courtesy of the Washington Post

I live in Pennsylvania, home of the internationally known Punxsatawney Phil. Granted, he is not the original rodent nor do I live in the town of Punxsatawney (I live on the other side of the state), but I woke up just before dawn on February 2nd and, as I normally do, tuned in to BBC America to watch the world news and what should I see? Punxsatawney Phil being hauled out of his pseudo home by the tuxedo-ed and top hatted town fathers of Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania. Therefore, even though there are several other groundhogs out there in communities being watched each year to provide the weather forecast everyone anxiously awaits every February, it is Pennsylvania's own Punxsatawney Phil who has become an international star and rated a good 3 or 4 minute coverage on the BBC World News!

According to folklore, if it is cloudy when the groundhog comes out of his burrow on February 2nd, then spring will come early. If it is sunny and the groundhog sees his shadow, then folklore maintains there will be six more weeks of winter.

Now, as I watched on BBC America (I could have seen the same thing on any local channel, too, but it was so very interesting to see and hear the British perspective), I noticed that with the dim light from dawn's early light, and because there were so many cameras flashing away, there wasn't any natural light to speak of. There were plenty of spotlights and flash bulbs and artificial light. OF COURSE the silly rodent could see a shadow. He saw MANY shadows! But I guess the town fathers were the ones who decided that there wasn't very much cloud cover, they could see the sun would be causing shadows so therefore - in their opinion - Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow and there would be 6 more weeks of winter.

So, this brought another irreverent thought to mind. We here in my neck of the woods have been having a very unusual winter. The calendar says winter, we are weeks away from the spring equinox, but we are in the midst of a non-snowy, relatively warm and rainy winter (it was 60 degrees F two days in a row last week!) - when we usually have at least an inch or two of snow periodically throughout January and into February!

The irreverent thought? I don't know about six MORE weeks of winter, but maybe six more weeks for winter to ARRIVE!

Essay ~ Part 4 "Night Fears"

Night Fears
(by Marta Weller, December 4, 2009)

Part 4

My surreal images of driving home and encountering deer
haven't always had the aspect of horror.
Sometimes there is a truly magical quality which can be uplifting.
 
This is what I try to remember as I wend my way home at night,
driving along a dark country road.
I remember my twilight meeting with an impressive stag.
Not so much a meeting as a peripheral encounter with this magical creature.
 
The sky had changed to that glowing twilight lavender,
that almost luminous steel-bluish purple that makes one believe
the stories of elves, fairies and unicorns could be true -
or that at the very least something portentous would momentarily occur.
 
As I crested the hill several hundred yards beyond the driveway of my house
(which stands in a row of Cape Cod style houses across from a field no longer planted, more like a meadow or pasture kept mown as if it were a giant's front yard),
an awesome sight came into view.

In the middle
of the emerald green pasture  
stood a stag - head raised,
seemingly listening
to a distant call.
 
I slowed to watch.
Slowly, he began to stride
across the pasture
away from my roadway
toward a line of trees.

Not a fear-filled run,
erratic and crazed.
A majestic, head held high,
rack gleaming in the last beams of sunset,
powerful, purposeful progress to his next destination.
 
It was eerie. Right across from houses with freshly mown lawns,
this king had deigned to pause in his travels.
 
Driving home tonight,
all alone on a dark country road,
all these images of deer and many more,
scud through my brain.
Like the clouds passing in front of the moon above,
the images flicker past my mind's eye.
The darkness encapsulates me.
The yellow lines mesmerize me.
And now I realize what my mind has analyzed.
My nighttime driving fears have revealed themselves to be
night fears of night-deer.


-fin-

Essay ~ Part 3 "Night Fears"

Night Fears
(By Marta Weller, December 4, 2009)

Part 3

The next nighttime driving image that fills my mind as I drive along this dark country road on my lonely way home is more fleeting but yet just as eerie.

I remember driving home along another, smaller country road.
A back road much nearer to my home.
It was fall - another fall -
when the deer are moving more erratically, more skittishly
because the human hunters are on the prowl -
day and night they harass the deer.
Daytimes the deer are hunted with bow and arrow, 
later in the season, with rifles -
but at night the deer spotters prowl,
shining lights into hedgerows and fields 
causing the hunted, skittish creatures to become bands of frightened, potentially dangerous zombies.

The night was very black because the moon was in its last quarter. I had just turned onto a small back-country road, a shortcut to the highway that was only a few miles from my home. It was a road lined on my left with open fields and on my right with a few houses in a wooded area. The road went down a small hill. I could barely see the point in the road ahead where I knew the houses and trees along my right would end and a field would begin. 

As I strained my eyes to see the road beyond the lit tunnel of my headlights, my eyes caught some kind of movement off to the side - just beyond the range of my headlights.

Suddenly the movement spilled across the road in front of me. 
My headlights picked up a couple of fast moving deer 
shooting from right to left across the road.
I was far enough away to slow down to a crawl.
As I crept through the black night towards the little access road 
that led into the field on my right,
I kept peering into the spot from which the two deer had emerged.

As I stared, the blackness seemed to be moving -

(imagine this in the black, black night)

different shades of black shifted shape.

When I realized what I was seeing, 
I stopped.
And waited.
My eyes had focused on a herd of deer, 
a dozen, 
maybe even fifteen, 
milling just outside of the trees 
along the access road into the field.

Maybe it was the slow approach of my car, 
or that I had stopped and my headlights unnerved them -
maybe they just decided to bolt all at once,
but suddenly all the deer glided across the road in front of me.
My headlights gleamed on ghostly deer, a solid stream of them.
It was completely silent.
A river of deer flowing across the road.
The twin beams of light shown on their backs and hindquarters
as they moved in an eerie silent rippling motion
over the road and down the embankment into the opposite field,
disappearing once more into the inky black night.

Just a flash of an image that was seared on my brain.
Another nighttime deer encounter I will never forget.


To be continued