Memos, Mail, Me: Happy Mail

It was a quiet weekend. Nothing much on Friday (I should have been much more productive.) On Saturday, we babysat for Miss Madelyn while Matt and Betsy took the two older girls to a birthday party. She started to crawl a week or so ago, and is on the move!

Afterward we got take-out from a new Mediterranean restaurant. It was just as good (and inexpensive) as all the Yelp reviews said it was.

Sunday, I heard Rabbi Stein from Temple B’rith Kodesh present at our Sunday Seminar, and then preach at our second service. He is a wonderful speaker, very articulate and thoughtful. His theme was the need for unity between religious groups during these dangerous times as well as a call to be out in the community working for justice and peace. Our Presbyterian church and the temple have a long-standing relationship, and do a pulpit exchange once a year. On Friday night, our pastor spoke at the temple.

Shortly after I got home, it was time to meet our book group for lunch and a discussion of Shadow of the Wind. I think the consensus was that although the plot was complicated, and the overall feeling rather dark, we all were glad we’d read the book. I had highlighted several passages as I read, and was struck by how universal the themes were when I went back to look at the highlighting. Here are a couple of them:

Few things are more deceptive that memories. I’ve been thinking about memory a lot recently. A friend of mine has incredibly vivid memories of growing up, yet I have few and very vague memories of my childhood. Why is that? I’ll be spending some time with my brother later this spring, and expect to quiz him about his memories of our childhoods. In the book, the main character is trying to track down the books of a specific author (most were burned) and interviews many people about their experiences with the author. The memories of one character frequently do not match up with what he hears from another. 

One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn’t have to understand something to feel it. By the time the mind is able to comprehend what has happened, the wounds of the heart are already too deep. This proves to be so very true for four boys in the novel who grew up together, and I think is true for many persons who’ve suffered a great loss or trauma as a child.

On a far lighter note, along with the usual stack of junk mail, notices, a few bills, and catalogs, I received some lovely mail this week. First of all, two pairs of slacks which I ordered after completing purging my wardrobe—winter and summer. I took several bags to Goodwill, and sent off a box of clothes to Swap.com as well. When I had finished, I realized I needed a couple pairs of casual, lightweight slacks for the summer. Nice as that was, this was better:

Lady Ella (feeling somewhat sorry for me after my post about how slowly Spring was coming) sent me a wonderful magnet with a photo she’d taken of a flowering tree near her home. It is brightening my refrigerator as she hoped it would. Better yet, it proved to be a talisman so that Spring has finally sprung here! The next day an order from Papertrey Ink arrived with a lovely sentiment set for birthdays, a double banner die, and a gorgeous set of three dies. When I first saw “Mix and Match: Scallops” I thought it was too fussy for me, but I changed my mind quickly when I saw the various ways the three dies were used by the design team. 

Since I had some time this weekend, I made a Mother’s Day card with it:

Just two dies, one stamp, three tiny pearls, and some coordinating papers and voila! a card is done. The curved banner die is from My Favorite Things, but all the rest is Papertrey Ink.

Waving to Sian and other Monday Memo Makers. The week ahead looks warmer (yea!) and a lot busier. It used to be true that the busier I was, the more productive I was. I’m hoping it still holds true.