55 Sustaining Verses

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I’m making lists of “55” this month.
Here is a list of verses which have sustained me through the years of my life.

You may or may not be familiar with the Bible.
These verses are snatched out of their contexts,
but each one has a context in my life.
These are words that have fed my soul.

 

 

1. The Lord is my strength and my song,
And He has become my salvation.  — Isaiah 12:2

2.  Call to Me, and I will answer you,
and I will tell you great and mighty things,
which you do not know. — Jeremiah 33:3

3. I love the Lord, because He hears
my voice and my supplications. — Psalm 116:1

4. Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in Thee. — Psalm 33:22

5.  For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. — Ephesians 2:8

6. The Lord bless you and keep you; — Numbers 6:24

7. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. — Psalm 23: 1

8. As a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities them that fear him. — Psalm 103:13

9. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end,
they are new every morning,
great is thy faithfulness. — Lamentations 3:22-23

10. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me. — John 10:27

11. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that shall I seek;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
— Psalm 27:4

12. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is:
fear God and keep His commandments,
because this applies to every person. — Ecclesiastes 12:13

13. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans for welfare and not for calamity
to give you a future and a hope. — Jeremiah 29:11

14. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. — I John 1:9

15. O magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt His name together. — Psalm 34:3

16. Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous!
Do not tremble or be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
— Joshua 1:9

17. It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich,
And he adds no sorrow to it.  — Proverbs 10:22

18. If therefore the Son shall make you free,
you shall be free indeed. — John 8:36

19. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8

20. Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. — Psalm 62:8

21. God makes a home for the lonely. — Psalm 68:6

22. Casting all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you. — I Peter 5:7

23. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
— Psalm 23:6

24. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
— Genesis 1:1

25. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. — John 1:1

26. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
— II Corinthians 9:15

27. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
— II Corinthians 3:18

28. To console those who mourn in Zion,
to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they may be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
— Isaiah 61:3

29. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
— Romans 11:33

30. Rejoice in the Lord always;
and again I say, rejoice!
— Philippians 4:4

31. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
— Proverbs 31:30

32. For the anger of man does not achieve
the righteousness of God. — James 1:20

33. But the goal of our instruction is love
from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
— I Timothy 1:5

34. My flesh and my heart may fail;
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
— Psalm 73:26

35. All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
to fall on Him. — Isaiah 53:6

36. The Lord is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble,
and He knows those who take refuge in Him.
— Nahum 1:7

37. Greater love has no one than this,
that one lay down his life for his friends.
— John 15:13

 
38. But now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
— I Corinthians 13:13

39. For the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
— Habakkuk 2:14

40. Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it
than a house full of feasting with strife.
— Proverbs 17:1

41. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever.
— Psalm 136:1

42. I  lift up my eyes to the hills;
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord
who made heaven and earth.
— Psalm 121:1-2

43. Howbeit Thou are just in all that is brought upon us,
for Thou hast done right
but we have done wrong.
— Nehemiah 9:33

44. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing,
they render you neither useless nor unfruitful
in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
— II Peter 1:8

45. Let the sea roar, let the fields rejoice,
let the trees of the forest lift their voice.
Let the earth and heaven celebrate,
and the people on earth say, “The Lord reigns!”
— I Chronicles 16:32-33

46. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
— Psalm 16:6

47. Thou will make known to me the path of life;
In Thy presence is fullness of joy;
In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.
— Psalm 16:11

48. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh will see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
— Isaiah 40:5

49. He has shown you, O man, what is good:
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God?
— Micah 6:8

50. Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me,
bless His holy name.
— Psalm 103:1

51. He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart,
yet so that he cannot find out what God has done
from the beginning to the end.
— Ecclesiastes 3:11

52. I am my beloved’s,
and his desire is for me.
— Song of Songs 7:10

53. Now I commit you to God,
and to the word of his grace,
which can build you up with the rest of the saints.
— Acts 20:32

54. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken,
let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God
an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire.
— Hebrews 12:28-29

55. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to make you stand in the presence of His glory
blameless with great joy.
— Jude 24

55 Photographs

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 Sherry was kind enough to be born exactly three months before me.
Her annual celebrations give me great ideas, which, alas, I seldom do.
But, this year, I believe I will follow through on several 55 lists.
It’s not my birthday today, but September is my birthday month.

Let’s start with 55 Photographs.
Oh, the places you will go!
One benefit of coming from a large, spread out family is that you just have to visit your people.
Here are 55 cherished memories.
I took each photo and would appreciate you asking before you download.

1. Sunrise at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina

 

2. Iona Abbey, Scotland

 

3. Iona, Scotland

 

4. Baldy Lake, Oregon

 

5. Imler, Pennsylvania

 

6. La Grande, Oregon

 

 

7. Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington

 

8. Country Bible Church, Whitman County, Washington

 

 9. Duart Castle, Isle of Mull, Scotland

 

10. Richland, Oregon

 

11. York, England

 

12. Casco Bay, Maine

 

13. Moscow, Idaho

 

14. Columbia River, Boardman, Oregon

 

15. Snake River near Richland, Oregon

 

 

16. Sebago, Maine

 

17. Cumberland, Maine

 

18. Lostine Canyon, Oregon

 

19. Enterprise, Oregon

 

20. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Burns, Oregon

 

 

21. Mt. Shasta, as seen from Klamath Falls, Oregon

 

22. Imnaha, Oregon

 

23. Blue Ridge, Georgia

 

24. Franklin, Tennessee

 

25. Joseph Canyon, Oregon

 

26. Grande Ronde Valley, Oregon

 

27. Troy, Idaho

 

28. Rattlesnake Highway, Oregon

 

29. Chicago, Illinois

 

30. University of Chicago

 

31. Baraboo, Wisconsin

 

32. Lombard, Illinois

 

33. Wallowa, Oregon

 

34. Cary, North Carolina

 

35. Potlatch, Idaho

 

36. Baker City, Oregon

 

37. Haines, Oregon

 

 

38. La Grande, Oregon

 

39. Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland

 

40. Outside Jasper, Alberta

 

41. Bridge of Sighs, Oxford, England

 

 

42. Lower British Columbia

 

43. On the way to Banff

 

44. Crowsnest Pass, Alberta

 

45.  Columbia Icefields, Alberta

 

46. Lake Pend Oreille, Sandpoint, Idaho

 

47.  Seattle, Washington

 

48. Wildlife crossing on way to Banff

 

49. Southern Washington

 

 

50. Approaching Baker City, Oregon

 

51.  High Valley, Alberta

 

52.  Alberta prairie

 

 

53.  Joseph, Oregon

 

54.  Haines, Oregon

 

55.  Home

 

 

Two Are Better Than One

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I haven’t read your novel, but I can imagine what it’s like.
I think it is an excellent exercise in the use of your imaginations.
I’m pleased with you for writing it.
But now you must begin to look around you here at home.
Use all of your senses to find out what kind of a place you are living in.
Ask yourself how it smells, how it tastes, how it sounds,
as well as how it looks.
Then someday when you wish to write real books,
you will put your real experiences into them.
You will not need to go to imaginary countries half the world away
for your material. Perhaps someday you will even write
about this very year in your lives in Idaho. 180

My friend Noel and I were sitting in her van, waiting for the key to a building. As we chatted, she looked straight ahead and said, “Carol Ryrie Brink grew up in that house. You know the author of Caddie Woodlawn?” My eyes widened as I nodded. At one time I loved Caddie Woodlawn more than Laura Ingalls. “She wrote several adult novels about the early days of Moscow,” Noel continued. “You might like them.”  I put the titles on my wishlist and waited. This summer I am on a Carol Ryrie Brink reading streak. Before I began her trilogy about Moscow, ID, I read a little-known children’s book.

Two are Better Than One is a superb story for girls in that delicate time between dolls and bras.  Chrystal Reese and Cordelia Lark live a few blocks apart in the early 1900’s. Chrys is alone with her aunt and grandmother in a quiet house. Cordy lives with her dad and mom and four older brothers in a bustling house. When they aren’t playing with dolls, or going to Dorcas Club meetings, or exclaiming “Swellissimus!”, Chrys and Cordy decide to write a novel—by taking turns writing a chapter— about two dolls: The Romantical Perils of Lester and Lynette. This novel, included in the book with its juvenile spelling and construction gave me the loudest horse laugh:

“Lester!” screamed Lynette, trying hard not to swoon,
“You have come in the very niche of time.” 85

Miss Hickenlooper, a new teacher, is a problem. She doesn’t understand them, even confiscates the miniature dolls. The girls nourish their grievance by writing a hate poem. She discovers the poem, the girls see the hurt they’ve afflicted. This section has stuck with me weeks after I finished the book. Here a few snippets from that scene:

All along they had thought of Miss Hickenlooper as their enemy,
a comical one to be sure, but an enemy nevertheless.
And now she seemed to be not an enemy or even a villain
but just a person who had been mocked and hurt
by a couple of girls. 52

 
…we didn’t mean it for hate.
We thought it was—well, sort of funny.
It made us feel better.
We didn’t think about how you would feel. 53

The girls go to some parties and begin to neglect the dolls. They serve punch at a college dance. The novel gets finished and Chrys and Cordy decide to stage a wedding for the dolls. This back and forth between the little girl and the almost grown-up mimics the conflict I’ve witnessed in adolescent girls. 

As I get to know Carol Ryrie Brink, I see many autobiographical elements in this sweet story of friendship. The dedication is “…for Charlotte. She, better than anyone else, will be able to sift through all the make-believe and find the grains of truth.”  Like dear Laura Ingalls, the story of Chrys and Cordy harks back to a time when a girl had to learn how “to keep herself happy and amused.” 

 

I Know, Let’s Talk About Hormones

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Ah, you know…hormones. At my age, I hear this all the time. I say it myself. It’s the reason we are hot, the reason we are cold, the reason we are wet, the reason we are dry, the reason we can’t sleep, the reason we can’t wake up.  Many women my age feel like a hostage to hormones.

If you need to take back your body, you will find much to consider in this book. Stanton addresses diet, exercise, stress, supplements, and, most importantly, bioidentical hormones. The book’s design and writing is about as exciting as a Wikipedia article. But the content is helpful.

Bioidentical? Huh? This neologism describes a “hormone [which] is exactly the same as a hormone made by our bodies.”  This is different from conventional hormone replacement therapy.

And we have just tripped off the path of traditional medicine onto the scenic bypass of alternative medicine. In other words, (lean close to me so I can whisper) the FDA hasn’t approved bioidentical hormones.

Yes, there is controversy. Google “bioidentical hormones” and you will dance your way into the debate.

 

May I tell you my story? Purely anecdotal evidence, but it’s my anecdote. 

I’m not a physician, but I’m a pretty good reader. When the hot/cold/wet/dry problems began—roughly seven years ago—, my most pressing problem was an utterly deflated outlook on life. I woke up, took a shower, and wanted nothing more than to go back to bed.  Stanton discusses this in a section delightfully titled NOT YOUR MOTHER’S MENOPAUSE. 

Initially, many women notice they have less energy or zest for life.
They don’t get as excited about things that should matter,
or just don’t have the energy to do things they used to enjoy.
One day follows another, but none of them brings much joy.
They might notice themselves getting irritable or exploding
for reasons that, in retrospect, seem ridiculous.

 

My respoonse to problems is to read. Shoot, my approach to life is to read. I looked through the lenses of both traditional and alternative medicine, searching for some sense. Across the spectrum, three words flashed: diet and exercise. No one argued with basic stuff like drinking more water and taking a walk. And I firmly believe that so many problems we blame hormones for can be corrected with real food and real movement.

I work for a compounding pharmacy; I am an accountant and cannot pronounce the drug names. But, we have a library of books and CDs (where I got Hormone Harmony) that we lend out to physicians and customers. I took John Lee’s What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause. When I read parts aloud to my husband, he dismissed it as rubbish. But one Sunday afternoon, we listened to Dr. Lee speak and his words filled us with hope.  “Let’s do this,” Curt said, although all the “doing” was mine. So I began using an over-the-counter bioidentical progesterone cream. 

Because of my symptoms, my doctor had urged surgery as a solution. Well. He hadn’t urged surgery, but I’ve been longing to pair up that delicious pair of words. The big H. Take it out and be done with it. It made sense to everyone but me. I acknowledge that I have issues: my mom died immediately after a minor gynecological surgery. I wasn’t hysterical, but I refused to consent to a hysterectomy, to use another phrase I’ve tasted these many years.

It wasn’t a shazam! solution, but I made progress with progesterone. I knew my OB/GYN would raise his eyebrows when I disclosed this bit of information. “I think you are wasting your money,” were his words. I decided to push back. “Are you telling me not to use bioidentical hormones? Because I want full cooperation between us; if you say to stop I will either stop or I’ll find a different doctor.”  I respected him and don’t believe in doing stuff—medically speaking—behind my physician’s back. He shrugged and relented.

After a few years, I did my own experiment. I stopped the progesterone. The hot/cold/wet/dry symptoms came right back. That convinced me, and I continue on, with over the counter progesterone (which doesn’t require an RX to buy). Ideally, one should take a $150 saliva test that tells exactly what your hormone levels are. A physician or nurse practitioner uses that data to prescribed an individually formulated compound prescription for you.

If you are curious, click on the link above and use the Look Inside! feature. If you type “frequently” in the search, you’ll be able to read a large part of the the FAQs.

A Corking Good Time

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My husband and I made our first cork board. We have our own; this was a gift for friends.
Would you like to make one? Here are 5 things to consider.

1. The frame. You can re-use frames you have around,
look for old windows, etc. Garage sales are a great place to find frames.

 

2. The backing. My husband cut 1/4″ plywood for this one.
I imagine a hardware store/carpenter’s shop would do this for a small fee.

 

3. Corks. I have a private supplier (my brother). Check with
restaurants in your area. I set the synthetic ones aside.
You can bid on bags of corks on Ebay.

 

4. Design. I like the 2 x 2 design. If there was one thing I’d
highlight it is these words of wisdom from my husband:
“It’s just like tile: lay them out before you glue.”
Impatient to get going, I had planned the glue-as-you-go method.
But corks have different sizes and it took a bit of
maneuvering to have a board without humps or gaps.

 

5. Glue. I thought I would use a glue gun, but instead I used
wood glue. I centered the writing/design on the corks.
Let the board sit overnight, then turn it over to see if
any corks are loose.
Here is the finished work!

 

Making the Bed

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I think about death. I do. When my husband falls asleep on his back with his hands on his chest and his chin falls down, I call it the coffin pose. My funeral playlist is an oft-pondered subject. I am more inclined to say, “I love you” to people who don’t expect it, because I know that one sometimes doesn’t get go-backs. I remind myself that our days are numbered. And this is a sober introduction to a playful subject.

Because, if I survive Curt, one of the things I would miss the most is making the bed with him.

There is a history.

Three weeks into our marriage, we experienced an unsettling reality: we had different ways of doing things. What we were doing was making the bed.

It started with the fitted sheet. There is a correct sequence: first a top corner, then the opposite bottom corner, like an X…then the other top corner, and finally the opposing bottom. Fewer wrinkles or gaps. Curt disregarded my domestic dogma and just put the sheet on…however he saw fit.

Next was the flat sheet. Back then, there was a right side and a wrong side. Which side faces up? I said the right side, because…that is right. He said the wrong side so when you folded the sheets back to get into bed, both sides were right. (I concede, he was right.)

But the pinnacle of our disagreement was pillow placement. He said the open sides of the pillow were in the middle. I said the seams were in the center, open sides at the edge. And, you see, one of us had to give.

Because we were twitterpated there was no rancor in our disagreement. Just lots of teasing.

 

Life filled up and I ceased caring about X corners and pillow placement. The bed just had to be made. Early on, however, it became a game.

After the bedspread/duvet is smooth and folded back, we race to put the pillows in the pillowcases. And there are no rules, no holds barred. Everything is fair play. If I am on the verge of victory, he lunges across and yanks the half-cased pillow out of my hands. I hide his pillow case and begin before he’s retrieved it. We giggle like idiots. It’s hard to case a pillow when you are shaking with laughter. The winner flings the pillow on the bed with a flourish and a shout.

Making the bed.

Ordering the common life.

This is what we keep striving towards: get the work done, but infuse it with fun. (I hope we have 34 more years of laughter.) 

  

News You Can Use

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I learned a trick from Vicki, my sister-in-law, that makes the thankful all year long. It involves yogurt containers and water.

 

 

Filled cleaned plastic containers—like the ones yogurt and sour cream come in—with water, leaving some head space. Freeze. Presto shazam! You have ice for a small lunch-sized cooler. You have ice for ice-water, drink dispensers, lemonade, iced tea. I especially like the one pound containers; they fit every pitcher in our house.

Here is a Iced Tea Syrup recipe that is great for thirsty souls. One hot summer afternoon we were at a friend’s house for lunch. We gulped down a gallon of iced tea. She picked up the empty pitcher and brought more cold tea to the table a minute later. Who stores iced tea by the gallon? “How did you do that?” I asked. “Oh, I have a syrup concentrate,” she replied. It’s my go-to tea now.

Heather’s Iced Tea Syrup

2 quarts water
2/3 C tea leaves (=8 family sized tea bags)
4 mint tea bags
4 C sugar * 
8 whole cloves
mint leaves

Bring water to boil.
Turn heat off, let bubbles die down.
Add tea; cover and steep for 15 minutes.
Add sugar and cloves.
Stir well.
Keep covered in the refrigerator.

Mix 1 part syrup to 4 or 5 parts water,
or to taste.

* I have used Splenda instead of sugar, with good results.

Wedding Glory

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The Grand Occasions of my life are never complete until I’ve written about them. Zack and Addie’s wedding was certainly a Grand Occasion.

Tuesday, June 26, 4:30 p.m.  Zack’s family (minus Zack and his best man, Rex) arrived at our home in Oregon. We talked and laughed around our table, the mood buoyant with anticipation. After dinner, we got busy. Di, mother of the groom, measured out bushels of flour for bread dough. John, father of the groom, got his guitar out to practice a song he had composed for the occasion. Reunited sisters and girlfriend set up their camp in a spare bedroom. Brennan, youngest brother, did what he was created to do: shoot hoops.

Wednesday, June 27, 7:10 a.m.  The family, coffeed and victualed, loaded into the van.  I love the next five words: Di stayed at my house. It was the day to cook, bake, combine, marinate. Her three-ringed binder had all the recipes. We zested lemons, chopped garlic, thickened berries, boiled pasta, cut basil, diced prosciutto, quartered artichokes, blended lime dressing. We did all the prep work that’s doable the day before a dinner for 55 people. And we talked, filling in the back stories of our lives. We sat down once for a think session. When the moon was suspended in the sky, we stopped.

Thursday, June 28, 6:30 a.m.  My husband Curt helped us fill every space in our coolers and cars the next morning. With walkie-talkies on the same channel, we embarked on the drive through bedazzling mountain passes. We stopped in Enterprise, Oregon, so Di could hold baby Solomon and to pick up Anna, for whom in twelve hours I would be thanking God about every minute.

Thursday, June 28, 6:15 p.m.  Rolls on the table, drinks in the dispensers, salads on the buffet, candles lit, places set: hurry up chicken and be done! Near disasters have been averted; several times Anna, the red-headed wonder, and I have locked eyes over the kitchen work space and said, “What are we going to do?” Addie and I share a hug, the first time we’ve met in person. The dinner looks, smells and tastes delicious. Murmuring voices, ice tinkling in glasses, forks clinking on plates, giggles forming a double helix in the air: these are the sounds of a gloriously good meal. Slideshow, skits, toasts, hugs, tears, smiles, songs. As parents, we labor for years to get to this moment of fruition.   

Friday, June 29, 6:30 p.m.  You could not pick a more picturesque setting for a wedding: rolling hills, slanting sun, peaceful air, exquisite music. As I am accompanied down the aisle, the usher says, “You need to sit in the family section.” I gulp, awed by the honor. Minutes before the ceremony begins, we are upgraded to the front row! Grateful for the opportunity to imprint the images for dear ones agonizing in their absence, I raise my camera. One by one the ten bridesmaids walk down the lawn in their cobalt blue heels, each one praying that she stays upright.

Friday, June 29, 7:05 p.m.  We stand. Wes walks his youngest daughter to her future. I take about 20 pictures of Zack, capturing the sunrise of his smile. This ceremony is invested with meaning, with solemn joy. Bridesmaids wipe their eyes. I’m needing air in my lungs. This is the moment that restricts my throat. The Daddy (as we who have read Mma Ramotswe books say) comes to that moment when all things change. He kisses his darling girl, he shakes the groom’s hand. And he steps back. Exhale. And then Addie’s fingers are linked in Zack’s. Her eyes only strayed from Zack when the pastor was talking directly to her. The homily was like the best-crafted novel. The tone was heavier than most wedding sermons, creating tension. This is all true, but why here? Why now? I wondered. And then Pastor Sumpter began resolving that tension, weaving truth into a magnificent strand, bringing it home with grace.

Friday, June 29, 7:35 p.m.  The kiss! Whoa. It began like most kisses begin, but then it changed. He dipped her, tango-style, and that man kissed his wife! Applause breaks forth. The bride and groom stand, facing the guests, irrepressible smiles. They are Married! The slightest pause, before the music begins, signalling a change in the mood. Party On!

Friday, June 29, 8:45 p.m.  Dad, dad, granddad, brother, brother, and cousin give toasts that also set this wedding apart from a typical wedding. A poem crafted for the occasion, wise words, funny comments, closing with a prayer from The Book of Common Prayer. Words that widen the moment, another dividend from the huge investment made by both families. After all the glasses have been lifted, we move to the lawn. Darkness has settled down into a comfortable sprawl. Tiki torches punctuate the fence, candles on tables keep winking. The dancing mimics the ceremony, a final reprise. The Daddy and Addie dance, smiling. Zack and Addie dance, singing to each other, encapsulated in their love. Guests join on the dance lawn. With each new song, the volume increases, the arms get higher. No DJ was needed to talk into mikes and direct traffic. At the appointed time, fireworks fill the sky. Zack and Addie run to their car under a canopy of sparklers held by the guests. Oh glorious day!

 

 

Photos are on Facebook. 

The wedding homily.

The rehearsal dinner recipes.

China Road & City of Tranquil Light

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One blessing of living in the age of interwebs is that it is much easier to communicate directly with an author. After I finished Bo Caldwell”s exquisite City of Tranquil Light, I found her Facebook page and thanked her for her transformational book. And she graciously replied! This morning, after I finished reading Rob Gifford’s eye-opening book China Road, I sniffed around and found a podcast of Gifford in which he reads segments of his books.  [Addendum: even better is this 7 part series On the Road in China.]

Two of my favorite genres are travel memoirs and historical fiction. China Road takes us west from Shanghai to Kazakhstan along the 3,000-mile-highway, Route 312 in the twenty-first century. City of Tranquil Light tells the story of Will and Katherine, who move to northern China as Mennonite missionaries in 1906.

Gifford’s book put a face on China. It was the first book I’ve read about China that didn’t read/feel foreign, where the I thought of the subjects he interviewed first as people, then Chinese. Gifford created a thirst in me to know more about China; his list of recommended books has weighted down my to be read (TBR) list. His prose and style reminded me of Colin Thubron’s  The Lost Heart of Asia.  William Kirby writes, “If there is one book to read before you visit China, it is China Road.”

Bo Caldwell’s lyrical writing took me apart and put me back together again. The story is inspired by her maternal grandparents, missionaries who adopted China as their homeland. Caldwell effectively alternates the telling of the story between Will’s reminiscences at the end of his life and Katherine’s contemporary journal entries. I thought, when I finished Eric Metaxus’ Bonhoeffer in January, that it would be my favorite book of 2012. But City of Tranquil Light at least is tied for first, and is clearly my favorite fiction of 2012, thus far. Reading Bo Caldwell is like reading Wendell Berry, a lofty compliment.

Missionaries have gotten a bad rap in most books published in the last twenty years. It was refreshing to read, in both titles, winsome accounts of missionaries. Rob Gifford calls James Hudson Taylor one of his childhood heroes. He also introduced me to Mildred Cable and Francesca French, two stalwart middle-aged English women who tramped across the Gobi Desert and wrote “one of the great China travel books.”  Bo Caldwell makes you love her main characters. I want to find an elderly man in an assisted living home in Claremont, CA, put my hand on his arm, and say, “Tell me your story.”

Two highly excellent books that are guaranteed to raise your interest in China.

What Do You Want in a Book?

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We all have our druthers.

As a book lover, I have a list of what I’d like in the books I read. Not content—though I care about that in another context—; I’m talking layout, format, design.

I ask you: what do you want in a book?

1. E-book or print? Already it’s an old question, but a necessary starting point. I like my books incarnated in paper and ink. And, really, isn’t an e-book a disembodied book? But the benefits of e-books are many. My favorite reasons to use a Kindle: the availability of out-of-print books, often free; a light way to carry 96 books onto the airplane; the note-taking abilities. I use my Kindle in church now, because I can put notes and quotes from the sermon right on my Kindle.

2. Hardcover or paperback? If a book was available in both, at the same cost, which one would you pick? I like hardcovers for books I want to hand down to my children, but since I often read in bed, I find the paperback more comfortable. With the hardcover you have an the additional question of the dust jacket. I prefer the cover of the hardback book to be the same design as the dust jacket, so if when the dust jacket gets ripped/worn/coffee-stained, you still have an attractive book. 

3. If paperback, mass-market or trade? I might as well confess that I only injected this question to vent my hatred of the mass-market paperback book. Those squatty loathsome 4″x7″ books with print crammed up the edge of the page. On the other hand, I love me a trade paperback, the larger-sized book that is often the same size as the hardcover.  Mass-market paperbacks are hard on the eyes, but they are also hard on the soul. Reading a steady diet of mmp’s will transform you into a squinty-eyed, miserable wretch. There is no margin, and we all know that margin is an essential component of life.

4. Cover: photo-based, typographic, or black and white?  A good photograph on a cover magnetizes me. You can peruse 90 book covers here, particularly if you want to explore what works and what doesn’t. Designing a cover takes talent and skill, as any cover of a self-published book will demonstrate.

5. Chapters: numbers or names? Since I’ve already established my QUIRKY credentials, I’ll put it all out there. I love the stuff of chapter divisions. When an author is clever, when she has clearly invested time and thought into the naming of a chapter, I appreciate it. When he adds a quote, especially if I need to figure out how it relates to the chapter, I love it. And for the win? The naming of *sections* within the chapter. Oh, yes, that makes me happy. Connie Willis, a living author, used this technique in her hilarious To Say Nothing of the Dog. 

6. Illustrations: none, some, mostly? Let’s restrict this discussion to adult books; illustrations are children’s books. Photos, pen and ink drawings, and watercolors can add to the reading experience. Unless they are cheesy. If the book is fiction, I’d rather keep my mental picture of the protagonist unsullied by a drawing. But a cottage, field, road, wood, or an object relative to the text is fine.

7. Author photo, bio? Yes, please! I want to see who wrote this book. Do you find it unsettling—a tad disorienting—when you have a picture of the author in your head which is inordinately different from the real thing? I pictured Malcolm Gladwell as the brother of Alistair Cooke, a white-haired, well-suited Anglo Saxon gentleman. Ha, ha! And I’m curious to know what the author thinks is noteworthy enough to include in a short paragraph. I found N.D. Wilson’s bio fun. “because if I have to write it, I refuse to do so in the third person.”

8. Index? I came to love indexes/indices late in life. Browsing a well-considered index is the perfect getting-to-know-you technique if you and the book are on a blind date. One of the biggest guffaws in my life was when I read Maya Angelou in the index of a book I wouldn’t suspect would speak to/about Maya Angelou. Page 342. The book had 339 pages.

9. Map? Cookbooks are perhaps the only book that would not benefit from a map. Or an algebra text. But I love maps. If a book were a glass of wine, the map would provide the perfect finish. Maps, genealogies, timelines…they make it better.

10. Typeface/font? How do you want your words to look? I’m not devoted to one particular font, but I love the g in Baskerville (see image). And I get a thrill reading that penultimate page in a book which announces, “This book was set in {   } font.” It’s more proof that someone in the publishing world cares. Simon Garfield snickers in The 8 Worst Fonts in the World. The Cracked Guide to Fonts snickers too. What font do you prefer to read?

 

Addendum: Quote from C.S. Lewis (HT Di)

To enjoy a book like that thoroughly I find I have to treat it as a sort of hobby and set about it seriously. I begin by making a map on one of the end leafs: then I put in a genealogical tree or two. Then I put a running headline at the top of each page: finally I index at the end all the passages I have for any reason underlined. I often wonder – considering how people enjoy themselves developing photos or making scrapbooks – why so few people make a hobby of their reading in this way. Many an otherwise dull book which I had to read have I enjoyed in this way, with a fine-nibbed pen in my hand: one is making something all the time and a book so read acquires the charm of a toy without losing that of a book.