these days...

hello? hello! it's awfully good to be back here :) I've missed everyone of you very much. And thank you for missing me too. I looked at almost every favorite blog last night when I couldn't sleep and found it so comforting to see that life/blogging goes on, even when you feel you've dropped off the face of the earth. Um, well, perhaps that's a bit too dramatic, here, how's this : life is like a jackrabbit and I am a snail( a snail still trying to recover from a mystery ailment)...yes, still... but life goes on...

...my laptop was returned to me in perfect working order. Thank you computer repair guys ♥ There was only one problem that I could see. The hard drive was cleared and I hadn't exactly saved everything properly, my beloved laptop was a stranger!....

... my middle son, who is the computer genius, is gone, moved out, two hours away. So after a few tearful phone calls (and lots of over the phone eye rolls) I am back on track. Sort of. I have most of my photos so I think I am lucky. Do you want to know what made me sad? All my awards are gone! I had them in a "feel good folder" on my desktop where I could look at them when I wanted. Now, i've learned about a portable device that you plug into your computer and it saves everything, no magic involved. oh well, next time... :(

...So...would you like to know what i've been doing these last few weeks besides languishing on the couch? and missing my computer? I did write a few letters, wrote recipes to index cards, took short walks on the beach, but mostly I read...

First, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, which took place in South Carolina during the 60's. I now know why this book makes so many top ten lists. So so lovely.

Then I went to Africa with Twenty Chickens for a Saddle by Robyn Scott. This is a book about growing up in Botswana. I didn't want it to end. And no, not just because I wanted to stay in Africa. :) A fabulously entertaining read.

Next was The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon'. You'll be introduced to Barcelona with spectacularly told storytelling. As I arm chair traveled (when choosing these books it wasn't intentional) I found these old pics to go with the books( i like the photos better than my reviews!) except I've not been to Barcelona, but Portugal is close enough heh?

And now to Mexico with a reread of Stones for Ibarra and Consider This, Senora both by Harriet Doerr. Her gorgeously sparse prose is an absolute favorite. Plus if you love Mexico, you'll love these books. Did you know she wrote Stones at almost 70 years of age? Incredible.

...and last Pieces of White Shell ~ A Journey to Navajoland and Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams. Pieces of White Shell is called an introduction to Navajo culture by a storyteller. TTW has a reverence for the natural world that is easy to appreciate. I'm only half way through Beauty so I won't say too much. (but I like it)...

...so that's it. Oh and visits to the Acupuncture clinic, taking the special herbs they've made for me. Any day, I think, and this pathogen will tire of me, I know this way of healing can take time. I'm getting okay with it now, I think i've learned to accept the flow of these days.

I'll "Sea" you all soon,

♥ with love, lori