Boy breaks window ...

See this window pane? No, the cat didn't do it!



This is the result of a fatal combination of

one 30 year old picture window,
one perfect spring weekend,
one little boy who was dying to play catch,
one Dad who would rather wash his car and
one Mom who was trying to edit her story.

What was he thinking, you ask? Well, this kid is the smallest of the Farm League Giants in our town’s Little League. He’s trying to pitch faster. He threw as fast as he could, aiming, he says, for the couch directly below the picture window, but .... he missed. Ooops! The rest is history.

Now, as the Mom, I have to make my excuses. I did spend the whole of the previous afternoon tossing a bucket of tennis balls for my son to hit AND playing catch, for all the good I did. Honestly, even this (small and skinny) 9 year old has a better arm than I do, but at least I try …

I also serve as judge and jury for this family, so here is my verdict.

The kid has been grounded for a good long time, and forbidden to touch a ball inside the house - EVER.

The Dad , who had it coming for washing his ’91 Lotus Esprit, instead of hanging with his kid, has been sentenced to spend lots of time playing ball with said kid. (His first little league game of the season is next Tuesday.)

I am going to go shopping for a new (energy efficient) picture window, and also spend time pondering if inserting a window breaking scene in my current WIP is too cliché.

My daughter, of course, gets to bug her brother by telling this story till they’re 80.

Book game!

I was tagged by Annette at The writing wild life for a book meme.

The rules are:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to Annette once you've posted your three sentences.

The nearest book happens to be Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

"Well, with any luck, the ministry will catch him!" said Hermione fervently. "Oh, I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"

I don't know five people to tag - so consider yourself tagged if you're reading this.

Last minute diorama

My son had a book report due today. Last night we realized that, in addition to the report, he also had to make a diorama! Here is the result of our collective efforts. It does look very last minute, but I think the paper boat and q-tips add a nice touch!



If you haven't guessed, the book was Magic Tree House #22 - Revolutionary War on Wednesday, by Mary Pope Osborne.

Spring :-)

Pictures from my yard ... Yes, I need to clean out the leaves. But yesterday we just enjoyed the warm sun. I, my frisky old cat, a robin she was stalking, my barefoot girl that likes to gather weed bouquets, and my boy with his mitt and ball.

Hyacinths

Irises

Lilies

Cherry tree

Pansies

Sona

Robin

Bouquet

Parnassus - the home of the Muses

This weekend on a trip to Cape Cod I discovered the home of the Muses, or rather, rediscovered it. Ten years ago, before we had children and therefore weren’t obliged to factor things like indoor water parks, and other amusements for the kids, into our trip planning, we had stumbled upon this place by accident. An old house on a winding coastal road, made exceptional by the long rows of old books stacked outside it. Yes outside!


It was a bookstore. We stopped to look and inside the house there were bookshelves everywhere, stuffed with mostly old books, rising all the way to the high tin ceiling. I can’t remember what I bought that time. I remember only the feel of the place. A place where time stood still and surprises waited on every shelf. We left, time went on, children happened. On other trips to the Cape, we never found, never looked for, that shop again.

“Take 6A home.” I told my husband on Sunday afternoon. That is the (slow) northern coastal road. He rolled his eyes and did. I wanted to find that store, but I didn’t remember the name, the town or what it looked like.

Then I saw it. “Stop!” I yelled. “Go back.”

We did. “It’s closed”, said my husband. “Take a picture.”


The side of the house said “Parnassus Book Service”. Parnassus, the home of the Muses. I went up the stairs and pulled on the door. It was open. We stopped for a while and visited. It was just as I remembered it. There were books everywhere, up to the ceiling. There were new as well as used, hard to find, out of print, books. Lots of history books, natural science books, classics. This time I’ve made a note of the name, the address and (yikes!) the web page of the place. It was started by a man named Benjamin Muse we were told by Paul Noonan, the warm and gracious manager. He even propped up (with a paper clip) the Flat Stanley my daughter had brought along, so she could get a good picture.


“What is the oldest book you have here?” my husband asked. Mr. Noonan rummaged around and brought out an ancient Greek orthodox prayer book. Hand made on vellum. He snapped off the rubber band that held a protective paper around it and handed it to me. Just like that!



Now my current WIP has an ancient handmade document in it. Not Greek or vellum (in fact the masters in my story would be horrified at the thought of vellum) but there were enough similarities to make me shake my head. I had never touched any book this old. How wonderful to be offered a look at something that rare!

It was a pleasure to make the acquaintance of Mr. Noonan and rediscover Parnassus! I’m so glad I found it again.

Hello Tintin!

Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles in a thundering typhoon!

Tintin's adventures are about to be made into a movie - by Steven Spielberg no less!

Already cast are

Thomas Sangster as Tintin
and
Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock

I read and enjoyed every single Tintin comic - or graphic novel - when I was a child. Now my son is hooked on them. They are some of the few books that he enjoys now, as much as I once did. Luckily, our town library has most of the titles, because they are hard to find in the U.S.

But by the whiskers of Kurvi-Tash, I hope the movie does not dumb down the timeless wit and intelligence of Herge's original Tintin!