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It is  the first day of spring. I haven't seen one daffodil. That is why a bike ride is in store for me. My desire is to ride up and down the country roads. I will ride slowly. Watching the streets for the daffodils written about by William Wordsworth. Then, I will write a page in my journal like his sister, Dorothy. I wanted to go riding yesterday. It was impossible. I'm stuck in this asylum. This is where the voices speak louder than any squawking peacock. They say, "don't go! Stay here! Stay away from the unseen dangers created by haunted angels." I might as well obey. Is it possible to escape from walls built so high? There is a family story. Once a third cousin on a walk with hospital patients slipped away and into the woods. "Was she ever found?" This is the question I ask my mother over and over. She looks far away. Not one word comes from her lips. I hush. I will ask God tonight in my prayers. Mother has secrets. There is so much she refuses to

Will Tyson Steele and Hunter McKay give in to their feelings for one another? That is the question that needs answering in Possessed By Passion by Brenda Jackson. They met one another eighteen years ago. Now they meet again. Tyson Steele is one of five brothers. Hunter McKay is an owner of an Architectural firm. When they meet again, Tyson comes off as very aggressive. When I say he wants Hunter, I' am not kidding. The problem for me is that he doesn't say he loves her as much as he wants to take her into his bedroom. He's sweating her that's for sure. His approach smothered me. I think it smothered Hunter too. Besides, Hunter has been hurt. Brenda Jackson describes how painful a divorce can become by writing about Hunter's husband, Mr. Robinson. He stole all of her clients. That really made me sad. In Phoenix, she starts her business from the bottom up. It did surprise me when Nadine Robinson, Hunter's mother-in-law, showed understanding and kindness to Hu

I heard a minister talking to me this morning. His voice as clear as a lake. So clear I wanted to wash my face with his voice. The water should drip over my face like truths told. Then, I came to myself. There wasn't a minister talking. It was God. Fully awake, I knew now it was time to face what I didn't know. Face what I had searched for time and time and time again in my mind. Face the fact that there was trouble somewhere close. No happy ending, no straight path, no sweet lullaby by Brahms. I would need a hand to hold. An ear in which to whisper a word of thought. A borrowed handkerchief on which to wipe my tears. Now, I am wide awake. Something tells me I'm in a pity party. I'm looking through a glass half-empty. A sigh, whatever way my thoughts turn God is still there. Not blaming me. Not asking me hard questions. Just waiting with answers, His patience and His loving kindness. So, I have turned to a smaller Bible. One where the prayers are as close as a priest

The black and white cat is still. It watches through the bed of daffodils as the gardeners plant their bulbs and seeds and listen to the whistling chimes blow away the ghostly shadows of the night.(hn)

  My goodness, it's certainly easy to tell that women in earlier centuries, survived horrible troubles. Thought of as the weaker sex Marianne and Nora's future hangs in the balance. It is up to the men in the family to keep them and to choose when and whom they may marry. Whether they inherit is placed under a clause called entailment. Poor Marianne, worries about her sister, Nora. If their Uncle Horace chooses to marry her off too soon and to the wrong Mr. Right, her future will change for the worse. Nora is already unhappy after having suffered a fever and/or fall. While reading about these two women in Madeleine Hunter's The Wicked Duke, I had a chance to look closely at the lives of the women. So much drama! I was shocked to read about a serious attempt at suicide by one of the women. Also, reading about the weak turn of  one's mind was interesting. Really, really good is the life Marianne leads. To save money for her sister, she writes letters for the new

When I first looked at T.D. Jakes' "Help Me, I've fallen and I can't get up," I didn't like the title. All I could see was that earlier t.v. commercial about the elderly woman falling out of the bed and crying for help. The ad just seemed to remind me of my coming old age. T.D. Jakes does write about the broadcast. "Like the woman in the commercial, we must put aside fear, pride, or embarrassment and learn not only how to ask for help but Whom to ask. After all, help is just a breath away." It wasn't long after the first page of the devotional that my mind changed. Thank goodness, God helps us through His Holy Spirit to see truth and think clearly. Each page is powerful and helpful. I can now say, "my goodness, the title is about me." I have fallen and always feel helpless to get back on the right track. This book is like a primer. It describes the way I might have fallen that day. It shows what God would like to see in my charac

Please use caution before reading the link in the last line. When I bought this book, Corregidora by Gayl Jones years ago, I had no idea what the title meant. Corregidora is a family name. We meet Corregidora, and boy, does he leave a big footprint on the face. It's he who is in the stories of Ursa's great grandmother, grandmother and Ursa's mama. He's incorrigible. His life leads us into the lives of the other men and women in the novel. These are the men who enter Ursa's life. Sadly, the men don't come out smelling like roses. This led me to think about the Black man just for a while. For a moment, I wanted to think about what makes a man so mean to the woman he supposedly loves. One like Tadpole, whom I respected at first. I wanted him to care for Ursa and make her feel good about herself. Instead, he humiliates her. She sees the darn man making love to a young woman in their bed. I think she was really young, in her teens? I know, let's bark and

The old black dog comes in one evening with the first few snowflakes on his back and falls asleep, throwing his bad leg out at our excitement. This is the night when one of us gets to say, as if it were news, that no two snowflakes are ever alike; the night when each of us remembers something snowier. The kitchen is a kindergarten steamy with stories. The dog gets stiffly up and limps away, seeking a quiet spot at the heart of the house. Outside, in silence, with diamonds in his fur, the winter night curls round the legs of the trees, sleepily blinking snowflakes from his lashes. versedaily.org/2005/3tkpoems.

At first, I had a hard time liking  "All The Presidents' Gardens" by Marta McDowell. It seemed dry, not very exciting. Soon my feelings changed. I began to read the quotations and quickly scan the pages for details. Shortly I found myself saying, this fact is interesting, and I didn't know about this either.  After all, eighteen acres of land where any part may be filled with a bush, tree, vegetable or rose must have plenty of trivia to learn and read about during the winter when you're not gardening or during the spring, summer, fall when you are gardening heavily. So , Marta McDowell 's non-fiction became a pleasant experience. Not every President of the United States has written about in the book. Only the ones who garden while living at the White House are mentioned. Also in some instances, the wives of the presidents are mentioned. Oh, and gardeners are listed in the book as well. There are pictures. Sadly, they are not in color. I would have liked

"Jesus says God rejoices over each found sheep." New Hope Missionary A.M.E. Zion, August 4, 1833  From 1825 to around 1857, there were African Americans, Native Americans, Irish and German people living in the area now known as Central Park. Marilyn Nelson in My Seneca Village made the men and women live again through poetry and added fictional layers. Thankfully, due to her research and work these ancestors can live again in our minds. Forgetting them is impossible because all of them were individuals. Some lived quiet, ordinary lives and some lived through periods that live on in our history books. The poetry is inspiring. I could hear their screams, see their pottery or  curios, see them walking, running, and I met real heroes and heroines of the past like Nat Turner, Harriet Beecher Stowe,  Emily Dickinson, etc. At the end of the book, there are the poetic forms used by Marilyn Nelson. This early in the Nineteenth century it was surprising to learn that Afric

In Dressed - for - Death by Julianna Deering , there is a Regency masquerade party given at the Cummins' home. At their Winteroak House, there is fun and danger during that time. The party goers are dressed in Regency period costumes. This brings up the subject of literature during their conversations. Jane Austen's novels Emma, Pride And Prejudice and Mansfield Park are discussed along with the poems of Byron. Cotillions and Quadrilles are danced and romance is in the air along with the presence of a protective mother, Mrs. Cummins, Doctor Cummins' wife. There is also the married couple, Nick and Carrie and friends, Drew and Madeleine. There is Alice and her fiance' Talcott or Tal. Tal's parents are Doctor and Mrs. Cummins. There are also inspectors from Scotland Yard and other guests. Usually, I don't  introduce characters in the first paragraph of a book review. This time I wanted to do it. The Christian mystery is definitely character driven. There is t

I am feeling discouraged. It's about Corregidora by Gayl Jones. I tried not to feel down while reading it. It's impossible. There is one four letter word that occurs over and over again. Each page I hope it won't appear. No, it's there again.  The issue is not the plot. The plot is great. There are important issues addressed such as women with careers, men dealing with alcohol and becoming to rough with women and youth striving to find their sexual identity, etc. But the four letter word beginning with " F" dances habitually on the page. Still, the characters seem like living people whom I might have known or know. This is why it's hard not to just throw the novel across the room. There is this bed of underlying compassion and a woman who knows something about life. Plus, I know Gayl Jones is a famous author who wrote many other novels. Perhaps, addressing the issue here will make me read on and finish. It's a small novel. Also, there is dia

I love to hum. I know. I hum off tune. Anyway, while reading "The Coming" by Daniel Black, I had the chance to read about the joy or relief slaves took in humming. Now, I'm reading Corregidora by Gayl Jones with a group on Good reads. Lo and behold, humming is mentioned. This time not by slaves. The main character is a Blues singer. Here is a passage about her humming. "Consequences. It seems as if you're not singing the past, you're humming it."

  This is the second mystery, Death at the Voyager Hotel, that I've read by Kwei Quartey. This one involved a woman named Heather. She's a schoolteacher. Takes place in Ghana, Africa. The hardest part of the novel I found was learning to spell the Detective's name. So, I could at least try pronouncing it. Looking forward to going back to Ghana again in another mystery soon. http://www.kweiquartey.com/

Not to read Charlotte Bronte's poem titled Parting seemed impossible for me. Whether by death or something more temporal like travel, I have experienced those moments of missing friends and relatives for days, months and years. At times, I've wondered how to live through the pain of missing their chatter, their laughter, or their tears. My feelings can become wild and full of despair and a seesaw ride back to numbness where I retreat. Charlotte speaks of joy and memories in this poem. What should a person lock on to when the pain of parting is still driving their life? I can feel Charlotte Bronte's grief.  Her use of the word "condemned"  seems so final and morbidly sad. However, remembering can give release from the gloominess of their departure. We can hear again, see again, feel again in our minds what was once felt in a more tangible way. It's like serendipity. In our minds, Charlotte Bronte writes, there is visual manipulation. We will think of one

I've traveled on a joyful Christian journey to Iona, Guernsey, Scilly Isles and around other pieces of the British Isles with Pam Rhodes and congregants of Bishop of Bedford and his wife, Margaret in Saints & Sailors by Pam Rhodes . Amazingly, Pam Rhodes has written herself into this novel as a character. The Christian cruise is filled with the happy and sad moments of the passengers. It is also filled with quotes from the mouths of Christian saints. There are quotes from St. Columba, St. Ninian and St. David and Christian leaders like Charles Wesley. I could never tell all that happens on the sea trip. The book review would become too long. This is a small taste of it. There are many characters in Saints & Sailors. I didn't think it possible to see each character as an individual. However, I soon found the characters beginning to stand up and shout "look at me. I'm important. You will learn something from my life on this ship!" I first became concern

http://www.theguardian.com Long ago I wished to leave "The house where I was born;" Long ago I used to grieve, My home seemed so forlorn. In other years, its silent rooms Were filled with haunting fears; Now, their very memory comes O'ercharged with tender tears. Life and marriage I have known. Things once deemed so bright; Now, how utterly is flown Every ray of light! 'Mid the unknown sea, of life I no blest isle have found; At last, through all its wild wave's strife, My bark is homeward bound. Farewell, dark and rolling deep! Farewell, foreign shore! Open, in unclouded sweep, Thou glorious realm before! Yet, though I had safely pass'd That weary, vexed main, One loved voice, through surge and blast Could call me back again. Though the soul's bright morning rose O'er Paradise for me, William! even from Heaven's repose I'd turn, invoked by thee! Storm nor surge should e'er arrest My soul, exalting then: All my heaven was once thy

  This is a good non-fiction book for children, young adults and any other groups. I am an adult. While reading it, I had a chance to rethink my values and meet a few famous people I had never known.  This book is a way to learn how to cherish oneself. When parts of society decide you're worthless, you must have a way to heal yourself. The ultimate medicine is to love yourself at all times. One way to love yourself is to look at role models. It doesn't matter whether these role models are alive or dead.  The only criteria, is that these people have served and have the desire to always help others. For example, the first two Black college presidents were Booker T. Washington and Mary McLeod Bethune. It doesn't seem like they ever had a thought about self. They always thought of teaching and serving people in and out of their surroundings. With this goal in mind, they didn't allow obstacles to stop them. "I Love My Brown Skin Because..."by Julie Davis i

"I like my brown skin because beautiful African families make me very proud and very happy to be brown like them. Let me tell you the story of these beautiful African families. Before they were brought to North America to build the United States, African people had created outstanding civilizations on the huge, mineral-rich continent where they lived." rosecityreader

I was attracted to this novel, Come Back to Me, by Thomma Lyn Grindstaff because of the music and the age of the Maestro, seventy-six years old. He is much older than his protegee. I also like to read Time Travel novels. The young lady fall back from the future 2010 to 1973. In the future, Maestro is dying of Pancreatic Cancer. This part of the book really moved me. Emotional. I suppose death is always hard to take. In 1973, he is young. He has a wife whom he will remarry and a son named Kurt. It's all very intriquing. thommalyngrindstaff.com/blog/