Book--Art and a Mystery

Historical fiction combined with a mystery makes for a good read.  The setting is southern France in 1885.  The characters include Cezanne, Zola and a young judge.  Good writing, good plot, good character developemnt makes Cezanne's Quarry by Barbara Corrado Pope worth reading. 

Children in Poverty

19% of children in the U.S. live in families that are below the poverty level.  That amounts to 14,000,000 children living in poverty in a rich country.  How can that be?

Procrastination

I've been wanting to share with you my recent reflections on procrastination. Although I'm much better than I used to be (as a college freshman I'd stay up all night writing my English essays the night before, and seldom completing them), I still put things off, things I WANT to do!

It seems I put off doing things that are a bit new to me or which I think will be difficult. I recently put off selecting images for the Oxford Art Association photo show. Why? Because I don't like making decisions and find the task challenging. But, putting it off didn't make it easier. It just prolonged the niggling thought in the back of my head that I had to do it. Once done, over a period of several days, I felt a great relief! And, it wasn't as difficult as I imagined. What if I'd done the selecting sooner? Would I have avoided those weeks on minor anxiety? Probably.

Don't know why this is such a difficult lesson to learn.

Proverbs or Maxims

I'm reading a book that has an Amish proverb at the beginning of each chapter.  I wnat to share some of them.  Here is the first:
Many things have been opened by mistake, but none so frequently as the mouth.  

New Year's Resolution Quote

"Do what you want to do and don't tell other people how to behave."

by Ruth Stout, hay-bale gardener