Carded

After running some errands this morning, Jeremy and I stopped at a restaurant for a late lunch. We sat in a booth in the bar, which is not unusual if we go to this restaurant.

The waitress, a girl around my age, walked up and greeted us. Then she gave me a very decided once over and said, "Honey, can I see your ID?"

(I think it was the "Honey..." that particularly peeved me this time, because it's not terribly uncommon for me to get carded, but it's usually requested in a manner that conveys they think you're old enough but just have to make sure. This waitress looked like she thought I was likely in the wrong place.)

I felt a little annoyed, though I knew she had every right. Seriously, do I look ten years younger than I actually am?

Jeremy said it made him proud. :) I guess I should be flattered because ten years from now I'll be happy if people think I'm ten years younger than I am. And, I guess it's better than looking ten years older than I am.

It's a Small World!

Jeremy and I are currently hooked on the show Hoarders. Part of me feels bad watching other peoples horrendous troubles, but I'm also incredibly intrigued (and very often horrified and disgusted!).

Last night we were watching an episode and the second hoarder being featured lives in our city. We sort of gasped and laughed. As they continued on with the bio, etc. the man said he was a beekeeper. I looked at Jeremy and said, "I'm pretty sure this is the guy I buy honey from!" Fast forward to about a third of the way through the show and there is a shot of the man walking in our local farmer's market delivering his honey to the very stand where I buy my honey! (It is some of the most delicious, raw honey I've ever eaten!)

Jeremy asked if watching the show put me off from buying his honey. It doesn't. He wasn't one of the worst hoarders by any stretch and all the honey stuff happens outside the four walls of his house.

It was such a strange thing to watch my world shrink before my eyes. But I also enjoyed that small twist of fate. :)

What's in a Name?

Working daily in a library provides strange name fodder. Here's a few of my favorite unusual first names of cardholders that use my library...

Talon
Gryphon
Romayne
River
Petal
Meadow
Marin (pronounced Marine)

Where I Live

I am not a fan of the city we live in. It just doesn't do much for me (except of course house our jobs and home). But, in my continuing quest to be thankful and contented with the many blessings in my life--no matter how small--I do try to look around and acknowledge particulars that I appreciate about said living location.

Today, I stepped out of my super cute apartment and set out in the May sun to walk to the farmer's market. It's a year-round farmer's market and only a mile away! Crazily enough, this was my first trip there on foot, but certainly won't be my last. I breathed in the fresh spring air as the sun dried my recently washed hair. I walked along the river (which is very high right now!), listening to it gently lap the bank. I bought local eggs, popcorn, and asparagus, and peppers and zucchini (which may not be local, but they're fresh!). And I got in a two-mile walk.

I would say that's a definite perk of where I live!

April Reading List

I felt like April was a slow reading month. It wasn't exactly, but I did read some shorter books, as well as a couple re-reads, so it was slower overall. I did, however, mark another goal off my reading list: poetry. I read three volumes of poetry by Ted Kooser (commented on in previous posts).

I also re-listened to Michael Pollan's enlightening and interesting book, In Defense of Food. If you haven't read or listened to this book before, I highly recommend it! You won't think about food the same way again (I guess there are pros and cons to that, aren't there?). :) I started Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma this month, but only completed about a third. As I understand it In Defense of Food is a practical response to The Omnivore's Dilemma. Have you read either?

I want to briefly highlight my reading of Howard's End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading From Home by Susan Hill. This bookish book is by a British author who, while looking for a particular book in her collection, realizes that she has many unread books in her personal library and sets out to explore them. Her reading traverses many authors I'm not familiar with or haven't read yet. I enjoyed her rambling essay-esque style that sipped from authors and genres, piquing my interest.

I love this paragraph about a children's alphabet book Hill flips through near the end of her reading year:
True, the alphabet book had coloured letters and beside them pictures of objects. Apple. Bear. Cherry. Dog. And the book had them in lines and repeated patterns, some with curves and curls, some with thick strokes, some with thin, some with flourishes, some plain. Still, it boiled down in the end to just those twenty-six letters. Out of these few marks, plus some small dots and curves of punctuation, every book in this house has grown, every meaning been inserted and extracted, every character created and poem balanced, every lesson taught and learned. All of it packed into and expanding out of twenty-six letters. 'It makes your hair catch fired,' as Charles Causley said.

I'll leave you with that thought and give you my completed April reading list.


The Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Rescue by Kathryn Lasky (children's, read for work)
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (audio)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry by Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser (poetry)
Valentines by Ted Kooser (poetry)
Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser (poetry)
Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss
The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew
The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
Howard's End in on the Landing by Susan Hill

Spring for real, right?

May, thank you for arriving and bringing with you sunshine and warm temperatures. Stick around for awhile, okay?!