Monday Moment 12

Yes, friends, after a brief hiatus for an action-packed week, the Monday Moment is back! And there is more exciting news--there will be several reviews forthcoming this week! But that's a story for another time.

Ah, the first stirrings of an Indiana summer...I remember them well. In order to have all that beautiful greenery, one must endure sweltering heat and 98% humidity--though the thunderstorms that are also frequently required are one of the more enjoyable aspects of the experience. But in the early days, when summer is just building up momentum, there can be few places more pleasant on Earth. Bright blue skies cover fields returning to life in mazes of new growth or riots of color. Well, you can see for yourself. This is my home.

"Wildflower Fields"
by Sarah Graybill-Greene

I stopped the car on the way to work and took this one. The road goes through two very big farm fields, and these are the wild flowers ("weeds," to the farmer) that grow before they spray them and turn all of them under...kind of sad, because they made such a beautiful photo.

A Faithful Friend Retires

The past year has been an extraordinarily prolific time for me as a poet.

In the Days of Sappho
by John William Godward

Indeed, I never really would have used that word to describe myself before. Technically, since I've written poems from time to time since I was about 14, I guess it is accurate, but in my mind, poets are people who have done something with their work, published poetry and established a name for themselves thereby, even crafted at least one poem that has touched the souls of and been beloved by many, many readers. I haven't done any of that, but in March, I did submit a completed manuscript of poems to a competition for first-time authors. And throughout this spate of creativity, I have had one devoted companion.

This little friend, produced by Peter Pauper Press, has received each poem I hammered out for nearly a year. It has suffered for my art almost as much as I did, poor thing. The scribbles, the wicking, the blotches! Each one tells a tale of the exhilarating journey we've taken together, as the small journal bounced around in my book bag, my crochet satchel, and on a few memorable occasions, any pocket available.

See what I mean?!

And now, only one blank page remains between its reliable old covers. I'm proud of us both, this journal and I, but I will miss its cheerful little face. Of course, I still have to finish that last page, right? Once I have, though, a successor is already waiting in the wings. Sentiment is all very well, but there are more poems to write, and I must be ready to chase them down to the page. I think any writing worth producing is worth wrapping in the breathtaking art of Gustav Klimt.

Wish us luck!

Monday Moment 11

"...As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22) (NRSV)

The winter from which we are emerging has been long and brutal, seemingly without end. In the Denver Metro area where I now live, yesterday was ruled over by a snowstorm, in April, on Palm Sunday. But this morning, the sun is shining brightly, and has swept away all before it in demonstration of Spring's slow triumph.

"Seedtime and Harvest"
by Sarah Graybill-Greene

These are the first little flowers to show their faces in my sleeping flower garden. I planted these bulbs last fall, and had forgotten all about them till they poked their little heads out of the dirt. It is a nice surprise, especially since they are of my two favorite colors!

"The Fry Chronicles": A Review

The Fry Chronicles: an Autobiography
by Stephen Fry

Great Britain is a very small island, and the number of great British actors is therefore a rather smaller club than the personnel involved in the bloated machinery of Hollywood. The result, in my opinion, is that autobiographies of British performers are easier and more satisfying to read, because the cast of characters is much more manageable. A lot of American actors' biographies that I've tried simply read like a "Who's Who" of people of whom I've never heard and names that I can't possibly keep straight. I didn't really have that problem with this one.

However, the real joys here are Stephen Fry's self-deprecating humor and honesty, the quirky way in which he marshals his thoughts, and his highly readable, thoroughly enjoyable writing style. He is the first to admit in these pages that he often comes off as smug, and actually is pompous at times. Moreover, his vocabulary is a truly formidable thing; I certainly encountered new words. Taken all together, these factors make Stephen Fry an acquired taste for some, and frankly unpalatable to others, but I'm a die-hard lover of Fry, and therefore of this book.

The Fry Chronicles is the actor/author's second installment in what I hope will eventually be a multi-volume autobiographical series. The first, Moab is My Washpot, covered his childhood up to the age of 17, and this one picks up from the first, extending to the year 1987. I anxiously await the publication of the continuing story.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Fry
Signature courtesy of IIVeaa

Sound of the Soul

Image courtesy of
Scandinavia Studios and The Sights of Sounds

For April, our resident singer/songwriter, Quinn DeVeaux, has served up a tasty Bob Dylan cover for his "7th of the Month" video series. His version of "Moonshiner" strikes true for this great-granddaughter of an Appalachian moonshiner. Enjoy.

Monday Moment 10

At times, the storms of my home can be terrifying, but they are awe-inspiring, they are truly majestic, and many of us learn to love them from our early childhood. Today, our resident photographer captures that power for those who may never have seen an Indiana thunderstorm.

"Dark and Ominous"
by Sarah Graybill-Greene

Here is a little bit of what's going on in Southern Indiana, with the thunderstorms moving across the unplanted spring cornfields.