One is Rather Amused

Amused, that is, with the latest selection for one's Book Club discussion book. It is a short novella by Alan Bennett and is titled The Uncommon Reader.

The premise is that the Queen of England decides she would rather like to begin reading books when the "large removal-like van parked next to the bins outside the kitchen door" turns out to be the equivalent of a Bookmobile. The kitchen boy, Norman, and the driver of the van, Mr Hutchings, help Her Royal Highness to make the first selection...with more to come.

As the Queen progresses in her reading selections, she also changes her focus on the way she sees her own, controlled world. One would almost think she has gone batty. One would think she should try not to have her nose in a book so much. One would think she should pay more attention to the corgis.

The Queen learns new words such as amanuensis and opsimath. She begins asking the commononers, "What are you reading?" instead of making polite chitchat about the weather and travel times. She even takes to reading a book while doing the standard Queenly wave from the motor car!

One would feel a whole lot smarter for reading this clever little story...and who knows, maybe the real HRH has become a reader herself with this little novella.

P.H.O.T.O.G.R.A.P.H.S.

Hoo-boy has it been a busy month! And the camera has been clicking away like no one's business. In order to get this blog up-to-date with goings on here and there, I'm using each letter of the blog title in sort of a photo journal format.

P is for playing cards. Wes and I have rediscovered the game of Rummy 500 that we used to play in the early days of our married life. Nothing like playing the game at Ravinia pre-concert!

H is for haircuts. For the first time that we can remember my sister and I got haircuts nearly side by side at a swanky place in Lincoln Square. Meaning we had scalp massages, pampering and capable cutters.

O is for Olive. That's the name of the new sibling suitcase for Pink. She's a great help when we go to the nearby Harvest Time grocery store. It was fun to recently introduce some friends to

this fun city market.

T is for trains. We are using the Brown Line quite a bit these days. The most recent destination was with library friends.

O is for old bikes. Found in the basement of our condo and free for the taking. We feel old riding them, too, with our not-so-nimble bodies...but we are trying! And wearing our helmets.

G is for Grant Park Music Festival. Actually taking place in Millennium Park at the Pritzker Pavillion. So far, we have gone to three wonderful summer concerts there, and hope to go to more.

R is for red wine. Dining outside is one of the finer summer pleasures...we especially like the Pizza Art Cafe on Rockwell.

A is for Art Institute. Did you know that right now there is a special exhibit of the artwork featured in Caldecott Award winning books? So, naturally a field trip was necessary for those librarians from our home library. The "show" closes in early November - consider attending!

P is for peaceful. We discovered a lovely quiet getaway smack dab in the middle of the lakefront! It's called Montrose Point and is a bird sanctuary bordering on Lake Michigan. The views of the Chicago skyline from here are spectacular.

H is for harbor. Beautiful sailboats and such right there,too.

S is for sculpture. After all these years of driving by the scupture path on McCormick, we finally biked the path and took in all the large sculptures...the cake is still my favorite!

There you have it. Photographs. Worth more than thousands of words. To us, anyway.

Beauty Amongst the Flowers

It is but a few short weeks until we have a wedding of our own...can't wait! What a delight it was this past weekend to witness so many wedding parties celebrating their unions at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Isn't every bride beautiful? They were certainly competing for attention with all the other white and cream flowers in bloom.

I think that maybe I made the wrong career choice...perhaps I should have been in the wedding business? How I do love weddings!

The flowers were simply lovely on this July Saturday as well. (But why, oh why did one wedding party have fake silk flowers for the bridesmaids and bride --- here? After all, this is the actual reason why we went to the gardens in the first place for real flowers.) But, I digress.

There's nothing like a summer wedding! Especially when it's one of your own "buds."

Moments to Remember (*P*S*C #19)

Though we have been back for about a week now, there are still moments I am trying to savor back at home...trying to hold on to our little vacation as long as possible I suppose. The memory of a lake that looks like a surface of glass, with a dock inviting one to sit in this chair and think deep reflective thoughts...or not think at all.

To freeze time as I watch my three family guys at play on the raft...moments before Jed topples into the cool, clear water and is followed soon by a large splash as John is thrown into the water and dear 'ol Dad is the king of the raft once more.

To be able to still see the glimmer in my son's eyes as he shows off his catch of the day...and remembering the first little fish he caught in the lake some twenty years ago on a short, lime green pole.

To see Anne and Kari sitting side by side as they eat cake, comparing notes on their teaching experiences, and becoming more than casual friends...soon to be sisters by marriage.

And finally, to see that the Glastron - - - about thirty years old - - -is giving us yet one more year of boating excitement on this wonderful lake in the North Woods.

Party of Five (*P*S*C #19)

Hard to believe but between John's birthday and Wes' birthday we celebrate five birthdays in our little family of (almost) six! So, we have started a little tradition of dinner out at the White Stag restaurant near Eagle River followed by an activity of go-karting.

Because we celebrated on the 4th of July, their cake was supposed to be a Liberty Bell. And I made them wear their patriotic leis.

They somehow seemed to match those we saw in the parade earlier in Iron River:

See those "spots" on the pony? They are star stickers...a first to see stickers on an animal!

We were happy that Elder and Muriel could join us this year for the celebrating. And that Elder rode the tracks with us at the Kartway.

I tell you, we are a family who knows how to party!!

Pink Suitcase Chronicles #19: The Whole KITT 'n Caboodle!

We have just returned from a lovely 4th of July weekend at our cabin in the North Woods and this time, along with our kids, the Grandkitty Oliver joined us!!

He kept us all quite entertained with his antics. He "sat" on the couch with John.

He "guarded" the door for us. We weren't fooled...we knew he wanted O-U-T!

He kept us entertained with his climbing up the ladder to the loft. And even more amusing was his descent: LOOK OUT BELOW!!

He had his times of resting as well. Right next to his little fox friend.

Probably the most "help" from Oliver came to me as the others were out and about and I was working on the Rehearsal Dinner invitations.

Now that was help! Ah, life with a cat...

Look for more 4th of July weekend fun to come as this PSC is to be continued.