Snow and more snow

So cold, so sleety, so windy………

and yet we can find pleasure in the adversity!

Quite a task to shovel out of our house and clear a path past the car and onto the (fortunately) plowed) driveway. I know more snow will fall, but at least this headstart didn’t wear me down and will make it easier to clean off car and exit when I need to do that.

Hope everyone out there is safe, warm, and finding good things to do–good for body and mind. Maybe some tai chi? Some qigong? A good book? Writing?

Sometimes a book . . .

Once in a while you fall into a book that puts its spell on you–so well written, the story so compelling, that even when you get to the last page, close the covers, put it down, it stays with you. This morning I finished Stephen Kiernan’s The Glass Chateau, and oh my–it is that kind of book. Kiernan lives in Vermont which makes it even more wonderful to love his work. Earlier I’ve read his A Universe of Two and The Baker’s Secret, both of which are excellent, but this latest novel is the best yet. Every aspect of it works–the setting, characters, historical background, the technical descriptions of making stained glass, the shattered and then healing emotions of the characters, the way the story moves along with great force. Get this book! You’re in for a great reading experience.

As someone who is trying to write fiction, I will return to Kiernan’s novel and try to learn from it. But of course it’s rather daunting to read work that is so expert.