While wandering among blogs this afternoon, one blog led me to check out another until I found myself reading blogs I was not actually following, but had been re-blogged on one I was.  Among my “findings” was a blog entitled “Live to Write–Write to Live.”  Today’s weekend post started with a quote that gave me hope in these broken times:
“Do not be discouraged at the brokenness of the world.  All things break.  And all things can be mended.  Not with time, as they say, but with intention.  So go.  Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.  The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.” I hope younger people, especially, will take these words to heart.  They were attributed to L.R. Knost, evidently a children’s and parenting author.

This past week has had many evidences that we are living in a broken world, not the least of which was two “evacuate the building…do not use the elevators” commands which interrupted my last class day last Wednesday.  After the second evacuation and the second climb up and down stairs, we decided to go home.  There was nothing on the local news about any fire or other “trouble,” so it was probably just a drill on a Wednesday afternoon when few classes are scheduled. In a way, it was a good thing; I was able to go home early,  we missed the usual horrendous traffic, and I was spared making a “This has been such a good group, it is hard to see you go” speech, which is especially true this semester and would be hard to get through emotionally. Ok, so I’m an old softie!

So, one of the things I finished last week was the school semester.  Another was the multi-stranded novel Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke, which I reviewed in the post immediately preceding this one.  Today’s jam-packed-full Houston Chronicle, Sunday Edition is also done for another week, and I am up to date on my New Yorkers with the exception of three fiction offerings in three back editions.

What I am still reading (and still bemused by and enchanted with) is How to Be Both, a novel by Ali Smith.  It keeps unfolding and yet re-connecting to the beginning in the strangest of ways with very few stops, pauses, no chapters to speak of, definitely a unique book. This book will certainly require a re-read (or two or three) to get to all the “meat” of the author’s thoughts.  How I will ever review this book presents a conundrum.

What I am still watching:  Up to date on “This is Us” with just the season finale (Christmas episode) left to see; “Poldark” on PBS; “Timeless” which is still timely (pun intended); “The Big Bang Theory,” which will still be funny when the “guys and gals” are Senior Citizens; and “Gray’s Anatomy,” the best soap opera on TV.

What I am looking forward to:  Writing Christmas letters to go in Christmas cards–although I made the mistake of buying “cute”, tiny cards featuring a tiny little songbird which practically requires origami skills to place 8×11 inch letters in such tiny envelopes. That and visiting the newly opened Goodwill Store here in Alvin to look for Christmas baskets to put presents and baked goods (should I get that far!) will be my major undertakings for the week ahead.  I will require one trip back to the university and some yard work replacing all the bulbs/plants I dug up to make way for the new fence (and that has to be done before the first freeze due Friday).  All this will keep me plenty busy in the week ahead.

I hope your week to come is calmer and stress free.