Whatever Wednesday - Pumpkin Palooza

October at the Dallas Arboretum means pumpkins galore

A variety of displays

Plus a special Mundo Mexico theme with sculptures of spirit guides

colorful art to observe and learn

The colors were popping!
 

Monday Moments - More Glencairn

More Glencairn to explore, as promised.  The stone work is stunning

Doors brought back from  Europe

Tilework

A  view of Philly from their tower

and a view of their church - I believe around four hundred members now.
 

Finally Friday - Glencairn

Glencairn was the home of a family ( Raymond Pitcairn) that founded a religious group ( the  New
church - Late 1800s), emphasizing family, community, and faith.  The founder traveled Europe a lot and brought back art, stone masons to replicate works he saw, tile masters, and more.

This "castle" is in suburban Philly, PA. (Bryn Athyn) It housed the husband, wife, and nine kids. 

Here's the general foyer

Pretty dramatic and gorgeous.   Lots of medieval art.

This is only your introduction.   More to follow. 

 

Whatever Wednesday - Book Club Delight

 My PA gang held our book club meeting in Florida, even though the story - History of the  Rain by Niall Williams - takes place in Ireland.  (Well, it did rain in FL, so that counts. )

We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling. That's how it seems to me, being alive for a little while, the teller and the told.   (back blurb)

Ruthie Swain is the  daughter of a dead poet. She's living in FaHa, County Clare, and recovering from a collapse in college. She's in  her attic room, with the rain rushing down the windows. She writes Ireland, with its weather, its rivers, its lilts, and its lows. 

I loved Ruthie. I loved all her references to her dad's books as she puzzles her way through family history. She's a twin, and slowly tells Aeny's joyous short life.  I laughed out loud at her descriptions of town folk. I teared up at other writings - p. 311  But  the fact is grief doesn't know we invented time. Grief has its own tide and comes and goes in waves.  

Williams writes lyrically, humorously, and with a passion for Ireland - its quirks, its people, and its rain. That's  a character itself. I loved this book - it meanders, it goes off  on a bender, and it's gentle. 

Take your time,  find a comfy  chair, pour a cuppa, and settle in for History of the Rain. Let the words pour over you and enjoy.

Monday Moments - Mercer Museum

Mercer Museum and Castle in Doylestown, PA offers a history afternoon.  Seven floors of exploration
 

Henry Mercer believed in  the  power of hands-on history. He collected tools and products for all to see. He also ran a tileworks that manufactured gorgeous designs

Here's an excellent example of the tiles

The Mercer Library is glorious.  Just look up and around in awe

And then - the collection.  Here on  the bottom  floor, you stand  - head raised, mouth open. Then start looking, reading, climb the stairs, and keep exploring.  Respect the history!

Finally Friday - Trust by Hernan Diaz

 Trust by  Hernan Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in  2022.  It is certainly well written, but easy to put  down.  I didn't  really care for the  main characters and I kinda wanted to  slap some sense into them.  The overall themes and connected narratives were impressive. Kudos to  Diaz. 

1920s New York City - Benjamin Rask is a Wall Street tycoon. Helen Rask is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together they are at the top of  the  game.  But it's  the usual - money does not buy happiness. 

A  novel  appears in 1937 called Bonds and it strikes a nerve with Rask. How dare this author delve into the most personal of stories. 

back blurb - Trust  engages  the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with  which power can manipulate facts. 

Whatever Wednesday - All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman is a hoot. Florence Grimes is hot mess - thirty one years old, former member of a girl  band, party girl, now single, and  broke.  She is the mother of Dylan - age ten. The one good thing in her life. 

But her son's bully, Alfie Risby goes missing during a class trip. Is Dylan a suspect? 

cover blurb and opening sentence - The missing boy is ten-year old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he's a little shit.

That's your intro to Flo and it's what made me pick up this  book at the library.  The book is hilarious, the plot line gets  convoluted, and you wonder - what bad decision  will Flo  make  next?  

I won't say more - you have to read this, chuckle, and be surprised.   Enjoy!