The past week has been a bit of a blur. I was constantly in motion and yet don’t feel I accomplished much. Frustrating.
My parents seem to be enjoying their stay with us. It’s nice to have them here. The house was seeming so big since the girls left that it feels good to be making full use of it.
Our “adopted” daughter, Caroline, came to visit the other evening. We enjoyed sitting outside with a fire crackling in the fire pit. Just a quiet evening, talking about nothing in particular and everything.
I’ve been trying to keep up with my reading. I’m on my 23rd book for the year. I realized a while ago that even if I were to read 2 books a month for the rest of my probable life, it would be less than 1000 books. That’s just not enough so I’ve been making a conscious effort to read more.
Right now I’m into a collection of Janet Flanner essays published in The New Yorker magazine’s “Letter from Paris” from 1925 to 1939 titled “Paris Was Yesterday.” The book I most recently finished was Joyce Carol Oates’s novel “We Were the Mulvaneys.”
I am simultaneously reading a book on violin technique by Ivan Galamian recommended by my violin teacher. It’s been a little tough getting started. My big mistake is picking it up late in the evening, just before bed. God knows I need a help with technique so I think I’d better start reading it in the mornings instead.
Yesterday my sister, mom and I went on an excursion to Woodstock — a little shopping, dinner and a movie, “A Prairie Home Companion.” The Woodstock Town Hall Theatre is an ideal movie venue, good movie selections, small town feel. Next week they’re showing “An Inconvenient Truth.” We will probably go see it, but it might be a little too much reality for me. I only hope it offers some solutions and isn’t just fear-mongering.
Today we are thinking of going to Saint-Gaudens in Cornish, New Hampshire. It is the site of the home, gardens and studio of the sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It’s a beautiful place. As a bonus, on Sundays in the summer they have a concert series.
But first … the Wimbledon Men’s Championship! Mom and I watched the Ladies’ Championship match yesterday. I was happy to see Mauresmo be the first French woman to win in 81 years. I thought it was interesting to see the difference in tennis dress of the last French champion, Suzanne Lenglen, and Mauresmo’s. I like Henin-Hardenne equally well, though so I would have been glad to see her win, too.
Today I’m torn. Of course, being Swiss, I like Federer a lot. But Nadal has been playing so well, he deserves to win, too.