I Loved This Book!

"There was a time in Africa the people could fly. Mauma told me this one night when I was 10 years old."   And so this amazing story of two women . . . one a slave, one a slave owner . . . begins.

I was encouraged to read Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings by the gentleman who gave us our historical walking tour of Charleston, SC, when we visited there in June. I'm so glad that he suggested this amazing book to me. If you recall, Sue Monk Kidd was also the author of The Secret Life of Bees.  The Invention of Wings is her newest book, just out in hardvoer this year.

 

This book, a work of historical fiction spanning the first half of the 19th century, is inspired by the lives of Charleston's wealthy Grimke sisters. The character of Sarah is based on Sarah Grimke, an early South Carolina feminist and abolitionist

 

 

Sarah's life is contrasted to the life of  Hetty "Handful" Grimke, a slave of about her own age, who was "given" to her as her waiting maid for her 11th birthday. As both girls grow into women, and  unlikely friends,  they tell the story of their own lives as seen from their very different places in the world.

Fiber artists will enjoy this book for the importance that quilting plays in telling the story of Handful's family. Since slaves were not allowed to learn to read, Handful's "Mauma" records her history for Handful through her story quilts. 

 

This quilt was actually done by Harriet Powers, herself a former slave. A book with photos and descriptions of her quilts, Stitching Stars, is available here.

 

In The Invention of Wings, both  Sarah and Handful struggle for freedom . . .Handful from the injustices of slavery, and Sarah from the expectations and constraints, especially for women, of life in wealthy 19th century society. As the book unfolds and the girls' lives continue to collide, the struggles for abolition and womens' rights begin to intertwine through these two strong female characters. One of the best books I've read on so many levels!

I read The Invention of Wings on our last camping trip, to South Arm, and later today we leave for our next one...to Searsport Shores, my very favorite place on the coast of Maine. Our neighbors at Applegate know we are headed out on another trip when they see us pull the Casita into the driveway to pack it up. And we have the best neighbors in the world...

Our next door neighbor stopped over with this brand new "Roadtrip" game which she bought for us when she saw it at a yard sale. She said that the tin it comes in reminds her of our Casita!

And then, when we got home from errand-running yesterday, we found this great Bob Marley "Upta Camp" sticker wedged into the screen door of the Casita. Now it just so happens that one of our very favorite neighbors is best friends with Bob Marley's mother, and Bob Marley practically invented the phrase "Upta Camp", so I have a pretty good idea who gave us the sticker. Thanks M.E.!

Here it is on the Casita.

 

We're all packed and, once I get off the computer, ready to go!

 

We're off to Searsport . . . with another LL Bean bag full of books to enjoy while we're there!

 



Upta Camp

We recently returned from our annual week "Upta Camp" on Lower Richardson Lake in western Maine's Rangeley Lakes area.

Our Casita is small but has everything we need.
 

This was our 4th year at South Arm Campground, which is so remote that there are no cell phone or wifi services. In fact, to get to the campground, you either have to drive 12 miles down a bumpy dirt road from the tiny town of Andover, Maine,  or take a boat or seaplane in.

 

 

Our favorite part of camping is the people we meet and South Arm is no exception. The same families camp there the same week of every year and we've made close friends who we look forward to spending time with every summer. Our little group makes for some interesting campfire stories . . . there are teachers, bankers, a carpenter, a nurse, a surgeon, a commercial pilot . . . and us!

 

There are three sisters who camp near us each year with their husbands . . . we love being a part of their summer family for one special week every year.

Meet Laurie . . .

 

 

Teresa (on the left, with Laurie) . . .

 

and Rosalie.

 

Rosalie travels all over the country by herself in her "little" camper. Since her husband is a pilot, he meets up with her whenever he can, wherever she happens to be.

I think she's so brave! 

 

This year Rosalie, Hank and I decided NOT to go on the Sunset Cruise. If you missed my blog post about our narrow escape last summer, you can read it here.

 

Just to put our decision into better perspective, here's what Rosalie and I looked like when we "made landfall" after the boat ride from hell sunset cruise last year. Glad they added the "weather permitting" part this year!
 

We're lucky to meet such wonderful people wherever we go. In another week, we'll be off again . . . this time to Searsport Shores, our favorite campground on the coast of Maine and another place where we've made some amazing friends.

Looking forward to going back "upta camp" (a noun here in Maine) soon,

 

Acceptance

  

 

 

 

Update on "Summer in Japan"

In case you were looking for it . . .
I removed my July 9 "Summer in Japan" post at the request of my son and daughter-in-law. . .
I guess I still have a lot to learn about Japanese culture!



Japanese Green Tea Twist Ice Cream Cone...oishii!
 

Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments each of you . . . blog friends and Applegate friends . . . left on the original post. . .

A Christmas Promise Kept

Our grandson, Brian, has always wanted to see a professional production of The Phantom of the Opera.  So, his Christmas gift from us was a white mask and, under it, tickets to The Phantom for July 4, 2014 at the Boston Opera House.

Over the winter, it seemed as if the big day would never get here...but it finally did. On Friday, we boarded the 8:00 a.m. Amtrak Downeaster in Portland and headed for Boston. Since we ended up with an extra ticket to The Phantom, our friend, "Aunt Carolyn" joined us when the train stopped in Wells, Maine on its way south.

Neither Brain nor Carolyn had seen The Phantom before so part of our enjoyment was watching them experience it for the first time. DH and I have been lucky. . . this was our 4th time! This version of the show lacked some of the special effects we had seen in New York and London due to the limited size of the Opera House stage (and the area above and below it). But the vocals were wonderful, music as haunting as always, and the acting excellent.

And the chandelier was there, of course.

The little boy seated behind us was really in the spirit of the Phantom...he even had opera glasses!

After the show, we had dinner at La Cantina Italiana, a favorite restaurant of ours in Boston's North End. The decor is really a little dated but the food is very traditional and absolutely fantastic. Our waiter was from Florence and was quite the conversationalist, adding to the fun of the evening. If you go to La Cantina, try their homemade Sangria, which ferments in a huge fruit-filled glass jar on the corner of the bar.

After a quick stop at Mike's Pastry for cannoli, we boarded the 7:30 Downeaster for the sleepy, cannoli-stuffed, trip back to Maine. It was the perfect way to spend a rainy, windy, Hurricane Arthur-is-coming, 4th of July

Christmas in July...what could be better?

Think we'll do this every year!