Challenges – Finding My Wings

What I learned in my week at camp

Posting a blog is just the start of the process. I always wonder what your reaction is when I post a blog. And if you’ve read this far I do mean you!

Last week I participated in Blogging University Commenting Bootcamp. WordPress, the platform (underlying software) for my blog, offers free directed tutorials where many bloggers get together to hone their skills and receive feedback from others. The group was multinational in its makeup and the topics of the blogs were eclectic, to say the least. Blogging U.

Each day we were given assignments to comment on the blogs of others. To be successful required both writing something interesting and informative on the blogs but also encouraging people to look at what I am writing. Saying “Nice job!” just doesn’t cut it.

I write this blog for my enjoyment and to connect with other book lovers and wanderers. It makes my day when someone tells me they read a book because of my review or really enjoyed a particular post. But there is so much more that could be gained by expanding the conversation.

What I learned is that sharing a little bit of myself as a commenter helps move the conversation along. In the face of the horrible events last week in Brussels, a post about dealing with the news by reading encouraged others to react both to the news and the role books play in viewing the world. That opened up a dialog about novels that speak to the political reality even if set in a different time. Here’s that post.

Please take the opportunity to add to the conversation when you read a post. Disagree, offer additional thoughts or suggest a topic for the future. When we talk to one another, whatever the medium, there is learning.

Reading offers perspective when terror strikes

November 13, the day that Paris exploded, was my birthday. And shortly after the early news reports confirmed the extent of the terror, I turned off the television. Most of the weekend was spent reading. Living in the DC area, staying on top of the news is as much a part of life as ridiculous traffic.

I can no longer spend endless hours glued to the repetition of the same information. While the terrorists attacked the lives and livelihoods of the citizens of Brussels, the ripples of their actions wound everyone seeing the reports.

Daily news reports talk of isolationism, interventionists, refugee crises and political intractability. Reading Erik Larson’s Dead Wake about the last voyage of the Lusitania and Churchhill’s calculated effort to bring the US into WWI brings to mind President Wilson’s policy of isolation which only changed after many American lives were lost in the sinking of the ship. This echoes some of today’s political rhetoric.

In Epitaph, Mary Doria Russell’s compelling historical novel about the circumstances leading up to the shootout at the OK Corral, the Republicans and Democrats have vastly different approaches to border issues between Mexico and the Arizona territory. Some of the politicians turn a blind eye to the incursions of rustling cowboys and the killing parties across the border. The lack of cooperation among the parties and the border economic and political issues are all too familiar.

George Santayana is credited with saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Whether I am reading fiction or narrative nonfiction, I remain alert to the lessons shared. If anything, my reading gives me a much better perspective on the extraordinary domestic and foreign policy challenges we face as Americans.

As the day that changed Belgium forever ends, I watch the late news because information is power. And then there are the rare stories of people reaching out to help strangers, a reminder that when we treat each other with kindness rather than hate good can and will happen.

‘Year of Wonders’ – a timely story from a 350 year old reality

IN A NUTSHELL Unknown - Version 2

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (Viking Press, 2001)
In 40 words or less: Based on Eyam, England which cut itself off from the world in the hope of saving its people from the plague.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Locale: England
Time: 1665
Read this book if individual stories bring you a new understanding of history.

Geraldine Brooks’ ‘Year of Wonders’ has long been one of my favorite novels. It is particularly appropriate that I am finishing this review after almost a week of hunkering down due to winter storm Jonas. Her debut novel, written in 2001, is based on the actual English village of Eyam which in 1665 chose total isolation from neighboring villages in the hope of mitigating bubonic plague. The outbreak was in the early days of the Protestant Reformation, a time of religious and social friction. Anna Firth was created by Brooks to tell the community’s story.

Anna is a still a teenager when her husband dies mining lead. Left with two small children, she works in the rectory for Reverend Mompellion and his wife, Elinor. To augment her wages, Anna takes in a tailor who has come to town. He becomes the first victim of the plague, likely infected from fleas in cloth he received. Fortunate to have been taught to read, Anna is hungry for knowledge and Elinor sees in her a kindred spirit. While Reverend Mompellion sees to the religious needs of many in the community, Elinor and Anna work together to keep the community fed and restore their health.

In a community barely subsisting, the toll of isolation and deprivation is high. Through Anna’s eyes the reader sees the best and the worst behaviors. Beyond the stark religious differences within the Protestants, there is a household of women herbalists and healers who some consider witches. These women are increasingly called upon to help those who have fallen ill from a variety of ailments. They, however, are often not treated with like kindness. The harshness of daily life and lengths people go to survive can be chilling.

Over the course of the year, Brook peels back the layers of life – birth and death, cruelty and kindness, love and hatred. It is astonishing how many aspects of the book ring true 350 years later. This is a book to read, re-read and share.

Foreign Policy in My Own Backyard

It’s more than just a saying that all politics are local. Not even five months ago Alan Gross was released from Cuba after years of protests, negotiations and pleadings to and from his family and the U.S. government. Just a month later, Warren Weinstein was killed in a U.S. drone attack on al Queda targets in Pakistan after more than 3 years as their hostage. Unexpectedly, both these men became pawns in a never-ending international chess game, businessmen-soldiers in a world economy where the dangers of going to work may be far greater than bad drivers or airplane tragedies.

So, how is that local? The Gross family lives in Rockville, the Weinsteins as well. We likely shop in many of the same stores, go to the same movie theaters, and dealt with the very same Pepco power outages. While we are not friends, we are neighbors. Both men were doing their jobs when captured. Alan Gross was working on a USAID project expanding internet access in Cuba, contrary to the wishes of the regime. Warren Weinstein had been working for several years on economic development projects in Pakistani tribal areas. When these men took their jobs they were well into their careers. Whether the draw for the assignments was the challenge, the money, the exotic locale or a decision to try to make the world a better place, each left his family to do a job.

And their families are all too similar to mine. Elaine Weinstein and Judy Gross are both mothers of two daughters, like me. And they are both members of our local Hadassah chapter, just like me. And while Dan’s efforts to make our corner of the world a better place take him just around the Beltway, their husbands were drawn to projects around the globe where the American belief that access to information and education will improve society are not necessarily shared.

Tonight as we sit at our table celebrating the end of the work week and the special peace of the Sabbath, I will think of the Weinstein and Gross families. May they continue to receive the support they need to deal with their suffering and may they find a measure of peace.

Sometimes an ESCAPE can help you find yourself

Several months ago I got a phone call asking me to be part of a two plus day event of informal learning, relaxation and camaraderie bringing together a group of women at a retreat center just over an hour away. While I was welcome to come as a participant, the organizers asked that I consider sharing my love of books with the group. While I am far from shy, the idea of going away with a group of people without having a particular buddy along was a bit of a stretch. Continue reading Sometimes an ESCAPE can help you find yourself

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