Silver Threading Writer’s Quote Wednesday
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The Coastal Redwoods of California
California Coastal Redwoods
Mom-in-law near fallen redwood tree
Me and my mom-in-law
Kate near the trees
Coastal Redwoods
If you get a chance to visit California there are many beautiful sights to see. One I think is a must see are the coastal redwoods. I was born in San Francisco which is in Northern California. I met my husband there while we were both in college. I was at University of California San Francisco in the Nursing School and he was at Hastings Law School. Hastings is also part of the University of California.
In those dating days we enjoyed all the beautiful surroundings available in the San Francisco Bay area. From the beautiful city itself and all the great restaurants to the beautiful wine country that was not a far drive from The City. When you live around San Francisco you always refer to it as The City.
One area we visited was north of The City, the beautiful coastal redwood forests. There is a new freeway running up there now. But the original highway is still there as well. It is called The Avenue of the Giants. These trees are so awe-inspiring. They are some of the oldest trees on earth. When you drive past them you get a sense of being in a prehistoric forest. The height and width of the trees dwarf you as if you are in the presence of gigantic dinosaurs.
The trees are fire and bug resistant. The last time we made the trip to see them was on our 30th wedding anniversary. A forest ranger told us a sad fact. That the only thing the trees were vulnerable to was the wind that has been created by the new freeway that was built near them. It creates some kind of wind corridor. It is blowing some of them over.
Beware of the Ego with Blogging
“Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.” –Jane Austen
Blogging can be quite an ego trip don’t you think? It can really give you a fat head. I think anyone who blogs needs to keep this in mind. It is more worthy to maintain our humility.
Nice things we can do for each other as writers is to read each others work and try to be supportive of each other. I have found there are bloggers out there who do this and I really appreciate and admire them.
Give a genuine complement. There has to be something about someone else’s efforts you find praiseworthy.
Vanity is not exclusively a female trait. It applies to both male and female bloggers equally.
Sunday Rest
“She broke his heart with one of her biscuits.”
Here we are at Sunday and taking a day of rest again today. I was looking for an image and found the one above. This old film sounds like it would be funny even today. Carter De Haven was a comedy star of silent films and worked as director and in production with Charlie Chaplin on The Great Dictator and Modern Times. His wife, an actor as well, often worked with him. Her maiden name was Flora Parker. I found a photo of them on Wikipedia as well.
They were a handsome couple. I have watched a few of the old silent films. The actors had to rely on conveying so much with facial expression. The old black and white and their heavy make up did not always bring out their good looks. We can see from the photo they were beautiful.
Many of the old films are lost forever. It is amazing to me that the film above was made almost 100 years ago.
Happy Sunday!
SoCS Water-Light Night Rain
After complaining about the gray weather and no rain predicted it did start to drizzle and rain lightly in the evening. Then later that night I heard that dripping noise outside again. I opened the patio door to check and turned on the patio light.
It was raining. Not heavily. But raining a slow gentle quiet wonderful dripping rain. The drops making a slow soft splashing noise in the pool and on the patio. What a wonderful sound.
There is that nice wet smell of the earth. And the smell from the smoke of a neighbors chimney.
We need a lot more rain in California.
and my friend |LindaGHillSoCS|
Cloudy Day, Light Gray
Cloudy outside the window. The kind of cloudy where the sky is mostly light gray. Not the kind of cloudy I like, the cloudy when the sky is blue with some assorted fluffy white clouds. Or the kind of cloudy that has some dark grays that indicate a storm may be coming. This kind of cloudy is just sitting there. Pretty bland. No storm portended. Just kind of drab. Subdued. Damping down my mood a bit.
It would be fun to be able to take my box of crayons. The big box that has at least 64 different colors in it. To color the sky timberwolf, periwinkle, cadet blue, silver, purple mountain majesty, and wisteria.
What kind of cloudy do you prefer?
The Pleasure of a Good Mystery
“Conflict and character are the heart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.” –Diana Gabaldon
The DVD of Season 2 of Endeavour arrived by UPS today along with two books I had ordered. Notice that endeavour is spelled the British way. You know my American spell check now has a little squiggly red line under that British spelling. Oh well, I don’t care how they spell it I love this series. It is part of Masterpiece Mystery! on PBS. I have already watched Season 2 this past summer. I don’t remember every part of the stories so I will still enjoy watching it again. And my husband has not seen it.
The main character’s name is Endeavour. This is his first name. My English grandmother used to tell us that they used to name children with names that gave a purpose. I love the name and what it implies. Endeavour, like some of its synonyms such as be bold, dare, be courageous, brave, strive, utmost effort, one’s all, and one’s level best, is a good description of this detective’s character.
This series is a prequel about Inspector Morse which you may remember if you are a fan of British mysteries. This is Morse as a young man just starting out in police work.
His superior is Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. No he is not like our Joe Friday. He is a mentor father-figure to Morse. They have been developing a great relationship and bond.
Endeavour is very intelligent and can sleuth out the cases before anyone else. It is a joy to follow along while he solves the mystery. He has a couple of nemeses who do not appreciate his stellar abilities. These nemeses are usually trying to get him into trouble or block his success. Though not as bad as a Professor Moriarty type nemesis.
The stories are complex and do not allow a quick resolution. That adds to the enjoyment. If you like mysteries and have not had a chance to see this series, I highly recommend it.
Do you like a mystery? Do you like British mysteries? American? or both?
Of course, I have my favorite American mystery writers like Michael Connelly and his Detective Harry Bosch. I like Henning Mankell’s Wallander books. There is a Canadian mystery writer I really like. Her name is Louise Penny and I love her Inspector Gamache.
How about you?
Silver Threading Writer’s Quote Wednesday
One Liner Wednesday
Going Home
Can we go home again?
One of my all time favorite films is The Trip to Bountiful. It is a tour de force performance by Geraldine Page for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress. Supporting cast members are John Heard, Rebecca De Mornay, Carlin Glynn and Richard Bradford. The screenplay is by Horton Foote based on his play The Trip to Bountiful. You might remember him because he did the screenplay for the film To Kill A Mockingbird.
One theme of this film is about the desire to return to the place where you felt most at home. The nostalgia for earlier times in our lives when we may have been happier.
Carrie Watts (Geraldine Page) is an elderly widow who is living with her son and daughter-in-law in a cramped apartment in Houston. She wants to make a visit to her family home in Bountiful, Texas once more before she dies. Her son and daughter-in-law can not or do not want to understand her need to make this one last trip.
She plots to hide her pension check and make her escape by bus or train while her son is at work and her daughter-in-law is out of the house. She has made attempts in the past but they have always caught her.
Carrie has some behaviors that really get under her daughter-in-law’s( Jessie Mae) skin. She loves to sing old hymns all day while doing housework and she is always rushing about the apartment in spite of her heart condition that brings on a few fainting spells.
The opening music for this film is an old hymn that gets me weepy every time I hear it, ” Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling. ” I am not really very religious. It is just very soulful to me. Anyone familiar with the old southern hymns will recognize many that Carrie is fond of singing.
Carrie needs to make this journey home to complete something in her life. To lay things to rest. As the film progresses we learn the story of her life.
Another theme in this film is the relationships between parents and children and how these relationships impact their lives. It is about how these relationships bind them together. And it is about how people can be bound to the land.
Have you wanted to return to an earlier time your life? Have you wanted to go back to a certain place? Would going back help to complete something in your life? Like completing a circle.
Have you even seen this film? What were your impressions of it?
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 