I love books, always have, always will. If I had to choose my favorite fiction book it would be Ken Follett's,
The Pillars of the Earth. I've read it three times and each time I give it away to someone so they can also enjoy it. Then I end up buying another copy and re-reading it. It is an historical novel about the building of a fictional cathedral in 12th century England.
That book led me to another fascination which is cathedrals. Not just cathedrals but medieval cathedrals. I love looking at them though the only famous one I have visited is Notre Dame in Paris.
My husband and I sat outside in a cafe about 50 ft away drinking Cokes at a small table. We just sat and stared at the building, awestruck at its immensity and age. Pilgrims came there to pray before leaving for the Crusades, huge masses of humanity have moved through that cathedral and important historical events have occurred there or nearby. It's inspiring to realize that the cathedral has stood so long even as times have changed tremendously. I had just read the book for the second time in preparation for our visit, something I would recommend to anyone about to visit any cathedral. The huge undertaking of building a cathedral coupled with the political intrigue of the times was still fresh in my mind and made the visit not just an ordinary stop on a typical Paris tour but instead made the visit come alive for me.
My son is reading the book now and I'll probably re-read it again when he is done ;-)
Just a quick update while I'm thinking of this. Family road trips are among my favorite things. A vacation frequently means that the family goes away for a rest, accompanied by mother, who sees that the others get it. ~ Marcelene Cox~
I love vacations even if I always need a vacation after a vacation and I doubt my upcoming vacation will be any different. I will be checking in and out of here when I can while I am gone but won't resume here except sporadically until after Labor Day. 100 things in 100 days will have to be 100 things in 100 days plus one month ;-)
One of my high school teachers was getting rid of some old Arizona postcards and thought I would like them and he was right. I still have those postcards from around 1918 and love the messages, old photos of Arizona and the stamps. Several of them mention the terrible flu epidemic that killed millions worldwide. Others are a reminder that there used to be twice daily mail delivery and that a postcard mailed in the morning in one part of the city would be delivered in the afternoon to another part of the city. Many are just simple notes saying "I will see you this afternoon". And we thought e-mail was quick.
Sometimes my immediate instinct to an idea is to say "no". I think as we get older we get set in our ways and it's a good idea to try to say "yes" to new ideas that are offered rather than an immediate "no".
I love books, always have, always will. If I had to choose my favorite fiction book it would be Ken Follett's, The Pillars of the Earth. I've read it three times and each time I give it away to someone so they can also enjoy it. Then I end up buying another copy and re-reading it. It is an historical novel about the building of a fictional cathedral in 12th century England.
That book led me to another fascination which is cathedrals. Not just cathedrals but medieval cathedrals. I love looking at them though the only famous one I have visited is Notre Dame in Paris.
My husband and I sat outside in a cafe about 50 ft away drinking Cokes at a small table. We just sat and stared at the building, awestruck at its immensity and age. Pilgrims came there to pray before leaving for the Crusades, huge masses of humanity have moved through that cathedral and important historical events have occurred there or nearby. It's inspiring to realize that the cathedral has stood so long even as times have changed tremendously. I had just read the book for the second time in preparation for our visit, something I would recommend to anyone about to visit any cathedral. The huge undertaking of building a cathedral coupled with the political intrigue of the times was still fresh in my mind and made the visit not just an ordinary stop on a typical Paris tour but instead made the visit come alive for me.
