Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving was a time for gratitude and rest.  I had four days off and spent nearly the entire time at home.  I read, cooked, ate and read some more.  I realized that I had not spent that much time at home since December of last year. 

When I got up this morning I thought that I would be refreshed but I still wanted more time at home--more time doing the things that I love.

I read several books over this break.  Two of them had a strong sense of place.  The Third Eye by Andrew Seewald and Jacqueline Seewald is set in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  It is a coming-of-age story and a mystery but it includes some of the folklore and practices of that really unusual and special area.  I think that it is now called the Pinelands and there was a story about a beetle infestation in the New York Times this morning. 

The second book was The Land of Dreams by Vidar Sundstol.  This is written by a Norwegian and takes place in Minnesota near the shores of Lake Superior.  The land is described well as is a culture of people who seem to mostly come from Norway and maybe Sweden, so a pretty homogeneous culture.  There was a stillness and rawness to the place that also made it seem very foreign even though it is set in the United States.