Thursday, August 25, 2022

A Happy 105th Weekly Link Round-Up

 


Everything is going well here at Casa Kittling. Denis can even feel that he's improving; he just wishes it would go faster. (I certainly can't blame him for feeling that way. I think I would've gone bananas long ago if I had to deal with what he's had to.) The monsoon, which was a flop early on in the season has finally decided to give us some rain, and everything on the property is lush and green-- and I'm loving that.
 
If she'd lived, today would have been my grandmother's 105th birthday. She was a complex woman who was difficult to get to know. She was shy, and most people misinterpreted that, thinking that she was stuck-up. She was a wizard with a sewing machine, and her flower garden was so beautiful strangers would stop and knock on her door to ask if they could come in and look at it all. She became interested in photography and made herself a little dark room where she would work diligently at copying old family photos. She fell in love with my grandfather when she was a teenager and never ever looked at another man. My mother and the teenage me had to tell her that the man she thought was "acting funny" was really flirting with her. Her response? "But... I'm married!" 
 
Growing up, my grandfather and my mother were larger than life. People were drawn to them like magnets. Shy, awkward me was so busy wanting to be like them that I completely missed something that was staring me right in the face. To my shame, I never realized what it was until after my grandmother died.
 
I am more like my grandmother than any other family member. I inherited my premature grey hair from Irene Brookshier and so many other things. How could I have been so blind? So this link round-up is for you, Butch. It makes me smile that you loved the nickname I gave you so many years ago. How many other kids had a grandmother they called Butch?

 
My grandmother, Irene Brookshier, doing something she loved in Kentucky in 1991. She died two years later.

 
Enjoy the links!
 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
 
►A Little Night Viewing◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
 
►The Wanderer◄
  • Make My Drive Fun: an interactive map that plots interesting sites to see while on a road trip.
  • The power of "Bears Ears" and Indigeous place names
  • Nature can affect human well-being in many more ways than you think. (Nature is in the top two of my favorite and most powerful "drugs".)
  • Low water levels at Lake Mead reveal much more than human remains. 
  • The 25 sunniest cities in the U.S.-- and guess which one is #1! 
 
►I ♥ Lists◄


That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay cool. Stay safe. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

15 comments:

  1. Happy 105th to your grandmother, Cathy. She sounds like a powerful influence on you, and I think it's interesting that she's the one you're most like as an adult. It's very good to hear Denis is continuing to make progress. It may be slow, but I'm glad it's happening. I'm off to check out that ancient Italian city, and then Pompeii - hope you have a good weekend!

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  2. Cathy, I loved the story about your grandmother! And I also love that you called her 'Butch'! I called my maternal grandmother 'Candymama' because she sent me 2 cherry lifesavers in each of her letters to my mother. Don't ask me how they almost always arrived whole and not smashed to bits. Anyway, happy 105th to her and glad to hear that Denis is doing well. Take care!

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    1. Now you've got me wondering how on earth those Lifesavers arrived intact!

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  3. Both of my grandmothers were dead before I was born and I have always felt their absence. You are lucky to have known yours.

    (1.) Of course we should still study Shakespeare! He's one of the founders of the English language as we know it today. (2.) In my opinion, book banners should themselves be banned. (3.) Hubby and I watch a lot of mystery series on television including most of those on the underrated list. (4.) I've been fascinated by the Maya civilization since high school and I am delighted to learn about that warrior queen. (5.) I've read eleven of those "20 best book series" and have some of the others on my TBR list. Thanks for a fascinating set of links this week.

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    1. Yes, I am very lucky to have known my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents.

      I agree that banners should be banned... but doesn't that make us banners?

      I've been fascinated by the Maya since I was in high school, too. I'm glad you enjoyed the links, Dorothy!

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  4. Your grandmother sounds like an amazing lady. I can relate to being shy and thought to be stuck up.

    I love the nautical mysteries lists this week! Enjoy your weekend!

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    1. Hope you have a good weekend, too, Gretchen!

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  5. What wonderful memories! My grandmother on my father's side is the only grandparent that lived long enough for all of us to know, and I miss her still. She taught me to play rummy, and to do the NY Times crossword puzzle - in pen.

    I wholeheartedly agree with Dorothy that the book banners deserve to be banned themselves!

    As for the links, you know I went to Paris before commenting :) Now I'm going to check out those nautical mysteries.

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    1. I thought of you when I posted that link to the nautical mysteries. :-)

      I learned how to play cards from my mother and my grandfather. They're the reason why I always used to win at strip poker when I was a teenager... but don't tell anyone!

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  6. I liked this story. My two grandmothers were very nice women and I was too young and impatient to get to know them better. It is sad and something I think of often.

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    1. Yes, I would imagine that we both think of the opportunities we missed with these special women.

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  7. Nice story and special memories.

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  8. Amazingly, I just got my ability to post here back, no hexes or yelling at Google. Suddenly, it reappeared. I'll have to read these links.

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