Worshipping our Sun

stonehenge-summer-solstice
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/summersolstice.shtml

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
(Sonnet 18) Wm. Shakespeare

Happy Birthday to my favorite Republican!

Today we celebrate the birth of Abraham Lincoln!  Besides being the Great Emancipator, he’s the President  on two forms of currency.  Now while the penny is much maligned and some would do away with it altogether, consider the mighty $5 bill. While the $20 has become the staple in our wallets due to the cash station, the $5 is the best change maker!  “Oh, I only have a $20” can usually be solved with a Fiver or two!  Now don’t let me get started on Abe’s Midwest charm, quiet eloquence, rail splitting prowess or heaven forbid, Daniel Day Lewis – lookout!  Happy Birthday Dear Mr. Lincoln.

Lincoln_Penny

Lori and Larson and “just” finished…

Enjoy this wonderful entry highlighting three recommendations from Lori!

Erik Larson. I really love his writing. He incorporates history in readable stories. I always read history in black and white (in my head), these books give color and life to historic events.
“In the Garden of Beasts” is set in the months before World War II, in Berlin. William E. Todd (born in Clayton, NC) moves his family to Berlin to become America’s first Ambassador to Hitler’s Germany. Excellent book and relevant in these times of intolerance.

“The Devil in the White City”* Murder and madness set in Chicago. The history of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and a madman who murders young women. Scary, but I couldn’t put it down. I loved the history of the architects of the fair. *a major film currently in production starring Leo DiCaprio, to be released in 2013.

Just finished “Shanghai Sisters” by Lisa See. Great story set in the years before WW II to the 1960’s. Two sisters and how they escape China, and build a new family with strangers in California. Makes me wish I had a sister!

Lori

Dee is in!

Welcome Dee! Please invite a few friends to sign up as well.  I’m sharing her first comment as a post to help keep things current.  Dee recommends:

Cutting for Stone…amazing book!

Helen of Troy. For history/mythology buffs, it’s fascinating and beautifully written.

Next on the shelf is The Postmistress.