Arabian Nights

In February I read the Stories from the
Arabian Nights.
These are my bedtime stories.

This 1933 edition is filled with wonderful illustrations
and is in large print.

Only a few of the stories are in this book.
I have another edition with more of the stories.
Someday I will buy the complete 1001 Nights.

Haiku

In January I read an Haiku each morning.
I often read them aloud to the birds.

My daughter gave this book to me.
I enjoy the way it is organized into five elements -
wood, fire, earth, metal and water.




The illustrations are inspiring.

In 1968 my brother gave me my first taste of the Haiku.
I was sixteen years old.
The gift of poetry is a gift for the spirit,
regardless of age.

Stories

While putting out my December things I sat down and read this 1896,
children's book. I normally just put it up on a stand with an old oil lamp.
I had never actually read it. I liked the cover when I bought it.
I thought it would be nice for decorating.

This little collection of stories has stayed in my mind all week.
It seems to me I have a cluster of stories. I relate these stories when I talk to friends and family. They are about what I did, who I saw and what they did. Sometimes I even have a story about how I felt about what I did and who I saw.
I even tell myself stories. My inner dialogue entertains me. I have an inner cluster of stories. Private stories I seldom share.

Every December I read A Christmas Carol.
I know many lines by heart.
Lately I have been thinking about the Spirit of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
What do my Spirits look like?

I cannot imagine a life without poetry.
I often have little ones hanging around in the corners of my mind. Little snippets and lines of mismatched words. If I do not write them down they begin to be my inner story. Characters will grow and soon I am in a fantasy land of silks and birds.

December seems to be the magical month. I create special foods and listen to special music. I want to spend time with those I love. I want to create a magical time so my memories of Christmas are sweet and joyful. I make lists of things to do. I make lists of
ideas for next year.

I find that I am similar to Sei Shonagon. We both have lists. I have a list of lists.

Do you take a break from the December frenzy and read? I need at least five minutes every day of the written word. I need about five minutes everyday to update my lists.

The Pillow Book

I began reading "The Pillow Book"
not knowing what to expect.

I immediately was impressed.
This translation by Meredith McKinney gives a nice short background into the Heian period of Japanese history. She also gives us a short history of Sei Shonagon.

I am using the journal my daughter gave me as a place to begin my lists, my insights, my opinions and my anecdotes.
Reading Sei Shonagon has opened my eyes even wider to the natural world.

I also love the descriptions of the clothing.

She talks of silks and brocades.

She tells about the different colored inner layers.

Now that I am in winter clothes I have begun to layer.

I am thinking about bringing color to these layers.

I ordered silk long underwear.

October 6 through 10

wild geese come as guests

I am waiting for "Pillow Book" to arrive.
I went back to "East Wind Melts The Ice".

When I reread this week's entry I was moved.
Liza Dalby does not use emotionally charged language, yet her experience with a Monarch butterfly moved me to tears.
I had considered bringing in a Tiger Swallowtail for the winter. I thought it would be nice to have a butterfly in my house when the snow was falling outside. I had rationalized how I would be extending the butterfly's life.
Bringing a butterfly into the house was all about me and not about the butterfly.

I have been watching the Monarchs. In my gardens many are just emerging from their cocoons. They are deeply colored and appear to be made of velvet. They are hungry too and will feed in the zinnias for hours. After a couple of days of feeding they take off.
I have watched the Monarchs fly over parking lots and highways as I go about on errands. Once in awhile a faded traveler will be in the zinnias. These Monarchs are faded and pale in color and some what tattered. I wonder how far the Monarch has come and far will he be able to go. The Autumn migration of the Monarch butterfly is amazing.

I have decided not to bring butterflies into the house. If I want to see butterflies in January I can travel to where they are.

Walled up and closed

I am almost finished reading
East Wind Melts The Ice.
I have enjoyed each essay and the way this almanac has changed me.
This essay is for December 1 through 5. It would winter.

The full force of summer is at my house. The temperatures are flirting with triple digits. The humidity is high. The night time lows are in the 8o's. It is hot.

Liza Dalby writes about citrus in this essay. I happen to have a Kumquat tree. It grows in a large pot on the deck until the danger of frost. My husband will then carry it into the living room for winter. It is an old tree, a large tree. It blooms and sets fruit and come January the fruit will be ripe inside the house. Last summer we had 6 inches of rain in two days. The Kumquat tree drowned. It lost half of its leaves. Yet still the fruit set and ripened. I let some of the fruit rot and go to seed. I planted the seeds in the pot and they sprouted. This summer the seedlings have grown tall and they bloomed. The little trees are producing tiny green fruit. They are blooming again
in the heat. I had thought I would let the Kumquat go. The living room is small and taking care of the tree all winter is time consuming. After reading her essay I decided the Kumquat can come in again this year. I will move out a chair. I will transplant the seedlings and have many Kumquat trees. I will have a grove some day in the living room in the winter.

I am saving the last few essays for September.
I will be on holiday until than.

Surprise Lilies

August 6 through 10

In my gardens I call the passionate pink lilies that seemingly shoot up and bloom over night, "Surprise Lilies". Liza Dalby knows them as Naked Ladies. Also called "Belladonna lilies, Resurrection lilies, Joker lilies" and I am sure if I sought out all the regional names there would be many.
Lycoris squamigera is their botanical name.

I have always thought of the Surprise Lily as an August flower. They shoot up when it is hot and dry in my gardens. I was very surprised this year to see them in bloom the second week of July.
Dalby writes of the equinox flower.
I do not know anything about this cousin of the Surprise Lily.

So often when I read an essay I am inspired to learn more. I do research.
Thank goodness for the internet.

I keep a little note pad near by when I am reading this book. I write myself little reminders and write down the inspirations that come while reading.

I have noticed Dalby mentions "Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon" often. I looked in the index and counted eight times she has referred to this classic.
I have never read it.

I did a bit of research and found a new translation is being published by Penguin Classics. It's release date is October, 2007. I want to read this book.
My daughter told me it is often used as a jumping off point for writing exercises.
That sounds fun.

I would like to begin this "Pillow Book" in November. Our book two. I think it also will be a book that inspires. It inspired Liza Dalby.

What do think?