Happy Sunday! Here are some great reads to round out your weekend.
Family:
I really appreciated the discussion on Holly's blog about photographs, and what it means to hold something in your hands, vs. keeping it on a computer, having it floating around in the cyber universe, instead of right here in front of me. I was really inspired to think about making books for Amelia of all that we've been recording here-- for her to hold and keep.
Vicarious Travel:
It's just a little late, but SO worth the time travel to go back and see Nat's pictures of a Franconian Easter tradition: hundreds of really beautiful hand-painted eggs covering fountains and statues!
Food and Travel:
I loved Melissa's account of her trip to cooking school in Sicily-- the landscapes are gorgeous, as is the food. I want to go!
Expat Life:
This post struck such a deep chord inside me-- Marilyn finally gave me a word to describe the sense of loss and longing that comes with being a third culture kid (someone who grew up between countries.)
I will be re-reading it a few times, because it is rare that someone can describe my own experience so clearly, and it helps me to understand it better myself.
Laura very articulately identified the differences in historical contexts between England and the USA-- it's a really good, short read about something that makes life here feel really different!
Country Life:
Get your farm animal fix-- Amanda shares the joys of rambunctious baby lambs exploring the pasture for the first time.
We are taking a very impulsive little trip across the English Channel this weekend, for a little visit to a coastal town in France. There will be lots of driving, but hopefully plenty of eating and exploring to balance things out! Can't wait to share with you...
In the meantime, will you share the best thing you read this week with us?
Family:
I really appreciated the discussion on Holly's blog about photographs, and what it means to hold something in your hands, vs. keeping it on a computer, having it floating around in the cyber universe, instead of right here in front of me. I was really inspired to think about making books for Amelia of all that we've been recording here-- for her to hold and keep.
Vicarious Travel:
It's just a little late, but SO worth the time travel to go back and see Nat's pictures of a Franconian Easter tradition: hundreds of really beautiful hand-painted eggs covering fountains and statues!
Food and Travel:
I loved Melissa's account of her trip to cooking school in Sicily-- the landscapes are gorgeous, as is the food. I want to go!
Expat Life:
This post struck such a deep chord inside me-- Marilyn finally gave me a word to describe the sense of loss and longing that comes with being a third culture kid (someone who grew up between countries.)
I will be re-reading it a few times, because it is rare that someone can describe my own experience so clearly, and it helps me to understand it better myself.
Laura very articulately identified the differences in historical contexts between England and the USA-- it's a really good, short read about something that makes life here feel really different!
Country Life:
Get your farm animal fix-- Amanda shares the joys of rambunctious baby lambs exploring the pasture for the first time.
We are taking a very impulsive little trip across the English Channel this weekend, for a little visit to a coastal town in France. There will be lots of driving, but hopefully plenty of eating and exploring to balance things out! Can't wait to share with you...
In the meantime, will you share the best thing you read this week with us?
Huge thanks for the lovely shout out! Hope you had a great weekend across the pond!
ReplyDeleteOh, we did have a great weekend, thanks! And I am so glad to have such a meaningful post to share this week-- thank YOU!
DeleteThis is a very worthy exercise - kudos!
ReplyDeleteYou've kind of caught me on the spot and I can't think of a post I'd like to share just now but I loved all your recommendations, esp. 'Saudade' (what a lovely word, it even sounds right!) so I'm forwarding a link to your post to all my mates instead!
Thank you so much, icyHighs! I'm glad one of the posts spoke to you.
DeleteSaudade... Yes, we all feel it in our house!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ariana for sharing, and thank you too Marilyn for describing it so well.
Glad you could connect with this word, Monika. Somehow it's comforting to have a deep feeling identified in a word, isn't it? It hurts more at first, but is also healing...
DeleteAlso, wishing comfort for your family...
DeleteI, too, really valued the Saudade post. I chose to move to England, but only ever thought I'd be here two years. When I met my husband and stayed, I feel like I never really got closure on letting go of what I always *thought* my life was going to be in America. Still trying to do that. Perhaps I always will be. The post helped.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad to hear the post helped. It's not always easy to articulate these kinds of things, or to find others that can even understand. Marilyn made a good point that people can be kind of impatient with our sense of loss and disorientation, since they have never felt anything like it, and it just doesn't compute.
DeleteThanks for that, wish we’d overlapped in Deutschland!
ReplyDeleteSure! I really enjoyed the post, and am glad you got great pictures of those really cool decorations!
DeleteI read the piece about saudade. I have felt that longing for place after returning home and catching a whiff of something that reminds me of my life in India, for example (even though my life there was only a year, not an entire childhood). I have felt it acutely in many places around the world. It became a "placesickness" as opposed to a homesickness. I was placesick for my temporary life in another country, not for my home where I grew up. Nice to have a word for it.
ReplyDeleteElie, I definitely think that saudade can apply to other lives we have lived in our adulthood, as well. I like your word "placesickness." We still feel that for Germany, even though we have been in England longer...
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