Florida 2021 - Part Three

The Sea!

How many books can you think of where the sea is included in a positive way? Try taking one minute and typing any that come to mind! 

Here are my one-minute results. (It looks like authors carry certain themes throughout their writing, and my mind got stuck in a rut under the pressure of a time-limit!)

Little Women and Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott
Nobody, Queechy and Diana by Susan Warner

After the minute was up, another favorite came to mind: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

"With her head in Jo's lap...
the wind blew healthfully over her."

Here are photos from some of our healthful visits to the Atlantic Ocean this winter.

There is Truth in It

 

"'I don't understand it. What can there be in a simple little story like that, to make people praise it so?' she said, quite bewildered.

"'There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret; humor and pathos make it alive, and you have found your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame or money, and put your heart into it, my daughter...'

"So, taught by love and sorrow, Jo wrote her little stories, and sent them away to make friends for themselves and her, finding it a very charitable world to such humble wanderers; for they were kindly welcomed..."

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

No, I have not seen the new film adaptation of this now-classic story. Rather, after seeing the focus on actor/actress worship among its fans, I recently needed a dose of the real thing to get the "taste out of my mouth." 

The dramatic reading (version 3) free audiobook on Librivox.org was once again a breath of fresh air! 

Elsa and I find ourselves coming back and back to the gentle stories of Louisa May Alcott in times of adrenal fatigue. What makes them so special? I think the above conversation between Jo and her father says it well.

"There is truth in it..."

Jack and Jill

 

As the snow falls again (and we saw some great sledding hills among the Mississippi River bluffs!), my mind turns to one of my very favorite books for children/youth: a lesser-known story by Louisa May Alcott (of Little Women fame).

Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

Don't worry, it's not a cheesy spin-off of a nursery rhyme! Neither does its subtitle of "A Village Story" give a clear idea. But on second thought, I guess this story is much broader in range of characters than, say, Little Women.

Readers of Jack and Jill come to know and love a whole group of friends among the girls and boys of the village, some crossing into the decisions of young adulthood and others still full of pranks. We dig into the lives, joys, and challenges of several different girls while also having whole chapters dedicated to the boys' doings and plenty more where they learn and play side by side.

Life is not all fun and games as the story begins with a sledding catastrophe! Various challenging, yet sweet, lessons are learned through the following year. But the tone never stays too heavy, and you'll laugh at the many jokes and lively personalities, root for your favorite friends, and enjoy the unfolding of a variety of characters - all in Louisa May Alcott's warm-hearted style.

Plus, if you're a Charlotte Mason follower, you'll love the main mother-character of this book and her unconventional way of guiding and schooling Frank, Jack, and their friend Jill.

It's a loose connection, but the opening of this book also brings back memories of my own.

I also had a sledding accident in my senior year of high-school on one of the few hills in our area. Eye-socket made violent contact with cousin's hip-bone, resulting in a trip to the ER, a concussion, and nearly complete double vision that lasted for days (or was it weeks?) and lingers 20 years later if I look far up or left. Many of my senior pictures that winter had a squint, and the left side of my face remains a sort of built-in barometer... aching and getting a dry eye as the result of various triggers.

Amusingly, that was only one of several accidents that year... all involving outdoor, winter activities such as downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. But I'd do it all again if I had the strength!

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Prisoners at Home, Part 2

A few years ago, I re-read a favorite book from my youth: Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott. Parts of it had more meaning than ever before as I understood what it was like for "Jill" to be bed-ridden and cut off from her previous life of activity.

The following song in the book caught my eye, so I snapped a photo which recently resurfaced.

A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air,

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there:

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

Because, my God, it pleases Thee!

Naught have I else to do;

I sing the whole day long;

And He whom most I love to please

Doth listen to my song;

He caught and bound my wandering wing,

But still He bends to hear me sing.