The Seasons of the Robin

We have a playhouse in the backyard, built by my brother-in-law and husband one summer week years ago. We built it two stories tall, the ground floor is our shed and the second floor has a balcony that all the kids like to stand on and look over the world from. It also has a swing attached to one edge of the balcony's base and while possibly a danger (of swinging into the corner of the playhouse and losing a limb), it is my girls' favorite place to fight over all year round. Nearly every day in the summer and many times during the school year my youngest two run in the house from school and lace up their Nike'sand the race is on out to the swing. I am not proud to say that I usually try to pretend I have no idea what is going on because I SAID YOU ALL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SHARE!

Anyway, the fighting over the swing came to a screeching halt a few weeks ago when a male robin began making swooping menacing dives at whoever was on the swing. The dive bombing was particularly effective in ridding the swing of its little girl. An unfortunate side effect though, was that now my children think robins are scary predators. Instead of the welcomed harbinger of spring, they run and screech when they see the flash of orange. The male robin was just protecting the nest of bright blue eggs that he and his wife robin had built under one of the beams of the balcony.

I had a friend from kindergarten (33 years ago!) whose house I saw the inside of more often than my own for quite

a few summers growing up. Her dad wrote for a living. And at age 8, I only had a vague notion that it was something about birds. Last Christmas, when I saw her, she mentioned that her dad had recently written a book, The Seasons of the Robin by Don Grussing (it can be ordered on Amazon). I had picked it up and have been reading it off and on this spring (as a nice diversion from a big project I am working on). I have had the lovely opportunity to read about the world from a robin's point of view. Looking for the male and female robin as they go about their day with a nest that is now full of hungry growing birds, I have come to appreciate their territory and their yearly goal of raising a new set of robins to fill the morning and evening with song. This world is really full of amazing things big and small. Often, I am stunned at how little I notice yet how much beauty is just waiting to be had.

I feel especially proud to know the man who wrote this book.

Of course, I would love to have you read it, too.

Why not open your eyes a little more to the little things flitting around you?

Reading List

Here is the list of books I have read recently that I would recommend. I may write more about them later, but let's be honest, probably not. But, then again, maybe I will.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. This is a fun mystery about a 12 year old sleuth and her harrowing experiences trying to figure out who killed the man they found in their garden and why her dad is so secretive. Good beach read.

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. Gripping and eye opening true story of Pat Tillman's tragic death in the mountains of Afghanistan. Well written, shocking, and a book you will wish you could find someone else to talk about with.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. I was in Savannah, Georgia with a dear friend last August and every store was selling this book. Was this made into a movie?? Not sure, but I LOVED this book. It is a true crime novel with twists and turns, voodoo, zany characters, good intentions and a gripping story. Read it!

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Hmmmm. This is essentially the story of long (super long) distance running in America, a tribe in Mexico who run 100 mile races for fun, and of the history of long distance running around the world. It also is an attempt to take down the $200 running shoe industry and make you, to your own shock and amazement, surprisingly consider running barefoot. Need I say more?

Bossypants by Tina Fey. I was intrigued to read this book because of the media blitz that has recently surrounded Tina. I saw her on David Letterman, heard a podcast with her on NPR and saw the book everywhere. The book is a collection of essays, poorly written, but somewhat interesting. I saw some reviews that said the book was hilarious. I didn't find it to be hilarious, that would be a stretch, but I did think it revealed a character in Tina Fey that is just as conflicted as the rest of us, that second guesses herself, tries to justify her role in this world and is just a regular human being. For all of that, I really liked the book.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Having recently spent some time in Paris, I was curious about this book as I walked by it one day at Target. Then, a friend also recommended it to me when I was desperately looking for a good book to read. Based on the true story of the Jewish relocation and their eventual annihilation that occured in Paris (which is not a history Paris would like to remember), it is a fictional account of one modern day journalist and one little girl's victimized family. Her story is soul stirring and agonizing. The writing bounces between the journalist's modern day investigation and the unfolding of Sarah's story. I found the modern part of the story awkward and a little boring, but Sarah's story was riveting. This would be a great book club book.

That's all for now.