The Eruption~
This is a creation based on Van Gogh’s style and O’Keefe’s shapes. Can you find the hidden shapes and what they represent as you view this?
A Wonderful Spot
A place of solitude and peace,
Accustomed to living alone,
Making adjustments to
Life in the city,
When I miss the solitary aspects
Of the country and the farm,
Here, I put my things into
Perspective while viewing
The new growth,
Missing the countryside scenes,
It always, clears my head here
As I piece together thoughts of
Distant memories and scenic
Sights of slow streams
And green fields of spring,
This clearer view on days of
New seasons and anew
Are especially wonderful
And carefree to me,
With streets wet here and
The starlight filtering to them,
As clouds pass and reveal
More sparkling specks,
Illuminate this and I exhale
And gaze into the sky of
Midnight blues, the breath of
This city, pausing with a moment
Of silence and purpose,
Circumstances brought me back,
To this place of noise and pulses of
Smells and nights of interruptions,
Not of my own making but here
To a cityscape of lights and active
Views, where the world is wound
Around activity and flow of traffic
That causes me to see no peace
At times, it is a reveler that drifts
To distant places where a light
Breeze can be the rather to lessen
The smoke and stink here, a bitter
Taste of city life that spreads so far
And wide leaning into the woods
And fields of yesteryear and taking
More away from a wonderful spot
Of magic and silence in the green
Forest of nature. –J. E. Cook 2024
The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This third book in her series about spinners is amazing and hard to put down!
I truly became hooked near the end and I could not stop reading!
Found things, lies, and promises all mingling together along with the friendships. I will miss the characters of the manor and the relationships formed as the wedding takes place. The villain I will not miss and his end was quite well done by the writer! Suspense adds to his end and the book is safe with Liam appearing with it.
Evie still being missing after the death of the husband and the widow missing her sister. The events unfolding to the part where Liam becomes the lead of the next book, all of it, is too much for me not to read on with the next book!
This mystery spin of the where and why and play of events has the reader seeking the next book to see him home where he can work on his vehicles. A place where he belongs and is comfortable. Liam is missed by his village. When will he return and how? The call to spin must be answered.
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Pleasant Moments
Splendid feathers float
In the waters,
Timbered old buildings
In the distance,
Summer flowers nearby,
Gentle moving water,
The old metal railings
Of the bridge above,
It is a shallow stream
That moves slow,
A broad sweep
Of the meadow can be seen,
As the cattle roam,
And easing current
Comes close to their land,
Clear and the surface
Waving as the stock of tiny
Fish float by, clusters of rocks,
A chalk-colored bank,
Slate broken, cattail and reeds,
Charmed trees, the underwater
Creatures becoming overlapped
And browsing mermaids under the
Sea of floating petals and peaceful
Parting waters that move over the
Stacked stones and broke sticks
Slender in clusters making dams,
The surface is scratched by them,
Soon to be vaguely moving and hedged
Up, as the rain comes down to clear it. –J. E. Cook ©2023
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I cherished this story. The spell of this writing kept me turning the pages! I could not put the book down and yet, I wanted it to go on forever. Thea is a character that is unforgettable.
I am on page 118 now,
As I read on, the sadness is conveyed more by the reading of the letter from her father. The letter shows how much her family is their own little bubble and how they have forgotten about her. Thea’s only support is having her friends at school like Sissy. Then, there is Decca during the holiday break. Thea truly misses Sam, her twin. Decca takes Thea’s hand and leads her to the head table–an endearing moment.
Learning that she was not going home for the holiday, crushed Thea and she became angry at her family it was a reaction that I can relate to and feel her emotions.
Rumors. As I read, the thoughts inside Thea’s head made me think about how she is being affected by her situation. Those true thoughts come to the reader, she notes the pain of others and how they react to it. Leona is someone she thinks about and is always noticed by her when she enters a room or a space. Rumors surround Leona’s family and also surrounding Mr. Holmes. Thea begins to hate her family for her situation. The Holmes girls have given her a meaning there. They transform Thea and she suddenly feels needed. “Children were careless and unpredictable, …but that was the fun of them.” (p.111) Rachel asks about snakes and alligators. Thea thinks about domestic arts.
Rachel is a sensitive child who is corrected by her stern mother. She breaks easily and is emotional. Mr. Holmes explains this to the others. After the dinner is over, Leona approaches Thea for a night ride. This builds excitement inside Thea. Leona and Thea share a love for horses. The writer conveys this well during their night ride. Leona reveals her thoughts to Thea. “I could do this forever, was how I felt, and what else is there to say about galloping?” This statement conveys the true way riders feel about their love for riding! her mother and she shared this passion.
Thea writes her twin, “You can’t know how lonely I am sometimes.” this is the first time she has written to Sam. She wished to give him a gift like a book but did not for their birthday. She was grateful. Her love for books like the ones that were like her life. Then, there was bliss!
Gentle horses and fierce ponies. She continued to teach the Holmes girls to ride and care for these animals.
Then, there was Jettie and her perspectives on life.
The snow arrived, contemplative. Thea wanted to be with the Holmes family for the holiday. The coat is not enough. Stuffed away.
Evergreens, riding again, the coldness of the second month of winter, and Thea is still teaching until they leave with their mother. The Holmes girls are gone and Thea is with Sissy and Boone.
I got to page 216, where Mother tells her son that since Thea is a girl, she doesn’t matter! Here, the mother’s real soul is revealed–that dark, impersonal type that thinks she is better than others, not just different. Georgie has taken Thea’s budding girlhood, and he plucked her innocence from her. Her Mother is blindsided but not capable of forgiving Thea. Mother makes the decisions in this family and calls the shots.
Then, that same Mother character hurts her daughter more by sending a damned letter to her daughter revealing that they sold the family home in her absence. How could she be any crueler? Where did Sasi go? Her beloved pony. Questions that were so painful to Thea’s soul.
Technically Flawless –not a bad thing at all. However, someone’s character is not looking good to her now, but she still wants him.
She is thinking about “slinked” and it does not sit well with her. Nasty thoughts. Happy is what she wants and her mother has rubbed her the wrong way. Distracted by all the things bothering her. Thea wants some peace.
I experience a shift in the writing, where the author tends to tell instead of show. Thea is telling it, via her memories and experiences she recalls.
Henry Holmes is mentioned as the one to Crédit for her continued life with her family. He made her understand her situation with her family. Sam stayed and she left. Sam continued to stay with their family in a sheltered life where he belonged because of how they raised him.
Horses were her life. Thea felt deeply and her passions were always her joy. “…my life is mine.”p.386 Thea claimed it, she chose to live as she wanted.
Thea believed that being a twin has some downfalls and that Georgie would have lived if Sam wasn’t her other half. Sam follows his father’s footsteps and he no longer visits the natural world but stays inside. Her wants were dangerous. “Woe be to you, Thea.” p.386 Destruction, no matter.
“We have no say in who we love.” p. 387 life happens. Selfish or not. Sam never left. Georgie’s first love was his last. Lives twist and turn. Theodora and Naari would remain on the wall to remind others that she was there at the school she left behind. A photo of what she accomplished with a horse.
1931, she became a tradition like Leona on that wall. Her photo in the Castle. Just her on a horse, like the other girls.
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The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I think this is my favorite novel by Hoffman!
A magical journey back and forth in time.
A daring girl with a dream and a passion to conquer an evil man who took her mother. To believe in magic and the secret, invisible gateway to love and the writer.
Beautiful scenes with touches of love, a grateful heart, and a loyal journey to succeed. Mia is strong and committed to her path to complete her quest.
Friendships become important in so many ways to Mia. She is secretive and private. Her dreams always carry her on. The library is her saving grace.
A story of love and growth where being immersed in water can create a bond of love. Hawthorne in her mind as Mia discovers her love for books and the writer. Mothers, daughters, and sisters are rich in character in this storyline. History mixed in, fates created, as the celebration of love and joy are magical realism to believe in the impossible.
Freedom is cherished. Redeeming the love and power inside books. Mia is a daring, female character that carries on and controls her fate.
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I loved reading about Georgia, the artist, and her life events.
Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe by Dawn Tripp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved reading about Georgia. The Evening Star and how marriage is a very long thing.
“Those gorgeous German boys in their smart uniforms, …” (p.79. )
On to Part Two, …
As I turn pages, I want to read it all at once!
O’Keeffe comes to life in this novel. Beauty in the words of an artist’s life, vision, and artwork. Sensual scenes between lovers, artists, and the world they create together. Amazing in the subtle moments, the inner thoughts of Georgia, and how she deeply feels about her subjects. The artist is cranky and richly charged, and she is fascinating to read about and learn how she creates scenes on the canvas. Tripp’s novel has such lively details about the relationships of artists, poets, and writers and how they mesh together to become known and often compete to be popular.
The struggles of O’Keeffe and her family and her relationships are necessary to her art. The artist becomes a female leader in a world of men, even though, she does not think of it in this manner.
The lush images of her flowers, the bold lines of her buildings, and her essence for nature are apparent via her art.
When Georgia feels her relationship with Albert failing and her marriage falling apart, she creates another location where she finds herself and has peace in a land where the desert and force of nature surround her.
“…I will see my invitation as strange, …” Jean enters. She has visitors again. At the Lake, she hangs the Picasso drawing. Lake George, the typewriter echoes, and Georgia feels better.
Toomer enters her life, when she needs a caregiver and close friend. He carries her on and heals her. They share a charge for life and also know what loss can do to their souls. The scenes in the house between them are beautiful and so touching at that point in her life. I wanted to know more about their connection and relationship. This comes toward the end of the novel and I couldn’t stop reading it at this point.
It is unexpectedly nice to have someone to help out. She teases Jean. The cold moves in and the lake freezes. Frozen pipes, bitter cold, and the need to shovel. Jean Toomer is useful and he listens to music with her. They talk about art, politics, race issues, writing, and his wife. They share meals and reflect on life together. This relationship is beautiful. New Mexico and the small village there are things she shares with Jean. The hills and the earth she loves to paint. “That dust is different from the dust of any other place.” She asks Toomer to stay longer at the Lake.
“After”
The Ghost Ranch and the second house. The adobe smoothed by the locals, the garden, and the old stables come to her as a lovely setting. They are hers. Tomato jelly, cliffs, and the silence draw her to it. There is a quiet joy. Albert asks her to stay longer in New York with him. She refuses.
Georgia takes control of the gallery, and the rent fund, and tells Dorothy Norman to remove her things. She is disgusted with her and wants her gone.
In the fall, she is in New Mexico, and the mountain calls to her. She paints it, the snow, and the red hills. The blue wash of the sky and the river valley and her brush. A black bird flying…”I loved you once.” her thoughts fly by.
Now,
The American West, reclusive, and self-reliant, she chooses the desert. Mystery all around her. She walks with her dogs and has coffee and she is the Pioneer Painter. The tables in her studio are covered with her art. Enthralled with the zine of the land. Fierce woman on the cover of Life magazine. A legend that works in watercolors, oils, and charcoal.
Juan enters her life. Another truly amazing turn of events. He is good to her. A flirt and young man who understands her soul.
Ray comes to visit. Her sister’s grandson. He has a legal case in the area and joins her for the weekend. Georgia shows him her house, talks to him about her life there, and leads him to her tree. The tamarisk tree that she watches. Ray sees the gleaming shape of the Porter rock!
The rock was a beautiful story by itself. “See that was the not-true part. The Porters invited me for supper, and I stole it.”–I laughed, here! So, Georgia! Did Albert, laugh too–from above? He would admire this about her.
Stieglitz was perhaps hers but not totally. She knew this, and it became a thorn in her side.
The Sea is Vast~
Salt air all around,
Coldness,
A fireplace with Birch snapping,
The beautiful night skies
Of forever scenes,
Boardwalks over the cranberry bogs,
Standing at the water’s edge of wet
Shallows and odd bits of seaweed over
Rocks, looking for shells,
Tumbling in the sea,
Simple forms of circles,
Studies of water patterns,
I think of him,
My heart kicks with memory,
Remembering odds and ends,
Walks together,
Along the road,
A house of lonely feelings.
Missing you,
In the kitchen,
On a cushion,
The room filled with the scent
Of roses,
A heady scent of love,
A beautiful ache for you,
I feel you,
Inside my soul,
Moving there,
that scene of us,
Missing it,
Wanting you,
Sometimes, I have a clear
Sense of him,
That i can’t trade for anything
In this world. It is raw and the quiet
Remembers it, waiting for more as the grass
Rustles around the water so near,
That quiet stillness of memories buried deep
Inside me, coming the surface to release,
You are inside me!–J. E. Cook © 2023
~Writing~
Finding words,
Over time,
They change, grow,
Fly, and become a voice
Inside my head,
Words.
Take unexpected paths
And detours, are a constant
Echo inside me,
Searching to become a story
Or poetry,
Limitations are there,
Iterations waiting to step in,
Spaces in the years of growing,
Where I watch, listen, and learn.
Conversations remembered and
Awaiting, with characters plotting,
Voices change and become silent,
Points in the universe,
Gazing to the future of untold stories.–J. E. Cook ©2023
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Clearly, a magical force inside the tale shared between two sisters!
“Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.”–Mary Olivier.
The river often carries this story on.
A story of sisterly bonds, and enchanting land, and it has a mystical landscape. A source of power and complexity to travel on and reach a destination. The children are sent off to be safe from the bombings. Sent to the country, overseas, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and America.
Whisperwood is a place created to feel safe and to have an escape. Hazel tells the story of this place that she created to help her sister cope with the situation they are in as the world becomes a different place that they do not recognize as their home. The fairy-tale land is their secret.
Operation Pied Piper, children are sent away to protect them. Parents are sent postcards from their new location.
As I read this, I admire the character, Wren, and how he is taking charge of Peggy. He tells her that she should go on a “real” adventure with him instead of her imaginary ones. I feel the story taking off here with these two characters.
Hazel is looking far and wide for her lost sister, and she finds her story inside a book by Peggy. Peggy is secretive and unresponsive to Hazel’s requests until Wren is included. Dot is there all along but Hazel avoids her.
Through the magical world, the Shrine of the church, the gardens of London, and booksellers, Hazel seeks her lost sister and she also keeps Harry in her thoughts. The enduring magic of storytelling keeps the memories alive. The twist of her sister’s fate is revealed after all the changes happen in Hazel’s life. Bridie and Harry become major characters in Hazel’s search along with the detective from her past and the nurses of the wartime.
I enjoyed this novel about history, World War II, and how a fairytale can ease the pains of children in a stressful time. It is beautifully written.
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