Story Hour

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I went to have a haircut/trim at this beauty salon close to my house. I had the boys with me, and since it was going to be a simple haircut, I was hoping we would be done soon. I had few errands to run before picking up Gillian. Normally, a simple haircut takes 30 minutes, but not this one. My hairdresser spent about an hour cutting and trimming and whatever else she did to my hair. I wasn't concerned about the hair, more than my time. Within that hour, I learned her life story, her relationship with her parents and in-laws, about her brothers' many marriages and about their wives and children. Then, we moved on to her kids and grandkids, her husband (the only one she didn't say anything bad about), his sisters and their husbands and kids, and ... you get the idea. I honestly thought I had spent an hour watching some soap opera. During all this, I hardly said anything. And I'm not usually the quiet one. At first, I was trying to be polite, then I was astonished at how much she was telling me, and later on I had no choice but to let her talk. This was very peculiar, because when I think of hairdressers I envision these women whose business is to make you comfortable, and let you talk while they do their job. I guess she was tired of doing that and wanted to change places for once. I did use my (very scarce) evil streak for one little thing. Before I left, I asked her what her name was, pretending I had liked her and wanted to come back to her again, when in truth I wanted her name so I would never have her cut my hair again. I know it wasn't nice, and I felt a little guilty later on for pretending. Maybe she needed someone to talk to and I was that person for that hour, but I just didn't want to be her therapist again while having a haircut.

Today it was a glorious day, not because of the weather, which was wet and chili, but because I was able to read for about three hours non stop. While Charlton was taking a four hour nap, I cleaned up the house very quickly (I had done most of it the night before), read to the boys for 30 minutes, fed them lunch, and then let them do their own things. They played with blocks and legos, read books on their own, and played on the computer (it is their computer day on Tuesday). I read, and didn't feel a bit guilty. I had my fire going in my fireplace, sat on my comfortable chair and enjoyed doing my favorite thing -reading. Don't you love those moments! I was proof reading these books for Gillian, and I was really enjoying them very much. I was quite impressed with the authors. These were books for middle school or junior high, and the plot was simple with few characters. However, the language in both books was beautiful. I have read many contemporary adult books and they don't come near to the poetic language of these books. I was glad to see that there are some authors out there that take writing to younger audiences very seriously. The books that I read today are "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit, and "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli. Here are some gems from both books:

• "The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses its turning."
  - Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting, Prologue
  
  
• "And that would have been a disaster so immense that this weary old earth, owned or not to its fiery core, would have trembled on its axis like a beetle on a pin."
  - Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting, Ch. 1

• "For, through the twilight sounds of crickets and sighing trees, a faint, surprising wisp of music came floating to them and all three turned toward it, toward the wood."- Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting, Ch. 4
  
  
• "There was a clearing directly in front of her, at the center of which an enormous tree thrust up, its thick roots rumpling the ground ten feed around in every direction."
  - Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

• "The blanket was there, but it was the boy's embrace that covered and warmed him." Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee

• "Amanda took the torn page from Maniac. To her, it was the broken wing of a bird, a pet out in the rain."Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee

• "During the night, March doubled back and grabbed April by the scruff of the neck and flung it another week or two down the road." Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee

• "For most of November, winter toyed with Two Mills, whispered in its ear, tickled it under the chin. On Thanksgiving Thursday, winter kicked it in the stomach." Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee.

They were really good books, pleasant and quick to read, not more than 200 pages each, and each had great lessons to learn.


Today, Jefferson was looking forward to building his own clock with dad (he had given up on mom few hours earlier). I felt bad for Elijah, because here he was short on time (he was trying to get ready to go out with the missionaries) and still sat down and build the clock with Jefferson. I compensated by playing a game of chess with him later on and reading to all of them for about 45 minutes before bed time. We were reading a fun book tonight titled "My Father's Dragon." Have you guys read it to your kids? We all loved it. Well, anyways, enough with books. Have a great day!