Chapter 507 ‘Tis the Season

Sorry I haven’t written the post I promised earlier this week — the one on gifts for the bookish. It’s coming. I promise.

Why is it delayed yet again?

Basketball practice, football practice, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, a school science fair project, and Christmas preparation. ‘Tis the season, I guess. Today was a busy and crazy day, and I’ll admit it had me a bit frazzled.

Instead of letting me mope about and write a blog post this evening, Thoughtful Husband, Tom, and Huck surprised me by taking me out after dinner to select a Christmas tree. Here it is:

Back with that post about gifts soon!

Chapter 506 Thanksgiving Sojourn

I’m back from my usual Thanksgiving sojourn to the home of Thoughtful Husband’s sister and her family.

Thanksgiving was delicious.

We had turkey:

We had football:

We spent time together:

And we welcomed a brand new member of our extended family:

This is my new great-niece, the daughter of one of Thoughtful Husband’s nephews. That’s right! I am a great-aunt. All weekend, Huck kept asking me (in all seriousness) whether being a great-aunt meant I was a grandma. Sweet, but I’m nowhere near ready to be a grandma just yet. That’s me holding the darling little one and Thoughtful Husband’s mom playing with her. Since Tom and Huck are now big boys of 9 and 11, I loved holding her and feeding her and playing with her. It’s been ages since I spent a lot of time with a baby.

Today I got the added bonus of hearing that my youngest brother and his wife will travel from southern California to join us for Christmas Eve with their brand new baby girl, another niece! I can’t wait to meet her in person.

It was truly a wonderful weekend, one for which I am very thankful, and I hope your weekend was, too. Now that we are into the busy Christmas season (busy with books, baking — one of my favorite holiday hobbies, and party planning), blogging is likely to be a little light. I plan on returning a little later this week with a list of holiday gift ideas for the bookish.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 505 Thanks!

I’m sorry for the sporadic blog posts this week. Tom has had a lot of homework that he needs to type and I find that my son has commandeered my computer in the evenings this week, which significantly diminished the time I have to write a blog post. Now that I’m finally able to use my computer again, it’s to tell you that I’ll be taking a blogging break (sigh!) so I can focus on celebrating Thanksgiving with family. I’ll be back to regular posting again next Tuesday. In the meantime, a new bookish blog by one of my favorite booksellers is worth the time to read: the Between the Covers Blog Enjoy!

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner and as I approach the end of my third (!) year in business, I find I am thankful for many things. In no particular order of importance, they are:

1) I am still in business after three years.

2) I managed to sell books at four fairs this year.

3) I was able to use a scholarship to attend Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

4) I was able to take Terry Belanger’s course Book Illustration Processes to 1900. I highly recommend it to any of you thinking of attending Rare Book School.

5) I had my first successful quote to a library for an important book. I promise I will tell you the story behind this. I need more hours in the day to do so!

6) I was able to contribute occasionally to the Fine Books and Collections blog.

7) I was invited to work on a top-secret (but I hope not for too much longer) Dante project.

8 ) I met new customers, new booksellers, and new blog readers and I had fun with customers, booksellers, and blog readers I’ve known for the past three years. I’m also especially thankful for those booksellers I know who have been willing to mentor, to critique and to praise, and to share advice.

9) I advertised my business in print for the first time.

10) I joined the Book Club of California, a great group of bibliophiles.

This year has had its peaks and valleys, and while I’ve mentioned the peaks here, the valleys haunt me. I still haven’t mailed the Dante catalogue. A book was stolen from me at a book fair this year, which was really disheartening. I still need more time each day to really optimize the business I’ve been able to cultivate, but I don’t (and won’t soon) have that extra time. There were some personal challenges along the way as well, but overall it’s been a great year and it has reinforced my love for selling antiquarian books. That’s in no small part due to you, kind readers. Thank you taking the time to read the blog of a beginning bookseller, for celebrating my triumphs, and for helping me to have a sense of humor about my failures. I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

And now, a poem about pumpkin pie, one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods:

The Pumpkin
Verses 3-5
(John Greenleaf Whittier)

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest;
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored;
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before;
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!
When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,
Our chair a broad pumpkin,—our lantern the moon,
Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam
In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!

Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better
E’er smoked from an oven or circled a platter!
Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine,
Brighter eyes never watched o’er its baking, than thine!
And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,
Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,
That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,
And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,
And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky
Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!

Chapter 504 QB

I don’t know if I’ve written about it before, but I’m not much of a sports fan. I’ve just never been very interested in watching sports. As a kid, I played a few sports — soccer, basketball, and softball — but I wasn’t very good. Once, when playing 5th grade basketball, I actually scored a basket — in the other team’s basket. I have yet to live it down. Sports, it seemed, just weren’t for me. By the time I reached high school, I had migrated to activities like dance (insert “jazz hands” here) and editing the school literary magazine. With a few exceptions, I would much rather stay home and read a book than watch a sports game.

My attitude began to change when my own kids began to play sports. I once wrote of Tom and Huck: “I sometimes think that my particular boys were born to me so I would get my nose out of my books and experience life.” Nowhere is this statement more true than on the sports field. I’ve learned a lot about sports and the importance of competitive sports just from watching Tom and Huck play soccer, baseball, basketball, and now (for Huck), flag football.

Huck loves football. We’re not sure where this love came from, since none of us played football. Thoughtful Husband did play freshman year football in high school, but that’s it. And Huck wasn’t around to see it. The love Huck feels for this sport is a love sprouted from his own individual heart. He currently plays on a local flag football team for kids, the Green Bay Packers.

Over the weekend, Huck’s flag football team was invited to play an exhibition game at our local community college, College of San Mateo. CSM’s Bulldogs played the Reedley Tigers for the Northern California Championships on Saturday. For halftime entertainment, CSM invited a few of the younger kids’ flag football teams to play a short football game during halftime for the college’s game.

Huck was thrilled to play on a “real” football field. The field for kiddie flag football is much shorter than 100 yards. The CSM field is “real” alright. Overlooking beautiful San Francisco Bay, it is 100 yards of green surrounded by a running track and filled with bleachers on one side.

It was fun to watch a college football game in person, something I haven’t done since . . . well, since college. I cheered on the mighty Bulldogs from the stands.

I looked at the boys on the CSM team and tried to imagine Huck being that big some day. He’s only nine-years-old right now, so I have to admit that I can’t envision him as a big college boy just yet. I wondered: At what age will he be taller than me? What will his voice sound like? Will he still play football?

Occasionally, my gaze drifted beyond the game to the beautiful San Francisco Bay (that’s the San Mateo Bridge in the picture below). It was a clear, crisp, sunny autumn day. On days like this, with a view like this, I cannot summon the usual urge I have to move to a little farm on the mid-western prairie. On days like this, I forget the traffic, the crowds, and the high cost of living. On days like this, I like the Bay Area just fine and I want to stay forever.

Soon enough, my reverie was interrupted by half-time and the college players leaving the field.

The younger kids were lined up and ready to take the field.

They ran on like champions. I am certain I heard the theme song to “Monday Night Football” (even if I only heard it in my head). Huck is the tall boy, second from the end of the line.

At first, while the other team had the ball, Huck cheered on his team mates from the sidelines.

Then, it was his turn to play in the game. He played quarterback today, or, as he (and I’m told other football afficionados) call it, “QB”.

Here he is making a pass. Huck is wearing the green shirt (their team is the Green Bay Packers) and the football is blue.

My baby is playing QB and passing the ball on a college-sized field?!

I’ve always loved football.

If you’ll permit a bit of motherly indulgence, here’s his big pass close-up.

The boys were cheered by the CSM football team as they left the field at the end of their exhibition. Huck was on top of the world — and so was I.

One of the things I love about my kids is that sometimes I get to see the world (and sports) from their vantage point.

We are proud of our QB!

Chapter 500 Touchdown!

No bookish posts today.

Here’s why:

We all know I’m no Martha Stewart (though I’d really like to be). Way back in July, Tom and Huck were with me at the local craft store, and, while I was shopping, they each selected some fabric from the clearance table. Tom chose a skateboard-themed fabric (2 yards for $3) and Huck chose a football-themed fabric (1 yard for $2). They wanted me, their mother, to sew pillow cases for their beds.

I don’t sew very often, and I only know how to use a sewing machine to sew straight lines.

“I don’t know, guys,” I said. “Maybe Aunt Sarah can do this for you.” (Aunt Sarah is my aunt and she is an amazing designer and seamstress who had her own clothing shop for many years. She is a professional, and everything she sews looks fantastic.)

Huck then said, “I love it when you make me homemade things.”

And my heart melted.

I bought the fabric, with that wishful and probably arrogant motherly thinking that they would each think of me every time they rested their heads on the pillows. I was determined to sew their pillowcases myself.

Just as soon as I went to Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

Just as soon as our family took our summer vacation.

Just as soon as I quoted that big book to a library.

Just as soon as school started for Tom and Huck.

Just as soon as the Santa Monica Book Fair, the Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair, and the Golden Gate Park Book Fair were finished.

Finally, I decided I had better just do it. And, there it is, pictured above. It only took me about an hour to cut, press, pin, and sew.

I need to apply this attitude — just do it regardless of other priorities — to the Dante catalogue.

Just as soon as I sew a skateboard pillowcase for Tom tomorrow.

Chapter 491 Halloween Festivities

We had a fun and happy Halloween here, and we have the candy to prove it! Here are a few snapshots of our spookily spectacular Halloween weekend:

Tom decided to be Burger King this year. I have no idea why. Junior high school (6th grade) brings about strange new behavior and strange choices in Halloween costumes:

But I still have a couple of cute hot dogs, willing to dress up as almost any silly thing. Here’s Huck and our dog, Molly. Could the dog look more humiliated to be dressed as a hot dog?

Here are the boys with some of the neighbors on our front porch. They’re about to leave to go trick or treating with their dads. I stayed home to hand out candy:

Tom and Huck built a scary cemetery scene on our front lawn this year:

Our neighbor, the one who had the idea to build a hoverboard earlier this year, built this great jack-in-the-box. He figured out how to hook it up to an air compressor so that when trick-or-treaters walked by, Jack jumped up and out of the box, giving them a bit of a Halloween scare. He’s 12 and a great builder of all things mechanical:

A neighbor a few blocks away builds a different haunted house every year. This year, he built “The Tomb”. Very scary!

Now it’s back to work, but with the added bonus of some Halloween treats in the bowl beside me! Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Chapter 466 James Bond’s Reading List

Huck wanted to do a walking tour of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco for his birthday celebration this past weekend. I tried to explain to him that we natives do not go places like Fisherman’s Wharf unless we have out of town visitors, but he was having none of it. So, Thoughtful Husband and I packed up Tom and Huck and a few of their buddies and drove them to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Here’s a photo of stop #1 on our tour, The International Spy Shop:

Once I got past all of the swords, knives, bug detectors, doorknob alarms, and microscopic hidden cameras, I sauntered over to the book section. Here are the most interesting titles I found, titles that I imagine might be on James Bond’s reading list:

How to Open Handcuffs Without Keys

The Poor Man’s Ray Gun (Deadly Rays)

Secrets from the Ninja Grandmaster

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 465 Who Knew?

You already know of my penchant for making themed cakes for Tom and Huck’s birthday celebrations. And I always make this cake for dessert on the first day of school:

Today, I made a new discovery. Fig Newtons, the delicious after-school snack, can also be used as books in cake decorating:

Who knew?

I’m off to back-to-school night so a Fig Newton decorated as a book seems oddly appropriate.

Bon Appetit!

Chapter 462 Summertime Stunts

I have to post a couple of pictures from our recent family vacation, in the Lake Tahoe area of California.

First, here’s Tom at a skate park. He is doing skateboard tricks that make me cringe. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but he is actually quite high above the ground. The photo quality isn’t great because I was wincing when I took the picture.

Not to be outdone by his older brother, Huck decided to jump off rocks at Angora Lake. Here he is flying through the air, getting ready to do a great big cannonball into the water. Again, the photo quality isn’t great because I cannot watch my kids do these stunts without worrying. My hands were shaking.

They went back to school today and said it was actually quite exciting.

That means that now I can start to get back to work.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 461 A New Year

Tom and Huck start school Monday. I can’t believe how time has flown: Tom is in 6th grade this year and Huck is in 3rd. When I started this blog, they were in 4th and 1st grades. I cannot believe how fast the time has flown.

They walk out the door this morning with those typical end-of-summer ambivalent feelings of anticipation and excitement. They love their new school shoes and freshly sharpened pencils and blank notebooks, and they look forward to seeing their friends. Both seem happy about the teachers to whom they’ve been assigned this year, too. But both boys are less than excited about returning to regular homework and the rigid daily school schedule that means early mornings and earlier bedtimes for both of them.

Like them, I’m ambivalent. I’ve enjoyed summer with its lazy mornings, fun day-trips, and friendly visits. But I also welcome the return to routine that the school year brings. Because I was a student and then a teacher and now a parent of students, my life has revolved around the academic school year calendar for almost as long as I can remember. The beginning of a new school year is more of a new year for me than the one that begins on January 1. As such, it’s a time to review past actions and to set (or revisit) some goals. I’ll write about that tomorrow, but first it’s time to sit back and reflect with a little help from this:

The mug is a souvenir from Rare Book School. It says “Hail and Farewell”, which commemorates Terry Belanger’s retirement as Founding Director of Rare Book School (don’t worry; he’ll still be teaching) and the entrance of Michael Suarez, S.J. as the next Director. The tea, Imperial Earl Grey, is a particular favorite of mine, and I love the beautiful tin. The coaster upon which my Rare Book School mug will sit is a souvenir from a visit to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Both the mug and the coaster are reminders of my excellent trip to Virginia this summer and of the obligation to use my education well. The tea is a reminder to take a little break in the morning before getting down to work now that the kids are off to school.

Hope the end of your summer is enjoyable.

See you in the stacks!