Kate’s 2¢: “Mexico by touch: true life experiences of a blind American deejay”

   by Larry P. Johnson

“Mexico by touch: true life experiences of a blind American deejay”

   by Larry P. Johnson

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Jake Williams did a good job of narrating this story in English with numerous Spanish/Mexican words in it. I toured Mexico in 1962 and I enjoyed re-visiting them in Johnson’s story.

A few take-aways:

–Attitude is the single most important aspect of a person’s approach.

–My memories of Mexico are a montage of flavors, fragrances, sounds, and sensations.

–Helen Kellar: Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing.

–Personal journal to inspire, encourage, and motivate readers to follow their dreams…to face life’s adversities and challenges with confidence patience, and a sense of humor.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Mexico by touch: true life experiences of a blind American deejay DB126112

Author: Johnson, Larry P.       

Reading Time: 6 hours, 46 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Williams, Jake

Subjects: Blind Authors, Biography of Persons with Disabilities, Travel, Journalism and the Media

“At age 18 he traveled alone to Mexico City. Became the top deejay for the #1 Top 40 radio station in Mexico. Drove a car on a main thoroughfare in the Meixcan capital. Competed against Stevie Wonder in a foot race at 3 am. Broadcast the 1969 Apollo 11 lunar landing. Became the first blind newscaster on Mexican television. Humorous, highly readable account of the author’s adventures as a blind American in Mexico. Marvelously charming metamorphosis from tourist to student to popular radio deejay. A great many books have been published in which the protagonist has been a person who is blind. The unique difference in Mexico by Touch is that it takes place in the fascinating land of Mexico. The author’s blindness is not the central theme of the story, simply one of the components. A book for those who enjoy inspiring stories of personal optimism and perseverance and for those who enjoy laughing at our human mistakes and misadventures.”– Goodreads. Some strong language.

[Bloomington, Ind.] : Independent, 2023.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Latitude: the true story of the world’s first scientific expedition” by Nicholas Crane

“Latitude: the true story of the world’s first scientific expedition” by Nicholas Crane

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Roy McMillan did a great job of narrating this unbelievable story. It is amazing how productive the scientists were during uncharted times, lands, and people using instruments that were primitive, compared to what we have today, yet got remarkably accurate measurements.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This biography of a living person needs additional citations

Nicholas Crane (born 6 May 1954) is an English geographer,[1] explorer, writer and broadcaster. Since 2004 he has written and presented four television series for BBC Two: Coast, Great British Journeys, Map Man and Town.

Early life and education[edit]

Crane was born in Hastings, East Sussex, but grew up in Norfolk. He attended Wymondham College[2] from 1967 until 1972, then Cambridgeshire College of Arts & Technology (CCAT), a forerunner to Anglia Ruskin University, where he studied Geography.[3]

In his youth he went camping and hiking with his father and explored Norfolk by bicycle, which gave him his enthusiasm for exploration.[3]

Career[edit]

In 1986, whilst travelling with his cousin Richard, he located the pole of inaccessibility for the Eurasia landmass; their journey became the subject of the book Journey to the Centre of the Earth. In 1992–93 he embarked on an 18-month solo journey, walking 10,000 kilometres from Cape Finisterre to Istanbul. He recounted the trip in his book Clear Waters Rising: A Mountain Walk Across Europe which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 1997, and made a television self-documentary of the journey: High Trails to Istanbul (1994).

His 2000 book Two Degrees West described his walk across Great Britain from north to south, in which he followed the eponymous meridian as closely as possible. In 2003 he published a biography of Gerard Mercator, the great Flemish cartographer.

Together with Richard Crane, he was awarded the 1992 Mungo Park Medal[4] by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his journeys in Tibet, China, Afghanistan and Africa.

In 2007 he completed a series called Great British Journeys. In eight parts the series consisted of eight people who explored Great Britain and made a contribution to society born of the exploration. Each episode lasts one hour and the series was accompanied by a book.[5]

In November 2007 he debated the future of the English countryside with Richard Girling, Sue Clifford, Richard Mabey and Bill Bryson as part of CPRE’s annual Volunteers Conference.[6]

He presented a series about British towns broadcast in August 2011 and May–June 2013.

He has served as a visiting professor at Anglia Ruskin University which presented the former student in 2012 with the award of Honorary Doctor of Science.

He was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 2015 to 2018, a post now occupied by Nigel Clifford.[7]

In 2016 he published The Making Of The British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present, a 12,000-year historical geography of Britain.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Crane lives in Primrose Hill in northwest London with his wife; they have three children.[9]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Latitude: the true story of the world’s first scientific expedition DB126586

Author: Crane, Nicholas

Reading Time: 6 hours, 37 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Roy McMillan

Subjects: Science and Technology, World History and Affairs, Adventure

“Nicholas Crane documents the remarkable expedition undertaken by a group of twelve European adventurer-scientists who established the exact shape of the Earth by measuring the length of one degree latitude at the equator.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

[Ashland, Oregon] : Blackstone Publishing, 2021.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Cradle Mission” by Rita B. Herron

“The Cradle Mission” by Rita B. Herron

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This book was digitally down-loaded from BookShare™. The other books I read written by Herron were from the Ellie Reese series, so I enjoyed the change from multiple murders with a theme to this single focus story about a genetically engineered baby. A scary topice, but one we should be aware of when it is in the hands of bad people.

From the web:

USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job!

With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA stories, but she especially loves writing dark romantic suspense tales set in southern small towns.

Rita is represented by Jenny Bent with the Bent Agency.

From BookShare™:

Synopsis

When vulnerable beauty Alanna Hayes appeared on his doorstep with a baby in tow, Cain Caldwell didn’t know what to think. On the run after uncovering evidence of secret experiments at the Coastal Island Research Park, she claimed his brother had promised to help her, but he was dead. The closer Cain got to Alanna, the more difficult it was to remember she might be involved in murder. Except this hardened lawman couldn’t deny the passion rising between them, and neither could Alanna. Would Cain join the mission to save baby Simon from the mysterious forces of Nighthawk Island-before it was too late?

Copyright:

2003

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781426878626

Publisher:

Harlequin

Date of Addition:

06/04/11

Copyrighted By:

Rita B. Herron

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Romance, Literature and Fiction

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” by R. A. Dick

“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” by R. A. Dick

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This was one of seven books on a cartridge sent to me by NLS.

   Elizabeth Jasicki did a wonderful job narrating this delightful story for us. Thank you.

   I enjoyed this 1945 story of Mrs. Muir’s life, perseverance, and dedication to her ideals.  Apparently, the tv/movie did not follow the book, so I recommend reading the original book.  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josephine Aimee Campbell Rowley Leslie (8 June 1898 – 28 April 1979) was an Irish writer, usually under the name R. A. Dick, taking the initials from her sea captain father.

Biography[edit]

Josephine A. C. Rowley was born in Wexford, Ireland, the daughter of Robert Abercromby Dick Rowley and Josephine Rosling Rowley. Her father died the same year she was born.[1] Her widowed mother, who was born in Surrey, raised her and her older brother, Edward, in England, specifically in Sunninghill,[2] Ealing[3][4] and Eastbourne.[5] She attended Princess Helena College.[6]

In 1927, Rowley married civil servant Melville Eric Leslie.[7][8] They had a son and a daughter. Melville Leslie was a colonial administrator in Nyasaland (Malawi) from the 1920s until 1947.[9] Josephine Leslie died in 1979, at the age of 80.

Literary career[edit]

Leslie most famously wrote the 1945 novel The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which was made into a 1947 film and adapted for a 1960s TV series.[10] She also wrote the novels Unpainted Portrait (1954), Duet for Two Hands (1960), and The Devil and Mrs. Devine (1975)[11] and a play, Witch Errant (1954).[12]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The ghost and Mrs. Muir DB127891

Author: Dick, R. A.

Reading Time: 5 hours, 40 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Jasicki, Elizabeth

Subjects: Occult and Horror Fiction, Humor and Humorous Fiction, Mystery and Detective Stories

“Burdened by debt after her husband’s death, Lucy Muir insists on moving into the very cheap Gull Cottage in the quaint seaside village of Whitecliff, despite multiple warnings that the house is haunted. Upon discovering the rumors to be true, the young widow ends up forming a special companionship with the ghost of handsome former sea captain Daniel Gregg. Through the struggles of supporting her children, seeking out romance from the wrong places, and working to publish the captain’s story as a book, Blood and Swash, Lucy finds in her secret relationship with Captain Gregg a comfort and blossoming love she never could have predicted.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Ashland, OR : Blackstone Publishing, 2018.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The between: a novel” by Tananarive Due  

“The between: a novel” by Tananarive Due  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   L.J. Ganser is one of my favorite narrators and he didn’t disappoint my listening ears with this story. I enjoyed the story and I’m sure, other readers caught on to the fact that Hilton did actually drown as his grandmother saved him.  

a few take-aways:

–that the child had her own electronic devices at age 13 was a strategy

–You can’t take care of anyone else, if you’re not taking care of yourself.

–We’re always closest to death when we’re asleep.

–Even a spirit looks after his child.

–Solve your problems that are real, before you can solve your dreams.

–A fool maybe crazy for ranting, but you’re a bigger fool for listening.

–Had dreams finally taken him hostage?

–Dreams are where we face our mortality.

–Where ever the spirit rests, that is reality.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedea    A

 www.tananarivedue.com

Tananarive Priscilla Due (/təˈnænəriːv ˈdjuː/ tə-NAN-ə-reev DEW) (born January 5, 1966) is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel The Living Blood (2001), and the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, and the World Fantasy Award for her novel The Reformatory (2023).[1][2] She is also known as a film historian with expertise in Black horror. Due teaches a course at UCLA called “The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival and the Black Horror Aesthetic”, which focuses on the Jordan Peele film Get Out.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Due was born in Tallahassee, Florida, the oldest of three daughters of civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due and civil rights lawyer John D. Due Jr.[4] Her mother named her after the French name for Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.[5]

Due earned a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and an M.A. in English literature, with an emphasis on Nigerian literature, from the University of Leeds.[4] At Northwestern, she lived in the Communications Residential College.[6]

Career[edit]

Due was working as a journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald when she wrote her first novel, The Between, in 1995.[6] This, like many of her subsequent books, was part of the supernatural genre.[7] Due also wrote The Black Rose, a historical novel about Madam C. J. Walker (based in part on research conducted by Alex Haley before his death) and Freedom in the Family, a nonfiction work about the civil rights struggle. She contributed to the humor novel Naked Came the Manatee, a mystery/thriller parody to which various Miami-area authors each contributed chapters. Due also authored the African Immortals novel series and the Tennyson Hardwick novels.

Due is a member of the affiliate faculty in the creative writing MFA program at Antioch University Los Angeles[8] and is also an endowed Cosby chair in the humanities at Spelman College in Atlanta.[9]

She developed a course at UCLA called “The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival and the Black Horror Aesthetic” after the release of the 2017 film Get Out.[3] The first course went viral and included a visit from Jordan Peele.[3]

Due was featured in the 2019 documentary film Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, produced by Shudder.[3]

Her novel The Reformatory was published by Saga Press in 2023.[10][11]

Personal life[edit]

Due is the daughter of civil rights activists Patricia Stephens Due and civil rights attorney John D Due Jr. . She has two sisters Johnita and Lydia.

Due is married to author Steven Barnes, whom she met in 1997 at a Clark Atlanta University panel on “The African-American Fantastic Imagination: Explorations in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror”.[12] The couple lives in the Los Angeles, California area with their son, Jason.[13]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The between: a novel DB43640

Author: Due, Tananarive

Reading Time: 8 hours, 42 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: L.J. Ganser

Subjects: Occult and Horror Fiction, Psychological Fiction

As a child, Hilton James was rescued from drowning by his grandmother, who perished to save him. Now a family man of almost forty, he begins to think his borrowed time is running out. Haunted by dreams of death and threatened by a psychotic who stalks his family, Hilton finds his grip on reality slipping. Strong language and descriptions of sex.

New York : HarperCollins Publishers, c1995.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Birnam Wood” by Eleanor Catton

“Birnam Wood” by Eleanor Catton

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Maarleveld Saskia did a great job of narrating this book. Her voice and the author’s words kept me interested in the narrative and the characters. From the beginning, you could see how these various factions were going to collide.

   I was extremely disappointed with the ending. It did not tie loose ends together, reconcile the main characters, or satisfy this reader.  Perhaps, this is a set-up for a sequel.

   A few take-aways:

–A deep desire to form kind of excessive rugid practicality in compensation for his bookishness

–devising circuatis home-made solutions to problems that could be solved much more easily.

–To do a thing with effort was more respectably than to have it done with ease.

–There comes a point to where we all have to make a choice between what is right and what is easyThe wrong thing to do is often clearer…wrong is easier to see than right.

—

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eleanor Catton MNZM (born 1985) is a New Zealand novelist and screenwriter. Born in Canada, Catton moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in Christchurch. She completed a master’s degree in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her award-winning debut novel, The Rehearsal, written as her Master’s thesis, was published in 2008, and has been adapted into a 2016 film of the same name. Her second novel, The Luminaries, won the 2013 Booker Prize, making Catton the youngest author ever to win the prize (at age 28) and only the second New Zealander. It was subsequently adapted into a television miniseries, with Catton as screenwriter. In 2023, she was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.

Early life[edit]

Catton was born in Canada in 1985,[2] where her father was a graduate student completing his doctorate at the University of Western Ontario on a Commonwealth scholarship.[3] Her mother Judith is a New Zealander from Canterbury, while her father, philosopher Philip Catton, comes from Washington State in the US.[4] Her family returned to New Zealand when she was six years old, and Catton grew up in Christchurch. Her mother was a children’s librarian at the time, and the family had no TV; Catton was an avid reader and writer from an early age.[5]

When she was aged 13 the family spent a year living in Leeds while her father was on a sabbatical at the university, and Catton attended local comprehensive Lawnswood School which she referred to as “amazing” and “gloriously rough”.[6][3][5] Back in Christchurch she attended Burnside High School, studied English at the University of Canterbury, and completed a Master’s degree in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington.[7] She is related to historian Bruce Catton.[4]

Catton’s third novel, Birnam Wood, was published in February 2023. The title is taken from Macbeth, and Catton has said the novel draws inspiration from the play.[25] It is a contemporary thriller about a group of young climate activists who call themselves Birnam Wood.[26]

The novel was shortlisted for the 2023 Giller Prize.[27][28] The New York Times named it one of the 100 Notable Books of

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Birnam Wood DB115924

Author: Catton, Eleanor

Reading Time: 12 hours, 52 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Saskia Maarleveld

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

“Birnam Wood is on the move…. A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, an undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. For years, the group has struggled to break even. To occupy the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last. But the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine also has an interest in the place: He has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker, or so he tells Birnam’s founder, Mira, when he catches her on the property. He’s intrigued by Mira and by Birnam Wood; although they’re poles apart politically, it seems Lemoine and the group might have enemies in common. But can Birnam trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust one another? A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its drama, Austenian in its wit, and, like both in?uences, fascinated by what makes us who we are. A brilliantly constructed study of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is a mesmerizing, un?inching consideration of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

[United States] : Audible Studios, 2023.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Between” by Angie Abdou

“Between” by Angie Abdou

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Meredith Orlow did a good job of narrating this story. I did not, however, like this story. It had too many legal and physical abuse and immorality. Not to mention the ending was not satisfactory or satisfying.

   A few take-aways:

–work is work.  Parenting is work. That’s two works.

–A home did not have space for two adult women

–A closet of her own.

Featured snippet from the web

Abdou was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and her formative years were spent in this prairie province. She pursued her education with determination, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Regina, followed by a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Western Ontario.

Angie Abdou: Canadian Author | Bio & Top Books to Read

creativebookpublishing.ca

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Angela “Angie” Abdou (born 11 May 1969)[1] is a Canadian writer of fiction and nonfiction.

Early life and education[edit]

Abdou was born 11 May 1969, in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan,[1] where she spent her early childhood.[2] Justin Abdou is her only sibling. She received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Regina (Saskatchewan) in 1991,[3] a Master of Arts in English from the University of Western Ontario in 1992, and a PhD in English in the Field of Creative Writing and Canadian Literature from the University of Calgary in 2009. She currently lives in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada with her children Oliver and Katherine and is Professor of Creative Writing at Athabasca University (Canada’s only open university).

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Between DB87792

Author: Abdou, Angie

Reading Time: 10 hours, 25 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Meredith Orlow

Subject: Psychological Fiction

Vero and Shane are finding adulthood difficult to cope with, so they hire live-in help for their sons–a Filipino woman named Ligaya. Vero struggles with her role as a mother and with justifying Ligaya’s presence, while Ligaya struggles with the burden of a secret she left behind at home. Some violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2014.

Prince Frederick, Md. : Recorded Books, ℗2015.

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Cornucopia: Christmas, 1998

Copyright © 1998 by Kate Chamberlin

                         Christmas, 1998

I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit.  I wasn’t exactly depressed, just sort of in a Christmas valley.  It didn’t seem worth the effort to get the decorations out of the basement.  I couldn’t see them.  Why bother with the felt, pocket calendar with the little charms to pin on the felt tree I’d made twenty years ago to help our son count the days until Christmas. There’s no one around to count with me.

My angel collection wouldn’t collect dust if I kept them in the storage box and, as for a Christmas tree?

Well, my husband and I took our four-month old grandson to Keymel’s Christmas tree farm and chose the perfect tree, but it lay on our porch floor still wrapped in twine.  Tyler’s too young to know about it and the one photo Dave took, didn’t turn out any way. Perhaps we’ll just chop it up for mulch in the spring.

There wasn’t much snow and it seemed like it was going to be a blue Christmas.

My daughter started the miracle.  She made arrangements with my husband to baby-sit Tyler and then, invited me to go shopping with her. Shortly before we left our home to go meet her, our oldest son called and wanted to come for a visit.  We suggested he meet us at Marion’s apartment.  He did and we all went out for lunch.

From the restaurant, Dave and Will brought Tyler home for an afternoon of “male bonding”, while Marion and I headed for the Prime Outlet Mall.

The weather was almost balmy and perfect for walking around the open mall.  We had a wonderful time of discussing gifts for family members, getting “charge card burn”, munching chocolate and getting to know each other as friends.  We didn’t get home until after five o’clock.

The next weekend, Will and his wife came bearing a freshly baked loaf of ginger bread.  It smelled so wonderful.Wwe devoured thick slices of it with Brummel and Brown with honey on them.

Will and Heather made several trips into the basement while Dave put up the Christmas tree and lights.  As each cherished ornament was brought out, They’d put it into my hands and I’d retell the story of its origin.  The oldest ornament of them all was the tiny pink plastic pram that was given to me more than half a century ago in honor of my first Christmas.

It is our tradition that I place the angel on top of the tree as the final touch.  Almost 29 years ago, after I’d cut the chiffon and lace for my wedding dress, I’d carefully put the extra fabric away for something special (and because I never throw anything out!).

Our angel is made from that special fabric.  Her dress is white chiffon and her wings are lace.  Her golden curls are actually a metal Chore Girl scrubber and her head is an old dolls head.

My daughter-in-law washed the angel’s face and handed her to me.  Amid a a chorus of directions, I located the top of the tree and place our special angel atop the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

Marion and Tyler arrived and, as I cuddled my grandson, the kids made Christmas cookies called Cherry Winks from a recipe handed down to me from my mother.  Our home was bathed in pine fragrance and baking cookies mixed with the friendly banter of happy children working on a special project.

Our son, Paul, called during the afternoon to say he’d be coming home the day before Christmas.  All our children will be joining us at the midnight church service Christmas eve and I know I’ll cry.

I may not be able to see the pretty lights or see my son’s hair line receeding or the gayly wrapped presents or even the large box containing our grandson’s crib, but I can smell the ginger bread and munch on Cherry Winks as I rock my grandson. 

Best of all, I can feel the hugs and love that make this a blessed Christmas.

My wish is that you, too, can find the blessings in your situation during this festive time and throughout the new year.Copyright © 1998 by Kate Chamberlin

                         Christmas, 1998

I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit.  I wasn’t exactly depressed, just sort of in a Christmas valley.  It didn’t seem worth the effort to get the decorations out of the basement.  I couldn’t see them.  Why bother with the felt, pocket calendar with the little charms to pin on the felt tree I’d made twenty years ago to help our son count the days until Christmas. There’s no one around to count with me.

My angel collection wouldn’t collect dust if I kept them in the storage box and, as for a Christmas tree?

Well, my husband and I took our four-month old grandson to Keymel’s Christmas tree farm and chose the perfect tree, but it lay on our porch floor still wrapped in twine.  Tyler’s too young to know about it and the one photo Dave took, didn’t turn out any way. Perhaps we’ll just chop it up for mulch in the spring.

There wasn’t much snow and it seemed like it was going to be a blue Christmas.

My daughter started the miracle.  She made arrangements with my husband to baby-sit Tyler and then, invited me to go shopping with her. Shortly before we left our home to go meet her, our oldest son called and wanted to come for a visit.  We suggested he meet us at Marion’s apartment.  He did and we all went out for lunch.

From the restaurant, Dave and Will brought Tyler home for an afternoon of “male bonding”, while Marion and I headed for the Prime Outlet Mall.

The weather was almost balmy and perfect for walking around the open mall.  We had a wonderful time of discussing gifts for family members, getting “charge card burn”, munching chocolate and getting to know each other as friends.  We didn’t get home until after five o’clock.

The next weekend, Will and his wife came bearing a freshly baked loaf of ginger bread.  It smelled so wonderful.Wwe devoured thick slices of it with Brummel and Brown with honey on them.

Will and Heather made several trips into the basement while Dave put up the Christmas tree and lights.  As each cherished ornament was brought out, They’d put it into my hands and I’d retell the story of its origin.  The oldest ornament of them all was the tiny pink plastic pram that was given to me more than half a century ago in honor of my first Christmas.

It is our tradition that I place the angel on top of the tree as the final touch.  Almost 29 years ago, after I’d cut the chiffon and lace for my wedding dress, I’d carefully put the extra fabric away for something special (and because I never throw anything out!).

Our angel is made from that special fabric.  Her dress is white chiffon and her wings are lace.  Her golden curls are actually a metal Chore Girl scrubber and her head is an old dolls head.

My daughter-in-law washed the angel’s face and handed her to me.  Amid a a chorus of directions, I located the top of the tree and place our special angel atop the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

Marion and Tyler arrived and, as I cuddled my grandson, the kids made Christmas cookies called Cherry Winks from a recipe handed down to me from my mother.  Our home was bathed in pine fragrance and baking cookies mixed with the friendly banter of happy children working on a special project.

Our son, Paul, called during the afternoon to say he’d be coming home the day before Christmas.  All our children will be joining us at the midnight church service Christmas eve and I know I’ll cry.

I may not be able to see the pretty lights or see my son’s hair line receeding or the gayly wrapped presents or even the large box containing our grandson’s crib, but I can smell the ginger bread and munch on Cherry Winks as I rock my grandson. 

Best of all, I can feel the hugs and love that make this a blessed Christmas.

My wish is that you, too, can find the blessings in your situation during this festive time and throughout the new year.

Cornucopia, 1998

CoCopyright © 1998 by Kate Chamberlin

                         Christmas, 1998

I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit.  I wasn’t exactly depressed, just sort of in a Christmas valley.  It didn’t seem worth the effort to get the decorations out of the basement.  I couldn’t see them.  Why bother with the felt, pocket calendar with the little charms to pin on the felt tree I’d made twenty years ago to help our son count the days until Christmas. There’s no one around to count with me.

My angel collection wouldn’t collect dust if I kept them in the storage box and, as for a Christmas tree?

Well, my husband and I took our four-month old grandson to Keymel’s Christmas tree farm and chose the perfect tree, but it lay on our porch floor still wrapped in twine.  Tyler’s too young to know about it and the one photo Dave took, didn’t turn out any way. Perhaps we’ll just chop it up for mulch in the spring.

There wasn’t much snow and it seemed like it was going to be a blue Christmas.

My daughter started the miracle.  She made arrangements with my husband to baby-sit Tyler and then, invited me to go shopping with her. Shortly before we left our home to go meet her, our oldest son called and wanted to come for a visit.  We suggested he meet us at Marion’s apartment.  He did and we all went out for lunch.

From the restaurant, Dave and Will brought Tyler home for an afternoon of “male bonding”, while Marion and I headed for the Prime Outlet Mall.

The weather was almost balmy and perfect for walking around the open mall.  We had a wonderful time of discussing gifts for family members, getting “charge card burn”, munching chocolate and getting to know each other as friends.  We didn’t get home until after five o’clock.

The next weekend, Will and his wife came bearing a freshly baked loaf of ginger bread.  It smelled so wonderful.Wwe devoured thick slices of it with Brummel and Brown with honey on them.

Will and Heather made several trips into the basement while Dave put up the Christmas tree and lights.  As each cherished ornament was brought out, They’d put it into my hands and I’d retell the story of its origin.  The oldest ornament of them all was the tiny pink plastic pram that was given to me more than half a century ago in honor of my first Christmas.

It is our tradition that I place the angel on top of the tree as the final touch.  Almost 29 years ago, after I’d cut the chiffon and lace for my wedding dress, I’d carefully put the extra fabric away for something special (and because I never throw anything out!).

Our angel is made from that special fabric.  Her dress is white chiffon and her wings are lace.  Her golden curls are actually a metal Chore Girl scrubber and her head is an old dolls head.

My daughter-in-law washed the angel’s face and handed her to me.  Amid a a chorus of directions, I located the top of the tree and place our special angel atop the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

Marion and Tyler arrived and, as I cuddled my grandson, the kids made Christmas cookies called Cherry Winks from a recipe handed down to me from my mother.  Our home was bathed in pine fragrance and baking cookies mixed with the friendly banter of happy children working on a special project.

Our son, Paul, called during the afternoon to say he’d be coming home the day before Christmas.  All our children will be joining us at the midnight church service Christmas eve and I know I’ll cry.

I may not be able to see the pretty lights or see my son’s hair line receeding or the gayly wrapped presents or even the large box containing our grandson’s crib, but I can smell the ginger bread and munch on Cherry Winks as I rock my grandson. 

Best of all, I can feel the hugs and love that make this a blessed Christmas.

My wish is that you, too, can find the blessings in your situation during this festive time and throughout the new year.pyright © 1998 by Kate Chamberlin

                         Christmas, 1998

I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit.  I wasn’t exactly depressed, just sort of in a Christmas valley.  It didn’t seem worth the effort to get the decorations out of the basement.  I couldn’t see them.  Why bother with the felt, pocket calendar with the little charms to pin on the felt tree I’d made twenty years ago to help our son count the days until Christmas. There’s no one around to count with me.

My angel collection wouldn’t collect dust if I kept them in the storage box and, as for a Christmas tree?

Well, my husband and I took our four-month old grandson to Keymel’s Christmas tree farm and chose the perfect tree, but it lay on our porch floor still wrapped in twine.  Tyler’s too young to know about it and the one photo Dave took, didn’t turn out any way. Perhaps we’ll just chop it up for mulch in the spring.

There wasn’t much snow and it seemed like it was going to be a blue Christmas.

My daughter started the miracle.  She made arrangements with my husband to baby-sit Tyler and then, invited me to go shopping with her. Shortly before we left our home to go meet her, our oldest son called and wanted to come for a visit.  We suggested he meet us at Marion’s apartment.  He did and we all went out for lunch.

From the restaurant, Dave and Will brought Tyler home for an afternoon of “male bonding”, while Marion and I headed for the Prime Outlet Mall.

The weather was almost balmy and perfect for walking around the open mall.  We had a wonderful time of discussing gifts for family members, getting “charge card burn”, munching chocolate and getting to know each other as friends.  We didn’t get home until after five o’clock.

The next weekend, Will and his wife came bearing a freshly baked loaf of ginger bread.  It smelled so wonderful.Wwe devoured thick slices of it with Brummel and Brown with honey on them.

Will and Heather made several trips into the basement while Dave put up the Christmas tree and lights.  As each cherished ornament was brought out, They’d put it into my hands and I’d retell the story of its origin.  The oldest ornament of them all was the tiny pink plastic pram that was given to me more than half a century ago in honor of my first Christmas.

It is our tradition that I place the angel on top of the tree as the final touch.  Almost 29 years ago, after I’d cut the chiffon and lace for my wedding dress, I’d carefully put the extra fabric away for something special (and because I never throw anything out!).

Our angel is made from that special fabric.  Her dress is white chiffon and her wings are lace.  Her golden curls are actually a metal Chore Girl scrubber and her head is an old dolls head.

My daughter-in-law washed the angel’s face and handed her to me.  Amid a a chorus of directions, I located the top of the tree and place our special angel atop the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

Marion and Tyler arrived and, as I cuddled my grandson, the kids made Christmas cookies called Cherry Winks from a recipe handed down to me from my mother.  Our home was bathed in pine fragrance and baking cookies mixed with the friendly banter of happy children working on a special project.

Our son, Paul, called during the afternoon to say he’d be coming home the day before Christmas.  All our children will be joining us at the midnight church service Christmas eve and I know I’ll cry.

I may not be able to see the pretty lights or see my son’s hair line receeding or the gayly wrapped presents or even the large box containing our grandson’s crib, but I can smell the ginger bread and munch on Cherry Winks as I rock my grandson. 

Best of all, I can feel the hugs and love that make this a blessed Christmas.

My wish is that you, too, can find the blessings in your situation during this festive time and throughout the new year.

Cornucopia: Gratitude

This is the time of the year when people count their Blessings. I’ve written one for each day in November I’d like to share with you.

Gratitude

 (ABCDErian+4)

By Kate Chamberlin

November 2025

I embrace gratitude for:

A  apricot jam on lightly toasted homemade whole wheat bread

B  Bees that produce our honey from wild flowers and clover

C  Communication devices, especially my laptop computer Windows 11 and NVDA screen    reader

D David, my husband of 55-years and counting

 E Eggs, be they scrambled, stuffed omelet, or deviled   

F Friends in Behind Our Eyes and the American Council of the Blind Community

G Gardening for exercise and a bountiful harvest of vegetables and flowers

H Hands that can still tie a shoelace, learn Braille, and caress a great-grandchild

I  Ice cream, homemade with orange syrup and a cherry on top

J Justice through-out our court system, based on our Constitution of the United States of    America

K Kindred spirits who are kind to Kittens, kangaroos, and Kate

L Laundry washer and dryer in my home

M My mother, who brought me up to respect authority, to appreciate the beauty in Nature, and    to advocate for myself  

N Nana, my grandmother with whom I have a spiritual bond  

O Opulence of my life, even though I have a dual sensory deficiency

P Prose for the entertainment it provides

Q Quilts I made for each of my children and the Coin Quilt I’m working on

R Running brooks and streams of clear, clean, cool water

S Sisters and Brothers in Christ

T Telephne visits with family and friends, as well as shopping

U University of Rochester NY, where I earned my Masters Degree and Permanent Teacher’s    Certificate

V Virtual internet connections that keep me in touch with life and the ever changing world

W Warm clothing and bedding

X X-ray and other technologies that detect cancer before it becomes deadly

Y Youthful exuberance and work ethic of my progeny

Z Zippers that don’t seperate at the end

P People who understand not to pet my guide dog while she’s in harness

O Open-mindedness to the fact that other people have issues, too

E Existential movement toward enlightenment

 M Melodic burbling brook in the meadow, schussing of a breeze in the pines, thrumming heart    with love for you.