Monthly Check-In: June 2014

Here's what I've been up to this past month. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow links and connect with me in other spaces as well as here!

Images from My Life

I got to meet Tom Robbins and have him sign my 1976 copy of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues! He and I have (almost) the same birthday - this year he turned 82 and I turned 42.

Our apricot tree fruited! It's so magical to wait and watch the fruit trees grow and bear fruit. Then it's HURRY HURRY and harvest as many as possible. I kept meaning to make chutney, but we just ended up eating them all (and giving many away to friends)!

I met a Red Milk Snake named Daisy! She curled up in my bra for a warm nap.

We AirBnB'd an amazing yurt in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was magical!

Videos from My Life

I also managed to capture some hoisting. Here's me doing some half-squat into jerks at 52kg/114.4lbs. So fun!

Books I've Read

I read four books in June, but the only one I really liked (make that LOVED) was The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt. As I said in my review on Goodreads, This book is a love letter to fairy tales, storytellers, and mythologists. It's the kind of writing I find so delicious and easy to sink into. I had to take one star away for the disappointing thread of body shame that runs throughout the main story. If only I could lift that damaged cord out, this book would be true perfection. I can't wait to read more of her work.

As usual, I'm really late for the bus on this. So many people have been recommending the work of A.S. Byatt to me for years. I do this weird thing, where if TOO many people recommend something to me, I almost willfully don't seek it out. It's a strange thing I do, and I'm not sure why. I'm glad I got over that weird impulse and dove into this fantastic book. I really want to read everything she has ever written now!

So far I've read 41 books in 2014

Music I Dig

This month I learned about the music of Haley Bonar and I adore her music. Below is her performing live, "Heaven's Made for Two" from her May 2014 album Last War. 

Green sweeps in the apple trees
I can feel it in between my toes
And I love you, baby, yeah, it don't sound much
Close to leaving me alone
I call you on the phone but I hang the phone
I could barely even admit I'm on the phone
Besides, I make my way down to Mexico
So I'll see you on the other side
HEAVEN'S MADE FOR TWO

Thanks for going on this month's ride with me! See you next time.

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