Sunday Salon: Life...

So the past week/weekend has been full of hurricane drama yet again. Fortunately, Ike was to the east of us, and we only got the teeniest (under half an inch) amount of rain here where I am. But watching the news was heartbreaking just the same. Maybe heartbreaking is too strong a word. But it was very saddening for me. Sad for me to see the wreckage.

Galveston. I know this was just one of many cities, many counties affected by Ike. But this one is closest to my heart. The one I get all sentimental about. Galveston was my very very first vacation, and it has always been significant to me. I've only been there twice (three times if you count the one where I was in the womb)--but both visits really resonated with me in my memory. The pictures Dad took. The postcards. The sea shells both gathered on the beach and bought in the souvenir shop on a pier by the seawall. And the actual memories. The sights. The sounds. The smells. Watching on the news every time a hurricane threatened, I'd see it and could almost close my eyes and visualize it. So on one hand, I loved that I was getting to see it up, close, and personal. But I hated the fact that it was always viewed in connection with upcoming storms. And this one seems to have done a good bit of damage.

We always stayed right by the seawall in one of the many hotels located there. In fact, the last time we were there--way back in 90 or 91--we stayed at a hotel with a Wendys on one side and the trolley station on the other side. The seawall right in front of us. Everything was within walking distance, we took the trolley if we wanted to go someplace that wasn't. The Strand. Oh. I love The Strand.

I don't know if there's a place on the web that lists all the places damaged or not--if there is I'm sure it's overloaded, this is all I could find. But it's sad to see history being washed away and destroyed. I think it was the history that I loved the most. The old buildings. The old businesses. The stories. There are so many places there that are one of a kind.

Anyway, I know this is way off topic. When I wasn't watching the news...I was reading several different books. THE ROAD OF LOST INNOCENCE by Somaly Mam was an important but heartbreaking read. Very intense. Very emotional. Very gritty. Needed but just heartbreakingly sad. Definitely recommended. I'll be writing and posting a review of it in the upcoming week.
I'm still working on THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO by Ann Radcliffe and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas. I'm really really close to throwing The Count across the room. But it's so heavy, it would probably do damage. So I'll resist. But the unabridged version and I are NOT getting along well at all. But Udolpho on the other hand I'm still enjoying.

Other highlights of the week....JANE EYRE. I checked out the DVD of Jane Eyre this past week. I loved watching this one with my Dad. You might be thinking that I forced him into watching this one. But you'd be wrong. Dad was actually the one that loved it--that knew he loved it--and I was the skeptical one. But I ended up loving it. So I think that's everything. Mostly. The highlight of today was I gave SugarCookie his birthday present (actually I was several weeks late. His birthday is September 3rd). He just turned two. Anyway, he signed "thank you" isn't that the sweetest thing??? In case you're curious, it was a BOOK of course. :)


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews