Food, Books and a whole lot of processing

I fried up some hamburger with taco seasoning and onion

(fried onion first, in coconut oil) on Thursday.

Toppings: 

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Sour Cream

Fresh yellow tomato 

Sriracha sauce

Lettuce

On a soft taco... 

We've been enjoying it today also!

***

Made a NY Times Plum Torte again;

hope to make another this coming week! 

Still loving the Cleo Cat!

So....

I finished this book by Donald Hall; 

he published it in 2008.

(BTW: Spoiler warning here given)

I found the parts about his schooling and childhood of curious interest; 

I had not realized how fortunate and privileged he was as a child and teen;

I guess it goes to show that money and connections, plus fortunate circumstances,

can help in terms of making one's dreams come true; but clearly also, on Hall's part,

a lot of continual discipline in terms of writing.

But I found parts of it, to be honest, surprisingly jarring and disappointing; 

I did not realize how much he had struggled with carnality, and how, after Jane died;

it grieved me very much; I am writing a longer post, 

that will be about this book but also the culture he grew up in and that became

what is here today; it's tricky to know how to write it, as I want to be kind,

balanced; to give freedom in terms of not judging but seeing; that alone is an essay right there; 

I also would like to explore some things in current culture, 

and culture in the last 100 years,

and what I see in it that is ultimately harmful to an individual and culture. 

Beore I finish writing that post (it will be a longer one, more

essay form I think; it's one that I have been thinking of for quite sometime), I am 

hoping to read Hall's book on his and Jane's marriage; 

it is clear that Jane was a deep stabilizing force in his life and I have come to 

realize that Hall is probably the type of man who needs a woman 

to keep him stable; for me, it was a bit difficult and hard to come to terms with;

I have loved Jane's poetry since I heard Donald Hall speak in 1996, 

just a year after her death; I met Donald Hall; got his autograph, talked to him.

Jane has ever since been my favourite poet.  And I liked and like much of his poetry as well,

though I have not read it all or much outside of the years 1995-1998 or so.

My Husband has been hearing about this all week, as I finished reading the book

and processing it....(thankfully Mr Husband is a great conversationalist and able to put things

in context of historical and culture things that greatly assist processing)...

 it was one of those, I had no idea how he struggled,

or what mess he fell into while he did struggle, and how dark it was, the depression he was in; 

and even just realizing that

he did not stay single after Jane's death,

well, it took some coming to terms with; it was literally catching up with

over 20 years since I met Hall in person and not knowing him,

even in his writing, before then, it was a lot to realize.  

***

Anyway, before I write more on it, 

I hope to read his book on he and Jane's 20 year long marriage,

one that only ended because Jane died. 

Then I feel I will have more time and I hope the ability to write an 

essay that is worthy of both what he achieved in his marriage and what

was lost in his struggles and what it can mean in terms of the world that was,

the world we live in now....

I think I read this L'Engle book before.

I LOVED it. 

Read it pretty much in one sitting.

Encouraging, fairly light in terms of L'Engle's fiction; it was somewhere between

YA and adult on her spectrum; a perfectly timed read.

Well, lots of books, tea and good meals this week.

A lot to be thankful for.

Including church tonight, tomorrow

and various friends to see next week!