The Joy of Reading

I have this thing about books... I love to read!  But, how in the world have I been able to read 61 books this year!  More than any other year of my adult life.

Well, I have had a lot of down time this year.  Business was very slow at the shop (the recession has finally hit the flea markets too, which is really drastic)... so, that meant less funds to buy inventory to place in the shop.  I had to make do with what I had already or with what friends who were downsizing gave me.

Since I didn't have to deal with a lot of inventory, I had more time to read.  Because I have a bookshop as part of my space, I have a ready supply of books to choose from.  My cup runneth over!

My books come to me in different ways: I buy them, or I give a customer 1 free book for 3 of theirs, or kind and generous people leave bags of books in my shop.  Often I have no idea who have given me these books; but you can be sure that I am truly grateful for them.

I believe people appreciate a friendly vendor and keep coming back to buy from them; and think of them when they are in the process of downsizing, whether they be books or collectibles.  I am always happy when one of my customers comes by and asks, "Do you think you can use any of this stuff?"  I always say yes... and tell them that if I cannot use something, I will take it to the local Goodwill store.

Anyhow, as I was thinking about my books, I was also recalling paintings that I have seen with reading books as the focal point.  Here are some of what I found...  I hope you enjoy looking at them.  I think they are beautiful, especially the "Lady in Brown" by Chase.      

"Lady in Brown" - William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)

no title given - Helen Maria Turner (1858-1958)

"A Girl Reading Indoors" - Vanessa Bell (1879-1961)

"Girl with Book" - Bartholomeus Van der Helst (1613-1670)

"Miss Auras" - John Lavery (1856-1941)

"Alice in Wonderland" - George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921)

"Woman Reading" - Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

"Good Book" - Laura Fatta

"Woman Reading" - Peter Worsley (1929-)

"Girl Reading" - George Cochran Lambdin (1830-1896) 

"In the Garden Reading" - Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

Rembrandt's Mother - Gerard Dou

Advent at St. E's

For the past several years, my parish places a bare tree to the right of our sanctuary.  We call it our Jesse Tree though we do not place the normal religious symbols on the tree.  Our idea for our tree is different.  We tie leaves on the tree with the names of people we wish to pray for during Advent.  Here is how we go about it.

One of our parishioners agrees to search for an appropriate tree.  It needs to be a young tree with plenty of branches that people can reach fairly easily, but it can't be too tall or bushy so that it looks tacky.  The tree's trunk needs to fit into a bucket of rocks that hold it in place.  I've provided the rocks and bucket.

Next, someone needs to cut out leaves from construction paper, or as I did this year, buy some garlands of Fall leaves from the craft store.  I simply cut the leaves from the garland and tied ribbon through each one and then stuck a strip of adhesive tape on each leaf so that parishioners could write on it, the names of the people they were holding in prayer this Advent.

Because we are a small parish, I only prepared about 125 of these leaves.  They were placed in a basket on a table in the rear of the church so the hospitality ministers could pass them out as people came in for Mass.  In the days before the First Sunday of Advent, the family that usually decorates the church, set the tree up in the sanctuary.

Last year, we had used construction paper leaves that had the names of children in need of prayer written on them.  We had used the leaves in other ways during the past year so we were hesitant to throw them away.  So, the old leaves were placed on the highest branches of the tree so that those children could continue to be prayed for during this Advent as well.

On the First Sunday of Advent, our priest spoke about the meaning of our tree during his homily and said he had written the names of his elderly parents on his leaf and when he ended his homily, he attached his leaf to the tree.  Our parishioners then left the pews and did the same.  The basket still has unused leaves in it so that parishioners who could not attend the First Sunday will still be able to place their names on the tree when they return.

This prayer for our people has become a meaningful tradition at my parish and I hope it will continue..
   
 

~ Bare Tree II by Norman Wyatt, Jr.