Words by Allyson

When I was in the seventh grade, I read Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. The novel begins, 

"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure it out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."

A brilliant opener that sent a pang through me the first time I read it. That's a feeling I've been chasing with each book I've picked up in the 20 years since I first experienced it. There's an immediate awareness that something profound will follow. That reading this book will be an experience to savor. 

Here's to the power of an opening line.

Cari Cakes - I'm obsessed with her vlogs, and her book content.

Needlepoint. It's my favorite way to wind down before bed right now.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Rooting for her to win gold tomorrow!

The pool. I feel so lucky to have a neighborhood pool.

I loved this post and I've read every single comment on it.

I made the best sandwich today for lunch and the minute I finished it, I started looking forward to tomorrow when I get to have it again.

I just got this sweater and I'm so excited to wear it this fall.

The Olympics. I haven't had to look for plans in days. At any given time, I can turn on the Olympics and I'm content.

Five years ago, I went to my hometown to say goodbye.

My parents were selling the home I grew up in that summer, and I didn't know when I would ever be back in that town. While I had (and still have) no interest in living in Tallahassee again, I felt a strange paralysis. Like if my parents left, somehow Tally wasn't mine anymore. I wasn't allowed to claim it. 

When my parents picked me up at the airport for my farewell visit, my mother asked if there was anything I wanted to do. 

I wasn't sure how to answer. I told her that I wanted to spend time with her and Dad, a visit to Mashes Sands to swim in the Gulf, and that I wanted a Bradley's sausage. Bradley's Country Store is one of my favorite places in Tallahassee. We pulled up the next day for lunch and ordered sausage dogs and bought a bottle of Nehi. We sat on the front porch to eat. Afterward, we went back inside where Dad picked up a jar of some kind of preserves, and I picked out Sweet Vidalia Onion salad dressing to take back with me to Virginia.

I held onto that salad dressing and didn't open it for almost two years, and I teared up a little when I finally finished it (and not just because it's truly heavenly - I've never found anything that compares here).

Lately, I've been thinking about Tallahassee. Thinking about my life there. Thinking about how different my life is now, and how grateful I am for the place I grew up. 

For the town and the memories that will always be mine.

Last week, I went to see Penelope at the Signature Theatre in Shirlington. The show is an imagining of Penelope, Odysseus's wife, as she waits for her husband's return after 20 years at war. It was largely a one-woman show and a small band in a theatre with less than 100 seats. I loved every minute, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Penelope tells of her husband's long absence, and the suitors in her home who ask her to leave Odysseus behind. She agrees to move on, but not until she finishes her weaving, and so she weaves all day and unravels her progress every night. The possibility of something new, something else and yet not quite able to or wanting to reach for it.

"I can weave whatever I want. Go wherever I want, as long as I never finish. As long as I always come back." 

The show perfectly articulated the hope and hopelessness of waiting. The optimisim and the frustration and the opportunity and the dignity and the isolation. Waiting because you have no choice. Waiting because you want to wait. Waiting with no end in sight.

"I could wait forever if I knew what forever was for."

On a whim a few days after New Years, I ordered a needlepoint canvas and watched a thousand tutorials on various stitches and started working on it. It took me about a week to finish (the canvas was very small) and I stopped into my local needlepoint shop a couple of weekends ago to buy my second project. I love having something to do at the end of the night while I listen to my audiobook that keeps my phone out of my hands. We'll see how long the enthusiasm for this hobby lasts but so far, I'm very much enjoying it.

My book club is reading Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb for our February book. I've finished it and really enjoyed it! It was definitely a page turner!

Early this week, I arrived at the office for work and realized that I had somehow forgotten to put on any jewelry. I basically always wear earrings and a ring and often a necklace or two. Consequently, I felt completely underdressed all day. The first I thing I did when I got home was put on pajamas and a pair of earrings.

Today, I ran a mile without stopping. I had fallen off running at the end of last year, and I've been doing run walks since Christmastime. But today, I made myself run the whole mile without stopping before any walking. It took me more than sixteen minutes, but I did it. And I'm very proud of myself.

2023 was an interesting reading year for me. I met my goal of reading 50 books, but I had fewer standouts than in previous years. Nevertheless, here are the best books I read in 2023.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. Since I'm not much of a fantasy reader, I worried if I would like this or not, but it turns out this is right up my street. I'd say it has fantasy elements more than it's a fantasy book and I absolutely devoured it. Also, the sequel came out about 2 weeks ago and I've already fiinished it too - just as good as this one.

 Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. An epistolary novel about WWI - this was fabulous. I read it at Christmas which I think helped too, but it's one I would reread because I loved it so much.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. I went through a series of children's and middle grade books last spring and early summer and this was one of them. I listened to it on a car ride and immediately called my parents to tell them they should read it to (and for good reason - it was Dad's favorite book of the year!).

The Labors of Hercules Beale by Gary D. Schmidt. It seems Gary D. Schmidt has got my number and this book was no exception. I listened to this on a road trip and had to pull over at one point because I was crying so much, so you've been warned. But it was worth every tear!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. My book club read this and even though it was a reread for me, I enjoyed it just as much the second time through. Such an inventive and fast-paced story - I loved revisiting it this year.

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. I discovered several years ago that I really enjoy food writing so reading this book was a delight! Reichl had wild stories about her time as the NY Times restaurant critic and the most lush and fabulous descriptions of the meals she ate. It includes recipes and some of the reviews that she wrote. I read her book Save Me the Plums last year and will certainly read her others soon.