Miscelllaneous

I don't have much for you today. Our cat went missing for almost a week. A neighbor had seen a bobcat a few days before so we suspected the worst. Murphy had recently been expanding his territory and would sometimes accompany me on walks that stretched so far that he would be out of breath once we got home. He's not the most graceful cat we've ever had so we could picture him getting himself into a jam that took his life. I visited with a neighbor who claims she's had an indoor/outdoor cat for over eleven years and the cat has never caused her to worry. Not so Murphy. We were plenty worried and finally we decided we'd never see him again. I was about to take up his food bowl when he sauntered through his cat door Sunday afternoon. Not a hair out of place. Not a word of explanation. He looked totally fine except a little disoriented.

I'm actually busy this week writing other things and don't want to spend a lot of time on this blog today. I think I have written a book so I've been using all my brain power editing and assembling my mission reports.

I do have one other thing, though. A friend of mine always asks for book suggestions before she goes on her summer vacation. Then she sends around a compliation of what everybody she contacted has told her to read. Many times there is an overlap. This summer the books getting the most recommendations are on my list: Eat, Pray,Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Animal, Vegetable and Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

But the real bonus this summer was that she sent me the summer reading list for the Hockaday School. She not only works there but her daughter attends Hockaday, as well.

I have long had a theory that you can get close to the same education by going into a college bookstore and just buying the books they have their students read for the classes. I've done this every time I was in a town with a college. This includes Harvard, MIT and Smith. I may not have attended any classroom lectures but I could say I've read the books. So I intend to really look at the books on this list. Hockaday is requiring their students to read at least one book out of their four-page list. It's a very predictible list and some of them I've already read. But, besides the multiple choice of picking one from the list, Hockaday is requiring their entire student body to read one book I've never heard of: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.

Beaven and I have a busy summer coming up. Between reading Hockaday's list and writing a book, I have a healthy calendar of travelling. We're going to Disney World and Mexico and I'll be in Oklahoma for Synod Youth Workshop. We'll host Grandmother Camp for one week, maybe more. I intend to continue my weekly postings as much as I can but will let you know if I have to skip a week.