The Path Not Taken

I wrote poetry before I wrote books; I spent about five years of my teens taking refuge in verse. Other choices lead to me becoming a novelist; had I not made them I think I would have instead become a poet. I'm very glad I decided to write books, but sometimes I wonder who I would have been had I traveled the road less taken. That's what I kept thinking as I read In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive by Clementine Von Radics.

This is not an easy book of poetry to read. The author was (or is) mentally ill. It's frank to a brutal degree, and howls with pain, and demands answers the poet will likely never get. I saw way too much of myself in the verses, and you might, too. I don't recommend reading this if you're feeling fragile; it might smash you to pieces.

With that disclaimer, this is a brilliant, intimate collection of intensely personal thoughts that draw you into a silent conversation with the poet. I haven't been this impressed by someone's verse since reading Ariel by Sylvia Plath. So there's that, too.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Better than Fried

I cut some chives from the kitchen garden to make garlic-chive baked fries for dinner. This is a great side dish for veggie burgers. Click here for the recipe from Taste of Home.com.

The Mercantile

If you don't mind walking 33K square feet in retail space, The Mercantile may be the vintage/arts store you'd enjoy visiting if you're ever in Orlando. I certainly did. Because it was busy I didn't take any photos in the store, but it's absolutely amazing and chock full of antiques and artisan creations, most of which were pretty reasonably priced. For $21.00 I invested in a picture of sailboats for the guest bathroom I'm redoing, and a fairy mystery jar of cool stuff. The jaw was hand-painted and decorated, and utterly charming. I think I wanted the jar more than the contents. As you can see the contents were both generous and pretty cool, too. I finally have some vintage gloves to use for my art quilter bingo challenge!

Rayen

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