Tying Up Loose Ends

Life’s not perfect. Some loose ends may never get trimmed and tidied. 

~Hoda Kotb

On February sixth of this year, I sat down in near exhaustion and began writing to explore my dilemma of "What to do?" My house was messy, my living room bookcase was crowded, the dining room table once again became a landing place for organizing historical notes and unfinished scrapbooks from forty-years ago.

I came up with plans: 

1. Stop thinking and start shelving.

2. Drink a glass of wine and worry about it tomorrow.

3. Quit thinking. Start acting. 

4. Fix dinner and relax for the evening and wake up refreshed.

I chose #4 and after dinner sat down to watch PBS. Seeing the haphazard bookshelves in the background of the man being interviewed gave me an idea of what not to do.  

I woke up refreshed. After breakfast, with the help of my husband we

took everything down from the bookcase including the shelving and started to construct scenic book shelving for our living room.

I nearly finished the shelving but couldn’t reach closure. Something didn’t feel right, something wasn’t balanced, but at least it was not helter-skelter.

I am a great believer in getting one thing done before taking on another task. Staying on task to finish the living room books was my only goal that week. However, Sir Isaac Newton had a theory about that. He said, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” 

"I wonder what his lab looks like?" I muttered to myself. 

In my quest for balance, I reluctantly walked down the hallway to my teaching, storytelling, and professional hidden cupboard of books. I sighed when I opened the door. So much. So much.

Ironically, upon opening the doors fully I noticed several pictures taped to the inside cupboard—pictures of how to decorate shelving. “Yes,” my lungs cried, one of the magazine photos opened my mind. For a couple of days, I played with framed pictures between books and art.

My mood shifted from worried to playful and relaxed. Giving me the energy and focus to clean off the dining room table. I stood back and took a photo of the bookcase. Perfect, I smiled.

 Fixing a glass of iced tea, I sat down to relax and congratulate myself on finishing a project. The more I looked the more something in me felt unfinished. That is when my heart and head came together and asked, “What if I die tomorrow?"

Having been to four funerals in the last six weeks, my emotions apparently were pounding my heart and head where thoughts hidden in crinkled crevices of my mind were buried. I do not want to leave a mess of paper memories for my daughter and her stepbrothers.

With fresh glass of tea in hand, I meandered through the house and out front to the garden where my daffodils and pansies stood in full color in the winter sun. My heart knew there was more to be done and how to do it. As Alan Turing described, “We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty to be done.”

I could no longer hide in my studio even with the sunshine brightening the pale green walls, nor ignore my hallway hidings. Instead of enjoying the view of the birds eating at the feeder out my writing window, all I could sense was clutter: stacks of books, piles of papers and pictures
strewn on the chair and tabletops. In the open-air art closet, I could only see plastic tubs filled with my parents history stacked four feet high, next to that another bookcase with very few books and five shelves of so many-rows of files, art papers, scrapbooks, decorative tubs.

The next day, I pulled up a stool and began pulling books from deep inside the hallway cupboard. One by one I sorted my remaining collection of autographed children’s books. I made only two decisions: keep for Katy or give away to teachers. In less than five days the cupboard and studio showed off their empty spaces to me. In the end my teacher
friends acquired books and comfort puppets for their classrooms, and our adult children will be pleased that some loose ends were trimmed and tidied.

Readers in the Rough Book Recommendations for 2026

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January 2026, Kathy H., Rowena S., Tammy C., Letty,
 Linda E.,  Kathy T. We are missing our traveling friends. 
Photo by Letty's sister, Jonya. 

We LOVE TO READ. 

In 2025 we read the following 12 books and rated them according to our 'golf guide.' The rating system is based on the language of golf and quality of literature. 

A Par rating meets the expectation of the elements of fiction: a solid plot, strong and dynamic characters, setting that is defined, a theme we can discuss along with a point of view that lends itself to telling the story, and strength of genre. *It is important to note that individual perceptions matter. Although the reader may not find the main character likeable, if the main character develops and changes over the lifetime of the novel then s/he is  considered a dynamic character because of this change. 

A Par rating for memoir asks for a compelling story using truth, theme, voice, point of view being I, and an ongoing attempt to arrive at answers. 

At the end of each monthly discussion we talk through the rating briefly giving the novel/memoir a rating. To better explain our voting think of a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best and you would recommend it to any type of reader, and a 1 being a bogey or would not recommend to others to read.  We then take the total and divide it by the number of readers to get the average. 

• A Hole-in-One vote equals 5 points. 
• Eagle vote equals 4 points. 
• Birdie vote equals 3 points. 
• Par vote equals 2 points.
• Bogey is worth 1 point.
• Double bogey is not recommended.

THREE books received the Hole-in-One rating (5 points). 

West with Giraffes  is an emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.

“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience that he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.

Two excellent books from completely different times and places. The Instrumentalist is placed in 1704 Venice with an eight-year-old orphan girl strives to become Venice's greatest violinist and composer. Her "sound-color synesthesia" abilities set her apart from the other girls and create a destiny for her. 

 

Becoming Madam Secretary introduces us to Frances Perkins at the turn of the last century who begins her destiny by working with children in the crowded tenements of Hell's Kitchen. Through her social scene in Greenwich Village she meets the people who will guide her to her future in the White House where she becomes FDR's Secretary of Labor (1933-1945) and what an amazing path she charted, as the primary architect behind the creation of Social Security. 

2025 became a banner year for those of us sharing opinions and personal reflections on the majority of the books we read.  Six of the books earned a 4 rating which is equal to shooting an "Eagle" in the game of golf.   

   

My personal favorite of the six books is LIFE IMPOSSIBLE by Matt Haig.  I knew all along it was realistic type fantasy, now called magical realism,  but in my heart I wanted it to be a true story. The author led me through an emotional attachment to the protagonist, 72 year-old Grace Winters. Grace takes a chance on life when she buys a one-way ticket to the Isle of Ibiza to live in a home given to her by a long lost acquaintance. Grace's experiences open the doors on both or past and future. I thought this quote best exemplified the story: “A wry and tender love-letter to the best of being human.” —Benedict Cumberbatch 

The next five books take us on journeys in time and setting.  HORSE by Geraldine Brooks is an historical novel of the legendary race horse, Lexington. 

JAMES is a novel that retells Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved character, Jim, who is called James. This story swept me away from housework and meals. 

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding is another historical fiction that tells the story of the embroiderers who created Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown in 1947. This story is interwoven with a modern-day story about a women discovering her grandmother's connection to the dress.                                                                                              

 TELL ME EVERYTHING reconnects us with Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton. As only Strout can do, she brings each character to life through individual stories  that show how all of our lives are connected in one way or another. 

ISOLA is based on the true life of Marguerite de la Rocque, a wealthy noble woman who inherited a great wealth as a child, only to have it gambled and lost by her trusted uncle. To image this noble woman who could do nothing for herself abandoned on an island in Canada. It is a fight for survival with surprising twists. It reminded me of the old black and white movies I watched as child when I wanted to scream at the heroine and tell her who to look out for. 

This year all of our books broke PAR. That is quite an accomplishment whether in literature or golf. The three books receiving the rating of "Birdie" one stroke better than par come from different genres. 

Hanks take us through the process of making a motion picture, a difficult task it is to produce and direct but also to write about clearly. I had to reread passages several times before I understand what that character's job really was in relationship to the making of a movie. Once I understood the direction it became an easier read, and most insightful.

ALL THE BROKEN PIECES  by John Boyne is a griping novel set in the
present day but takes us back to a dark past when now 91 year-old Gretel comes face to face with her past and that of her father's--a Nazi commandant for Hitler. 

THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters spans decades of time after 

four-year-old, Ruthie, vanishes while her Mi'kmaq family in Maine is picking blueberries. It is not a mystery but instead focuses on the family and the emotional fallout as the years pass by.  I found myself so caught up in the drama that I have forgotten much of the story except for the ending.  This might be an easier book to read the second time around. 

Because it is Valentine's I am leaping ahead to a book we read last month THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans received an Eagle vote. I applauded the story because the writing of letters was a way of life when I was growing up.  What Evans has done with character building through letters written back and forth is exceptional.  To read a review of this epistolary novel click on this link: The Correspondent Review