Journeys in the Round…

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized

 

It seems I have taken the long way around to get to writing today’s blog.

I’m just now finishing the last (very cold) dregs of tea from my round lighthouse mug.

The internet loading symbol went ’round and ’round most of the day as well.

It felt like I was going around and around in circles too, even though I was just sitting very still and quiet.

Oh, and I overslept too.

And I’m still sitting here, wondering if I actually got anything of importance done today.

Maybe if I post up a little bit about what I’ve read lately, I can tell myself I did something today. Something other than endlessly and eternally applying for day jobs on Indeed, et al.

Since I love lighthouses (hence the lighthouse mug!), I’m going to share the collection of lighthouse stories that Black Beacon Books put out.

Well, not the whole collection, but my readerly experience with the collection.

I was sold on this book even before I read it. I love maritime history, and I love visiting lighthouses even more. (The light at Egmont Key is one of my favourites!)

Even better, these lighthouse stories are spooky ones. But they are also full of magic and otherworldliness and delightfully dark, delicious, haunting dreams. Or dreamlike experiences, anyway. 

I’m a little tired to do the tales justice, but I was really happy to see that lights and lighthouses still carry a certain romance, even in this overly electronic day and age.

So, go visit these remote literary settings, especially if you’re an introvert like me, and there’s still too many people in close proximity even with the sheltering-in-place COVID restrictions. (Ha.)

Lighthouses: An Anthology of Dark Tales by Black Beacon Books https://blackbeaconbooks.blogspot.com/p/lighthouses.html

And I also just finished up a book I got from the Mystery Book Club. (It’s like a reader’s Xmas every month, with books wrapped better than I could ever wrap a gift in a million years!) Possible spoiler!

It’s The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. I read this book so dang fast I guess I liked it. I’m gonna have to re-read it though, because I think I missed finding out the fate of the bee. But maybe the author didn’t resolve it. Which would make me sad….with all the heartache and pain and trauma in the book, but with a bittersweet surprise ending, I wanted a happy ending for the little lost, alone bee. Have I mentioned I love bees?

What I really liked were how some of the chapters ended. It was a neat trick, and I just kept reading and reading into the wee hours because of it.

Here’s the link for this book, if you want to check it out! I liked the blue cover better, so I’m putting the Goodreads link up. Let me know, after you read the book, which cover you like better–the blue one or the orangey brown one.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42270777-the-beekeeper-of-aleppo

And to wrap up this roundabout sort of day, I was introduced to a great song by fellow blogger and poet/artist, Marc Latham (https://fmpoetry.wordpress.com). The song is called “willow” (sic) and it’s by Taylor Swift. Yep, it is the very first time I have listened to one of her songs. And it was a great recommendation. Her songs and my poems seem to match up in that synchronous magical way that I love. And I like cardigans. So I guess I have to go listen to that song now. And maybe buy a couple of her albums when I get a day job (Are you reading this out there, Indeed job posters?).

 

Here’s a link to her Twitter post about the song: https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1339014864791089152

19 thoughts on “Journeys in the Round…”

  2. I’m having a morning like that too! I think it may be telling me to pause for a moment and think about Christmas for a moment – only a week away! I did a little shopping on ebay for gifts for my family – we normally don’t exchange gifts but I think this year is different 🙂

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    1. Oh, hey, you live in my home state! I don’t think I’ve been to that one, unless I was a kid and don’t remember. I’ve been to the one in St. Augustine, and even went on a nighttime ghost tour there. And, of course, the Egmont Key one, which is really cool because it also has all these military structures on it, and you have to take a boat to get there.

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      1. I haven’t been to the other ones you’ve mentioned but I have got to visit some lighthouses on military installations like in Pensacola Florida. Can’t recall the name, but it was on a private military beach, with big ass military ships out on the ocean. 😊

        The cool thing about the lighthouse here is you can see so far out on all sides, the spiral staircase going up was cool, there was something unique about the light I can’t remember and it was supposed to be one of the tallest lighthouses out here in Florida. I enjoyed it, I’ll try to post some pictures later. I went with my mom in 2017 (I think). I don’t get out much. There was something cool about the living arrangements and the housing sections at the lighthouse. I took a ton of photos, ridiculous actually, because I only use maybe 1% of photos I take. And I photograph everything because I lost my best friend when I was a teenager and I only have two pictures of her. Welp. Generally I want to use them for photo editing and I’ll get around to it maybe eventually before I die. I would definitely like to get out to St Augustine soon to do a photoshoot at the cemeteries and then maybe go visit the lighthouse, if the world will ever open up (but out here the pandemic is getting worse).

        Sending holiday cheer but it mostly looks like Morse code with Christmas lights.

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  7. Marc Latham

    Thanks for the mention, and glad you liked the song/video. Bees and lighthouses nice topics too. You’d probably like Cold Skin, a movie I saw recently which is set at a lighthouse: ‘Cold Skin is a 2017 French-Spanish science fiction-horror film directed by Xavier Gens and based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Albert Sánchez Piñol.’

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    1. Sounds really cool…definitely will have to keep that on my radar for if and when I can rent videos or find a video rental place here…I love French and Spanish (and South Korean/Korean films). Or read the book, which would probably happen sooner! Thanks for the recommendation…added it to my “to read” list!

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      1. Marc Latham

        Nice, yes, you’d probably like the movie, as they hardly leave the lighthouse!
        I was thinking when I read your post that my favourite part of lighthouses is the revolving light, and then the sunrise yesterday was like that!

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Pingback: Five Things Friday: Mini-Interview with Author Elinor DeWire – Willow Croft

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