Monthly Archives: June 2018

A novel with poems for chapters? Yes!

Posted on June 26, 2018 by forstegrupp

I read Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel The Poet X  in a single evening which does not mean anything at all negative. It means rather that the characters and the plot were compelling, but I was even more interested in the structure … Continue reading →

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The flowers of the late June garden

Posted on June 26, 2018 by forstegrupp

We don’t have many blooming plants in our garden because we get so much shade. But here are a few of them: monarda, daisies, echinacea, lace-cap hydrangea, bulb lilies, anise hyssop and purple poppy mallow. Most of these plants came … Continue reading →

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Sometimes you change your mind about a book

Posted on June 25, 2018 by forstegrupp

Yesterday I started reading Anna Marie McLemore’s magical realism book Wild Beauty and today I finished it.  The point of view oscillates between a girl named Estrella and a boy named Fel. The girl is one of a generation of five … Continue reading →

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Spicy Hot Daylilies

Posted on June 25, 2018 by forstegrupp

When I was growing up, I only knew the common road-side orange daylilies. Now they come in all colors and shapes: lemon yellow, shadowy purple, rich burgundy, lime green, ruffled pink. The lilies bloom from serial buds on a single … Continue reading →

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A Teacher’s Summer

Posted on June 20, 2018 by forstegrupp

When grading all the papers and exams, averaging grades, writing final comments, attending faculty meetings, tidying up the classroom, and bringing books home is finally done, then a teacher can smile and have a glass of wine on the porch … Continue reading →

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Oh the Time and the Number of Stitches

Posted on June 18, 2018 by forstegrupp

My mom is an accomplished teacher, baker, knitter, crotcheter, spinner, and quilter. There is very little she could not do if she set her mind to it. She has even made with my step-father a kayak. She has tried woodworking … Continue reading →

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A Unicorn disrupts 20th century Italy

Posted on June 14, 2018 by forstegrupp

Peter S. Beagle has written another novel devoted to celebrating unicorns. His first one, The Last Unicorn, was published in 1968. This one, In Calabria, was published in 2017, almost 30 years later. It is definitely a wish-fulfillment sort of … Continue reading →

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Weeding Makes a Difference

Posted on June 13, 2018 by forstegrupp

This past Sunday, I finally got a chance to start tidying up the garden (wilderness). It has been sorely neglected between the end of the school year with all the grading, meetings, and stuff and our middle son’s graduation. Plants … Continue reading →

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7 Red Raspberries

Posted on June 12, 2018 by forstegrupp

A couple years ago I planted red raspberries in our garden (wilderness actually) inspired by the neighbor of my sister who lives in Wisconsin. I was visiting my sister and this neighbor (also with Cincinnati connections) invited us over to … Continue reading →

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