Tiffany Painter

Not to bore you with talk of the weather, but we finally got some snow around here. It was the perfect amount at my house- covered the yard but melted on the driveway and didn’t need to be shoveled. Even better, the mountains saw over a foot in places. Now we just need that to happen half a dozen more times in the next month. Winter seems to have skipped us this year which means it will be a long hot summer with high fire dangers. Everybody is holding their breath on windy days. Other parts of the country have the opposite problem and are seeing too much winter this year. It would be nice if the snow from the east could be shipped to the mountains in the west. If only there could be balance in the world. Don’t we all spend our lives like Goldilocks – looking for the just right. Baby Bear knew how to do things. Unlike Papa Bear with his too hot porridge, too big chair, and too hard bed or Mama Bear with her too cold porridge, still too big chair, and too soft bed, Baby Bear’s things were just right for Goldilocks. If you think about it though, Baby Bear’s things were only perfect for the moment. Baby Bear will grow and leave behind his childish ways. Goldilocks has already broken his chair. Can life stay in balance? Those moments when everything is just right are fleeting. Like a dog chasing its tail, we constantly search for moments when things are not too anything and are just right, even though what makes things perfect is incessantly changing. Human nature has us aiming to balance out the teeter-totter of life, but remember, it’s more fun when the teetor’s going up and the totter’s going down.

My reading life: I have a new goal for 2026. I am going to read one middle grade book a week, 52 total. I started this late and am playing catch up right now – which is not a bad thing at all. I had read three as of my last post a month ago (Wish Switch, Three Blue Hearts, and The Trouble with Heroes) and loved each of them. Since then I’ve read The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt. This was a novel in verse that told a fantasy story about two children from different worlds finding a way to work together to bring hope of survival. I also read the new Newberry Honor book The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman. The writing was beautiful and Hartman’s ability to tell a kid friendly story about death was astonishing. Rounding out my kid lit reading was The Sherlock Society by James Ponti and all I can say is I am a new fan of Ponti’s mystery writing. This was a fun read and I look forward to reading more of his work. But that is only six books and we are at the tenth week of the year. I have some reading to do to catch up. I am currently listening to The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko and reading Schooled by Jamie Sumner. My plan is to be caught up before April.

The second part of my reading challenge is one nonfiction or poetry book a month. I’m on track with this one. In January I read Dog Show: Poems by Billy Collins. If you know me, you know anything to do with dogs will bring me enjoyment and poems by a former U.S. Poet Laureate did not fail. I read Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd in February. This was a quiet read about a the writing life of a well known author. It didn’t solve the problem of finding the discipline to write, but let in the grace of allowing yourself to live a creative life. For March, I’m almost done with an Ann Patchett book: Truth and Beauty.

In college I always tried to take a literature class so I would have reading homework and school couldn’t prevent be from still reading fiction. To find balance in my reading life, I still read fiction. My most recent selections included a new book by Lisa Patton, Kissing the Sky, which was a fascinating story set at Woodstock with the impact of the Vietnam War woven in. The amount of research Patton did to write this book showed. Keeping with a history theme I did not intend, I finally read Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. This family drama spanned many decades and covered several wars and their impact on three generations in a small town in Ohio. It started with a slow steady rhythm that picked up with the addition of each new character.

My writing life: I’ve started a new book that I’m excited about. There is something magical about falling in love with new characters and seeing the stories they create. It should be an interesting ride with twin brothers who learn their parents have been keeping something from them. Middle grade is so much fun.

2/7

hiding from world
found this quiet spot to rest
tucked away at peace

2/14

off in the distance
past the parched terrain waiting
white snow capped mountains

2/21

watching the action
lots of sparkly things zipping by
not sure what this is

2/28

resting weary head
making do with what he has
dreaming of the couch