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Our Boxed Lunch Book Club meets tomorrow from 12-1. This month we are discussing Carol Shields novel, Small Ceremonies (1976), which is about a biographer named Judith who collects details about people and events. Interestingly, in the novel, Judith is writing a biography about Canadian pioneer Susanna Moodie and in the same year that this novel was published, Carol Shields also published a biography of Susanna Moodie. That detail was so fascinating to me, especially since we are discussing a book that is largely about making story from minutiae.
So here are the questions:
Opening Questions: (These are for everyone to discuss as while coming in, finding a spot, eating…before the more formal discussion begins.)
At the end of the book (p. 181), Judith declares herself what we now know her to be: a watcher. She says that watching events as an outsider enlarges her. Do you consider yourself to be a watcher? If so, describe this characteristic in yourself. If not, what opposite or contrary word would you use to describe yourself?
What are your small ceremonies? What are the things that you do every day (every week, every month) that might only be noticeable to someone like Judith? Which ones are intentional? Which are mindlessly routine?
Questions for Discussion:
On p. 3, Judith says that September is the real beginning of the year. Why do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Stories (p.52): It’s the arrangement of events which makes the stories. It’s throwing away, compressing, underlining. Hindsight can give structure to anything, but you have to be able to see it. Breathing, waking, sleeping; our lives are steamed and shaped into stories.
Susanna Moodie (p.53) and a red hard-covered book by Kipling that Richard is reading are two things mentioned by Judith that make up the landscape of the Gill home, at least in this particular season. What objects or topics are part of the current fabric of your home right now?
Why then can’t I shut out the wool? Let’s talk about the incident of the wool. Can you relate to Judith’s response to Martin’s project? …he’s developed a soft spot on the brain. …but what can be done with a man who makes a fool of himself? (p.89) What does the development of this project tell you about Judith and Martin’s relationship? How does it play itself out throughout the novel?
Judith and her friend, Nancy Krantz, discuss occasional little surprises on p.116-7. Nancy tells her peach story, which reminds Judith of some stationary given to her by a stranger. Can you think of a similar surprising incident in which you have been in just a few minutes blessed with a gracious detail that was…so completely unasked for (Nancy’s words)?
Salutations: Judith concentrates on what people call one another, both in her writing (Could anyone love a man she called by his surname? p.54) and in her life (Is he caught in that slot of growth where Mommy is too childish, Mother too severe and foreign? p.94) What do the people in your house call you? Do you think much about these names? What might a biographer like Judith say about the names you call one another?
The power of the casual curse (p.49): Judith talks about how a person takes on a characteristic simply because we say they have it. She several examples: They call their daughter Meredith a geologist because she collects rocks as a young child. She, herself, has become wry because Furlong called her so. Where in your life do you see this occur?
When Judith reads her completed novel manuscript with the stolen plot, she says that she understands why artists sometimes destroy their work, an act she had until now thought inexcusably theatrical. Can you remember a time when you had the desire to obliterate something that was shameful, infantile, degrading (p.74)? Have you ever shredded a canvas or destroyed a manuscript?
Judith’s illness in January: She states (p.93): I have never in my life been so ill. I can hardly believe I am suffering from something as ubiquitous as flu, and it seems preposterous that I can be this ill and still not require hospitalization. Have you ever felt this way? Was your experience of a long or debilitating illness similar to Judith’s? Describe.
Always the biographer, Judith manages to describe characters’ personalities for us in one succinct paragraph. She does this with Furlong (p.19), Meredith’s friend Gwendolyn (p.41) and Polly Stanley (p.129). Do you tend to sum people up in this way? Are these accurate or fair portrayals? Why or why not? How might Judith sum you up?
Judith finds one of Susanna Moodie’s novels to be very helpful in her research because Susanna wrote her own story in the fictional character Flora. (p.155) Since Carol Shields was also a biographer of Susanna Moodie, one might wonder if this is a clue to the reader that she is doing the same thing. Writing her own story in this novel. A story within a story within a story. If you were to write a fictional version of yourself, what would you look like? How might you improve yourself?
Toward the end of the book (pp.110-111 and pp.124-125), Judith describes her disappointment with Susanna in her later life. She says that she has lost her vision. No longer destitute, she has grown cranky. Why do you think Judith feels let down by Susanna?
In this novel of details, were there descriptions of people, places or events that stood out to in particular that you can share? (Feel free to read a portion you marked.) Her mother’s letter and unsympathetic impulses made me laugh because they might have been describing me exactly: Even our childhood illness were begrudged us. (p. 95) To what character did you relate most?
Next month we will meet on May 28th for lunch and discuss Secret Language by Monica Wood. We welcome anyone to join us!
This baby turns 8 today!
Last week someone asked me how old Ben was and I said with certainly, Well, he’ll be seven next week. Nope. Already seven. Somewhere I lost count. I guess because he was the baby of our family for five years I just can’t stand to let him grow up. But he defies me.
- photo by whitney loibner
I am fully convinced that God gave Ben to our family to keep us smiling. There are five melancholy Chinos at this house. Without Ben, we are in danger of taking ourselves too seriously.
He climbed this mountain when he was six. I know it won’t be his last great conquest.
- photo by whitney loibner
Ben of the Special Ben Handshake. Ben who wants to wake up early enough to say Goodbye to the grumpy brother who has to catch the bus. Ben who will read the Bubble Book to Simon again. And again. Ben who walks to and from school with Mary Polly every day. Messy Ben. Happy Ben.
Happy Birthday Benjamin Craig Chino!
Yesterday we put a vegetable garden into our backyard with lots of dear friends. Each family has made a past effort to have a vegetable garden with varying degrees of success, so this year we decided to put all our efforts together. The whole project has already been so much fun!! I took years off my life in laughter yesterday as families came and went. Friends and neighbors who dropped by our house randomly were soon working alongside of us.
The men put in the hard labor of tilling and marking off the plot with timbers. They had help from three impressive gals, who moved my entire compost pile (scraps from my kitchen from the last three years) into the garden plot. Then Sarabeth arrived with our beloved plants from a sweet lady who grows and sells organic plants out of her own yard in her neighborhood. We planted until the sun was down, with help from all the children. Even Simon had a job. He sprinkled our organic fertilizer (bat guano) into the freshly dug holes.
And now God is smiling on us with rain for our newly planted community plot.
Mary Polly, who stayed with the project from start to finish, said last night just before she fell asleep, “Mama, I’m just so happy about that garden!”
Me too.
Happy Earth Day!
A couple of years ago when I first read what is now a favorite “save the earth” book, Serve God, Save the Planet, I was fairly overwhelmed by everything I wanted to implement in our lives from that book. Whenever I saw a list of things to do to save the earth, I felt like there were so many things! How could I EVER do them all?
But slowly, we began to make some changes. Every few months, we try something new to be kinder to our planet. Gradually, we have put into practice what now seems like a large list of greener habits.
Earth Day is an opportunity to add in one or two more. I have chosen a couple off of various lists from blogs I read. Here’s the best list I’ve seen this week. I also enjoy getting the daily tip from the ideal bite. And just for fun, if you decide to make a green resolution for the year, you can enter the contest at Whole Foods to win one of their FEED bags.
One of my green resolutions this year is that I’m going to try to hang out all my laundry while the weather is warmer. Already, I’m getting some pushback:
Cole to me: MOM!! Why is my towel so scratchy??
Have a great GREEN day!
Whitney took these gorgeous photos of my granola for our soon-to-be-published church anniversary cookbook that I just had to share with you.
photo by Whitney Loibner
photo by Whitney Loibner
photo by Whitney Loibner
photo by Whitney Loibner
photo by Whitney Loibner
Here are the recipes one more time, because don’t these pictures make you want some! For more Whitney food photo fun, check out our sushi on her blog!
Original Chino House Granola
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sesame seeds (sometimes I substitute half the sesame seeds for flax seeds)
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup broken pecans
2 cups dried fruit (I use a combination of cranberries, blueberries, cherries and mango pieces cut into thin strips.)
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup blackstrap molasses
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup canola oil
Mix all ingredients except fruit in large bowl. Spread granola on a parchment lined half sheet pan. Granola should not be more than one inch thick. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes. Toss in the fruit and cook about 5 more minutes. Allow to cool completely before storing in air-tight container. Enjoy!
Almond Coconut Granola
loosely adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
Ingredients:
4 cups oats
2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried blueberries
Directions:
Mix together the oats, coconut, almonds and pumpkin seeds.
Melt coconut oil and butter together. Add honey and syrup. Pour over dried ingredients. Stir until mixed.
Spread on parchment and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until it begins to brown. Stir every 15 minutes.
Toss with dried fruit while still warm. Allow to completely cool before storing in an air tight container.
Enjoy!
Dodging the downpour in and out of church. Indoor Easter egg hunt. Lazy afternoon by the fire.
photo by Whitney Loibner
Except for that one eensie weensie battle about clothes-it’s the only day of the year that Mama chooses everyone’s clothes-we were all sunshine in our hearts!
photo by Whitney Loibner
It was a lovely day, despite the weather. It was a day for singing. Rejoicing.
For reminding each other that He is risen indeed!
And for eating.
I’m not sure why we took pictures of us instead of the food.
On this night before Easter,
I wonder…
how did those friends long ago
those who called Jesus friend, brother, son-
how did they wait for Easter morning?
Each year I find myself anticipating Easter morning,
even though I know what is coming.
I know the story.
But how did those who did not know the story face the holy lonesome echo of the silence of God?
This song has spoken to me on many a long night.
I return to it when I face a world I don’t understand
Or when I can’t find my way.
It has become a form of prayer for me, as are many of this musician’s words.
Andrew Peterson, The Silence of God
I tried to pull away enough today to remember.
And I had some plans to help the kids to remember.
I fought through conflicting interests to pull our evening together.
There were compromises.
We broke homemade bread together.
But we didn’t make it together.
We went for a walk.
We didn’t finish the Easter tree. (There’s still tomorrow, and next year.)
We ended our day watching a movie about a little girl who faced a mob.
Her mama told her to remember that Jesus faced one too.
As my little (and not so little) ones put their heads to pillows, I prayed that they might be like Ruby.
And choose to embrace the cross.
today’s hymn from The Divine Hours:
In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering over the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime.
When the woes of life overtake me,
hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me.
Lo! It glows with peace and joy.
When the sun of bliss is beaming
light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
adds more luster to the day.
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
by the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
joys that through all time abide.
In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering over the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime.
John Bowring
Simon has been sick this week, so I haven’t been out much. Except for that trip to the doctor’s office where Simon showed his most cooperative spirit to the doctor.
I have been trying to mark Holy Week in our lives, but we haven’t finished anything we’ve started. I began this project that by golly we WILL finish this weekend to make an Easter Tree that I saw and loved. But I started trying to blow some eggs hollow and my ears were popping. I got like two eggs done. I really want to be that Mama that makes things. That crafty gal. But the truth is that I am the Mama that buys it at the store and lets her kids rip it out of the package and hang it on the tree.
I have aspirations. I can envision myself as creative. But if I invite you over for a craft making session, perhaps you could suggest dinner instead.
So with recovering from an ear infection, lots of half-started (half-hearted) projects and a cloudy day before me, I decided the best thing to do today would be to get outside before the storm. I met a friend at the lake and we walked. And we laughed at our silly toddlers. Such good medicine.
At some point, Kyah decided she didn’t want to be in her stroller anymore. She tried to talk Simon into a trade, but when he wouldn’t go for it, she came up with her own solution. Could he look any more annoyed by this scenario?
Getting outside in almost any capacity does something good in my heart. A little less frantic. Deeper breaths.
Maybe I’ll be ready for Easter after all.
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