2026 Book List

A list of books read in 2026

 January 2026

1.   Hesychasm, The Bedewing Furnace of the Heart, Zacharias Zacharou 

2.   The Winter Pascha, Thomas Hopko

February 2026 

3.   Grace for Grace: The Psalter and the Holy Fathers, Johanna Manley

March 2026

4.   Prayers by the Lake, Nikolai Velimirovich 

April 2026

5.   Fighting the Hate, Melanie Phillips 

6.   The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1, Beth Brower 

7.   The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2, Beth Brower 

May 2026

8.   The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 3, Beth Brower

9.   The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4, Beth Brower 

10. God, Where is the Wound? Healing Remedies for Today's World, Siluana Vlad

11.  The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 5, Beth Brower

12.  Theology of the Ordinary, Siluana Vlad

13.  The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 6, Beth Brower

14.  The Liturgy of Death, Alexander Schmemann 

June 2026

15.  Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (oh my what a story! I am so glad I read it.) 

16.  Of Thorn and Briar, A Year with the West Country Hedgelayer, Paul Lamb

17.  A Garland for Ashes, Hanna Zack Miley

July 2026

18.  Early Christian Writings, Penguin Classics 

19.  If Only We Could See, Jennifer Trafton  (about Lilias Trotter) 

20.  Lenten Lands, My Childhood w/Joy Davidman and CS Lewis, Douglas Gresham

21.  Life is Short but Wide, Lorrie Orr 

22.  On Fasting and Feasting, Saint Basil the Great 

23.  The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, V. 7, Beth Brower 

August 2026

24.  The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 8, Beth Brower 

Wide Open Evening Sky

Here is a view from the hill for you, looking southwest or west, or straight up at an airliner preparing to make a turn west for its approach to San Diego International Airport, which lies pretty much in the direction of the setting sun over there closer to the Pacific Ocean.   The wide open sky one evening this week, an unusual cloud formation, the moon, and an airplane.

 

Around the Neighborhood

Walking is good for you.  We all know this.  But, sometimes, it's just not possible to be very diligent about it.  There are many reasons.  On Monday, though, I did have a chance to take a nice, long walk around the neighborhood at 6:30 in the morning.  Our days have been very warm lately, so the earlier, the better, where walking is concerned.  

When I stepped out the door, the temperature was already 70F/21C. The air was very still, and so were the birds; hardly a chirp to be heard anywhere.  I enjoyed the quiet of the morning, and the light covering of clouds, keeping it a bit cooler for the moment.

Here are some views for you. . . 

 

Instagram Farewells

I have said goodbye to Instagram; I was being sucked into the big black whirlpool of constant scrolling and wasting valuable time best spent elsewhere.  For months, years, I tried to practice restraint and use common sense but, alas, it seems I have none where that particular social media platform is concerned!

So, in a few days, this Friday, I am hitting the "Delete" button and it's all gone! The fact that I want so much NOT to depart from Instagram tells me it must be done.  Goodbyes already have been said to everyone, and I've let people know where they can find me if they are so inclined. 

And for me, a deeper level of peace.  Already I have been able to submerge my distracted soul more deeply into the quiet waters of prayer and reading each day.  Living in the present, being present . . .

And thus I hope to continue . . .

I will say Instagram (its good side) is a beautiful, colorful place.  In preparation for leaving, I whittled down my posts, took screen shots, and ran them through the Waterlogue App to make art out of them.  A sweet little memento of time spent there.  So much beautiful color and pattern, reminiscent of a quilt made from iridescent rainbow fragments . . . I offer a small selection: 

I don't expect they will mean anything to anyone but me, who remembers each photo and what it represents.  Many and varied moments of one woman's life, memorialized in vibrantly colored squares.

Goodbye Instagram!  I have experienced a handful of difficult goodbyes this year and this is certainly one of them.  In the case of this goodbye, it is painful, but it is also very, very good for me. 

Walks, Views, Waterlogued

Just a few artsy views, all of them created with the Waterlogue App from my own photos.  From walks around the neighborhood, and from a little day excursion we took a couple weeks ago out to Point Loma Lighthouse.

 

A True Story

Currently reading this fascinating, sometimes painful, and also inspiring true story of Hanna Zack Miley, rescued from certain death when she was seven years old thanks to the Kindertransport, "an epic rescue effort that would save 10,000 Jewish children from Hitler's Nazi regime by granting them safe passage to England" during World War II.  

 

 

 

A documentary film (I was 8814) has also been produced.  In 2025 it was awarded Best Documentary at the Berlin Indie Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at the Austin International Film Festival, and Best Biographical Feature Film at the World Film Festival in Cannes.   I have not seen the film yet but plan to watch it online (via this link) after I finish the book.

Something a Little Different

The past three days have included some lovely hours reading this book.  A look at a way of life and work not familiar to me, having lived all my many years here in Southern California, in cities mostly, where I am not aware of anything like what this book describes.  I found it fascinating and I loved every word!

I first discovered Of Thorn and Briar via Instagram (@westcountry_hedgelayer), where the author, Paul Lamb, shares some lovely posts.  I kept referring to it as I read the book, to see visually what he was describing so well in his book.  He also has a website here detailing what he is doing these days in his effort to encourage further interest and appreciation for the centuries-old craft of hedgelaying and its benefits for the biodiversity and preservation of the environment.   He begins with August and describes, month by month, the work and life of a woodsman, countryman, hedgelayer in the beautiful countryside of southwest England.  It is well written and an easy and pleasant read.  Something a bit different from my usual reading, and no less enjoyable.  

 

Ben and Blackie

Dear Readers, it is a very sad day today in our household.  It is always heartbreaking, if you have beloved pets whom you have cherished and cared for over the years, when the time comes to say goodbye and send them back to their Creator.  This is such a day for my husband and me.  

Sharing a few photos, while looking back and remembering happier days, when Ben and Blackie were both young and healthy.  They came into our lives when we were living two hours' drive north of here in another town.  As stray cats living in the neighborhood, they were captured, neutered, and released back to where they were found.  Ben showed up in our back yard first, three or four years before Blackie.  Somehow they knew we were safe people and they adopted us, living on the back patio.  Putting out food and water helped, of course! I could not bear to abandon them to a questionable fate when we moved to our current home in 2014.  So I figured out a way to bring them with us, and turn them into strictly indoor cats.  After about a month, both had adapted very well and enjoyed their new lives.  And we enjoyed loving and caring for them.

Ben was about 16 when he began suffering the ills of old age and he left us in March of 2023.  

Today it was Blackie's turn. 

We are so grateful for the mobile vet service, Paws into Grace, that will come to your home to euthanize an ill and dying pet.  Both cats, having grown up in the streets, still retained elements of the feral behavior, and the stress of having to be caged and taken to a busy, noisy clinic when they were so old and so ill would have been too cruel.

We said goodbye to Blackie this morning.  She was such a sweet natured little cat, and we are already missing her terribly.  Lots of tears.  I am not ashamed to say so.  

Before I sat down to write this post, I realized that today is exactly three years, three months, and three days after Ben left us.  Seems like that ought to mean something, but I don't know what.

 Goodbye, sweet little furry friends.  We thank God for the joy you brought into our lives.

You will never be forgotten. 

 

Beautiful

Just because it is so beautiful . . . sharing this painting by French artist Henri Biva (1848-1929).   You can see more about it here.   It's now the wallpaper on my phone.  With the screen's light shining through it, it is even lovelier.  You can click on the image to see it even better.  The details are amazing.  Each leaf and each blade of grass, the leaves on the water . . . 

 

 

An Unaccustomed Flurry of Book Buying

It seems like several years have passed since the last time I chose to invest in any fictional works.  I always try to find what I want at the local libraries, city and county.  I have so often been disappointed in many of the new books I have bought and, as we all know, books are expensive these days.

This rule of thumb has been broached, however, just recently.  All because I could not find this Emma M. Lion series at the library except as audio books.  So I took a leap of faith and purchased Volumes One and Two, as a test. Well, they exceeded my expectations (!) and so I followed up with Volumes Three, Four and Five, which arrived Sunday.  When these have been read, there are still Volumes Six, Seven and Eight to procure, with a Volume Nine reportedly nearing publication.  

In addition, a friend highly recommended Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, which also arrived Sunday.

Looking forward to several days of happy escapism into other places and other times . . .