Tag: Reading

ECONOGAL > Reading

Many Reasons to Read

Posted on by Econogal

From Entertainment to Gaining Knowledge

There are many reasons to read ranging from entertainment to gaining knowledge. And there are many types of books, articles and blogs to choose from. Plus, “reading” can be done via listening. Think of young children listening to stories at bedtime.

One of the icebreakers I used at the start of the fall semester was to ask each student what book they read most recently. Occasionally, a student would not have read a book just for fun in many years. Others were clearly readers for entertainment purposes. I found a strong correlation between students who read for fun and those students who gained much from the texts used in the classroom. (This was before the push to eliminate textbooks.)

My Many Reasons to Read

Regular readers of this blog know one of the key reasons I read is my hope to stave off memory loss. In 2013 I realized my mom was having memory issues because she could not finish any fiction books. So, this spring when I kept returning library books partially read, I became concerned.

Fortunately, my fears were unfounded. After struggling with new releases, I borrowed paperbacks from a family member. Two were by often read author David Baldacci and a third was a Stuart Woods. All three were read in timely fashion. They were fun reads.

Knowledge comes from reading. One is never too old to learn. Although I will admit learning about new technologies is difficult. Wrapping my brain around AI is one example. But the knowledge gained aids in investment decision making. Actually, in any decision making.

Reading Formats

Hardcover books are my preference. Paperbacks tend to have a smaller font. Online reading causes eyestrain for me. Even when reading with the blue light lenses. However, many of my family members prefer to read online. Everything from the newspaper to the latest beach read can be found online.

Of the many reasons to read online, convenience is at the top of the list. The Libby app allows you to check-out books online in less than the time needed to drive to the local library. As a bonus, library fines are non-existent as the app automatically returns the book on the due date.

Converting Non-Readers into Readers

Mastering reading is one of the most important tools for life. However, reading does not come easy for everyone. When working with children, it is important to find a genre that encourages the skill. The same holds true for adults.

Then, once a mastery of reading is complete reading across genres and delivery methods provides everything from entertainment to a gain in knowledge. These many reasons to read develop well-rounded, intelligent and thoughtful members of society. We need more readers in this world to produce the critical thinking that keeps the negatives of history from repeating.

I challenge each of you to read for at least an hour this weekend.

Important Things in Life

Posted on by Econogal

Top Three

Three items top the list of what I think is important to learn in life. First is reading. Once a child can read the door is open to academia and every day how-to instructions. The second is swimming. Even for those far away from the ocean. Finally, everyone needs to learn how to cook. Did the last two surprise you?

Reading is Most Important

As a parent, I stressed the importance of reading and thus books. Bookshelf wealth is now a thing, but our house has always had a plethora of books. Children’s books, cook books, gardening books, novels and how-to books and many, many text books fill a multitude of bookshelves.

My belief is once reading is mastered, any skill or subject matter could be learned. One can literally become a jack or jill of all trades. Instructional books abound and of course every subject taught in school can be learned if one feels the subject is important.

Swimming

My parents prioritized learning to swim before I even started kindergarten. We lived in Florida and water was everywhere! The Red Cross lessons taught floating and diving in addition to several basic swim strokes. In turn, I also felt swim lessons were important even though my kids lived on the high plains and not a hundred yards or so from the Atlantic Ocean.

My insistence that they learned was based on a tragedy from my junior high years. A classmate lost her youngest brother when the preschooler drowned in a neighbor’s pool. Bodies of water are everywhere. Swimming, floating and treading water are necessary skills for everybody.

Cooking is Important Too

Hopefully times have changed enough that learning to cook is important for all. However, I belong to a generation where many males grill burgers and steaks and not much else. Fortunately, my in-laws taught all their kids to cook, and I am married to a man that could be a master chef if he wanted to change careers.

I do not remember the age my kids were when they first started fixing food for themselves. But they needed chairs to reach the counter or the stove top. It was quite important to supervise them in the early years.

Now my grandchildren are picking up skills in the kitchen. All three have multi-functional furniture called learning towers or kitchen helpers depending on the manufacturer. These cool pieces can act as a chair and table/desk when on the side or serve as a very sturdy stepstool when standing on end. The sides provide extra support when they are helping in the kitchen either cooking or at the sink.

The oldest helps grandpa make scones and grandma make brownies. Cooking skills are important to develop from an early age. We just make sure we also emphasize safety.

Enjoying a snack at the kitchen counter.
Learning Tower is in the background.

Basic Skills

Reading, swimming, and cooking are all basic skills. However, each is critically important for living a full healthy and happy life. At first glance all could be placed toward the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy. Yet each offers an individual a chance to grow toward the pinnacle of self-actualization. Hence, they are important things for all to master.

April 2019 Wrap-Up

Posted on by Econogal
Cabbage planted among garlic plants.
Cabbage inter-planted with garlic.

Typing with one hand is quite slow. But when you jam a finger, it becomes necessary. Thus, my writing has slowed down a bit. But I did want to catch everyone up on April 2019 events.

April is one of the nicest months on the high plains. Mosquitoes and flies are few and far apiece. The afternoons are sunny and warm. But the evenings can be crisp. Furthermore, these last few nights the temperatures have dipped into the 30’s (Fahrenheit) which is a bit colder than I like for this time of year.

My quilting is on hold until the right hand recovers. The lower temperatures mean the time to garden full-out isn’t quite ready except for a few cool weather crops. I did plant some cabbage among the garlic. Perhaps the pungent smell will deter the flea beetles this year. I do not plan to expand the garden any this year. Instead, I want to compare year one and year two to see if the inputs and outputs are similar.

Reading

Fortunately, I can turn pages with my left hand. Recent books include The Last, and Baby of the Family. The former I thought was a murder mystery, but I think I misjudged the genre. The latter is a first novel and is quite good.

I am also catching up on some of the magazines and periodicals that cross my path. Finally, I am discovering new blogs and websites. Thank you readers for the suggestions that you have sent my way. I love the online community even though I doubt I will meet many face-to-face.

Peaceful Patio

Most of all, April 2019 was spent on my back patio. I know it is not very adventurous. Nor does it make for a fascinating blog post. But the time spent reading and relaxing gives me great satisfaction and a sense of peace. Sometimes I am alone, other times I am joined by my husband and Sophie the cat.

Whether you’re in the city, a suburb, or live in a rural location, take the time to enjoy the surroundings. The changing of the seasons is inspirational. Spring and its promise of life is uplifting. Those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, get out and enjoy it!

February 2019 Wrap Up

Posted on by Econogal

Action-packed describes the twenty-eight days of February 2019. The month started out with a refurbishing kitchen project. Perhaps a better description is a face lift. The work continues as you can see from the pictures. A two-week drive across the country to celebrate an eightieth birthday contributed to the action of the month. Throw in some reading, quilting and garden planning and the end of February 2019 is nigh.

Kitchen Project

Textured dark wall paper on lower third of wallThe old wallpaper is history. A mixture of warm water and vinegar in equal parts aids in the peeling. I found spraying the wall with the mixture and waiting just a few minutes helped a lot. The timing is important though. After ten minutes, the paper was almost dry. (I live in a very dry climate.) So it is important to treat small areas at a time. I used about two quarts of vinegar in the process.

The next step involved applying a new coat of wallpaper primer. Once that was completed I marked the breakfast room wall to indicate the division between the two wallpapers. So far only the bottom paper is up. The top is on today’s schedule. The chair rail will be tile. But this tile came in square foot sheets. So I asked my favorite contractor to assist in cutting the tile.

A strategy is needed for the tile. Because the tile is a Koala Gray basket weave tile, which you can view here the application will be complicated. I think we have a solution, but I haven’t reach that step yet. So it is still a bit of an unknown. But the tile is cut in thirds and it is ready and waiting.

I also tore out the old back splash. Murphy’s Law dictated the last tile off pulled off a chunk of drywall. However, my contractor is lined up to do the repair. In the meantime, the remaining tile adhesive scraped off with a bit of elbow grease. Hand scraping tile glue from wallAfter that was completed, I coated the wall with KILZ 2 acrylic. I plan to use a mixed tile design here that I am quite excited about. Additional pictures will be forthcoming.

Back splash area after a coat of KILZ 2 Acrylic applied.
A coat of KILZ 2 Acrylic prepares the surface for repair.

Cross  Country Trip

In the middle of February 2019 (and the kitchen project) I drove across half a dozen states or so to reach the warm, sunny climate of Florida. Since I was not born there I am not a native. But, I spent much of my childhood in this state and consider it home. Of course much, like some is a qualifier.

I prefer to travel by car or train because you can see so much of the countryside. Yes, there is a need for air travel-so my hope is the U.S. Congress does not seriously consider a proposal to outlaw that mode of transportation. But, when time permits I opt crossing by land. I shared much in my Travel Thoughts post.

February 2019 Hobbies

Our weather at home has been cold and snowy. So, very little time was spent outside. I pruned the grapevines one day when the temperature reached the upper fifties. But most of February 2019 was spent indoors.

Quilt top before layeringI am currently hand quilting the Love Panel Quilt. The next baby in the family is due in early June. I think she will enjoy the bright reds and pinks. Even though I use a machine to piece the quilts I make, the hand quilting relaxes me. It takes a bit of extra time.

February 2019 Books

Many reading recommendations arrived in February 2019. Some I have completed. But I was thrilled earlier this week to receive a package in the mail from a fellow book lover. She gifted me with The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris and Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Both look fantastic. The non-fiction work I am now reading is Jeff Gerke’s The First 50 Pages.

My library check-outs are Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield. I loved her The Thirteenth Tale which I read many years ago. Also, The Only Woman In The Room by Marie Benedict caught my eye. The latter, Like the Heather Morris book above are fictional accounts of true people and events.

Even though February 2019 is a short month, or perhaps because, I accomplished quite a bit. My goal is to have the kitchen project wrapped up by the end of March. My hope is the below zero temperatures will then be history, at least until the next winter season rolls around. I am anxious to return to gardening.

June 2018 Wrap-Up

Posted on by Econogal
Purple and green basil.
Oven Dried Basil
Cherries pitted and in baking dish.
June cherries for a crisp.
First harvest of Beets

This year continues to fly by! Now that June has run its course we are officially half-way through the year. Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are now experiencing days shortening. However, summer still has many hours of sunlight ahead.

June Garden Update

My part of the United States has already experienced multiple days of triple digit heat. So many in fact that I have lost count. However, the garden continues to produce. During the month of June almost 50 pounds of produce was harvested. The edibles included various greens, root vegetables, squash, peas and the first of the cucumbers and tomatoes. Also included in the harvest;cherries and gooseberries. I did lose the broccoli crop to the flea beetles and the pesky pests shortened the harvest of the kale.

Planting seeds continues as spots come open. I even plopped some old seed into the ground and will report on whether or not the seed is still good at a later date. My potato bag experiment may be headed for a second year of failure. One plant did not withstand the 1.1 inches of rain we had one night. Roots did not drain well.

Cataract Surgery

The first of the eye surgeries is behind me. The clarity now that the cataract is removed is unbelievable. I am still anxious about the next surgery but hope the outcome is just as good. My reading remains a bit behind my usual pace. Since my regular glasses no longer work on one eye, I limit reading time to an hour at a time. (Computer time follows the same limit.) This helps eliminate headaches from eye strain.

Travel included trips to two Garden Cities. Please visit the post on Summer Street Fairs from Garden City, New York. The other Garden City served as the location for my cataract surgery. Both cities are thriving.

Reading Materials

Due to the eye surgery, I have focused on reading newspaper articles and blog posts. The Wall Street Journal continues to serve as my go to newspaper source. There was a very interesting article on the equality of the bottom three quintiles. The article posited this emerging equality as the reason President Trump won the 2016 election. Very interesting.
Blogs are some of my favorite reading sources. I especially enjoy those that discuss books or gardening (or both.) One blog I like for the honest reviews is Life of Chaz. Another post which I loved paired wine and summer books, you can click here for that post. I do miss reading my mysteries and all the new books at my library. Thus, I am looking forward to getting my eyes back to normal.

June 2018 has come and gone. My month was super productive. What about yours?