1. First things first. Unbelievable, shocking, knee-weakening, heavens-opening-up-and-shining-down news hit us out of the blue yesterday. We all cried tears of disbelief and relief and thankfulness. As my mom said, the English language doesn’t have enough words to explain how we feel. “Thankful” falls pitifully short.
 

That above is my mom. This is how she’s feeling right about now. It’s how we’re all feeling.

On to other things…

2. It is snowing. In Birmingham. I know this because I am at home, not in Tennessee, where Matt and I were supposed to be today. He was going to be running in a 12-hour trail race tomorrow in a little town outside Murfreesboro, but we made the call late this morning to not go, due to the general messiness of Tennessee today. We were a little concerned about icy roads. Our girls were already prepared to spend the weekend at their grandparents’ house, so we went ahead and took them out there. As such, right now, Matt and I are huddled in blankets, watching a movie (the wonders of Joe Versus the Volcano) and reading (I just started The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler.) I’m happy to be watching the snow from inside my warm nest instead of gearing up for spending all day tomorrow in a tent, possibly reading and writing, but probably huddled under a down sleeping bag, teeth chattering, mumbling under my (frozen) breath about the Black Toe Run. 

(That was a little dramatic, but as I’ve said before, I’m a certified cold person.)

3. The book I’ve mentioned here a few times, Voyage to the Star Kingdom, is now available to order.

An incredible amount of people have already bought it and passed it around. If you’re interested, find it on Amazon here. The author is putting all proceeds into a fund for the family this book is based on.

4. I just finished reading a wonderful book called Margot, by Jillian Cantor.

It tells the fictional story of what life may have been like for Margot, Anne Frank’s sister, if she hadn’t died in Bergen-Belsen, as records show she did, but instead escaped the Nazis and fled to America. It’s a great story, and I sunk completely into the character of Margot (or Margie, as she calls herself in her new American life), but what made it really important and tense and dramatic was how it portrayed life for Jews who immigrated to the US in the 40s and 50s. They had escaped the horrors of being a Jew in Nazi Europe, but then arrived here to find that people still nailed flaming torches to synagogues, taunted Jewish schoolchildren, treated them unfairly in the work place. It was a quiet book, but like I said, tense and important. In fact, I think it could be as important a read as Anne Frank’s diary. It just portrays a different direction someone’s life could have gone after hiding from the Nazis for so long, and the farther we get from the atrocities of the Holocaust, the more important it is to keep telling those stories. Anne was a real girl with a head full of dreams and hopes and desires, as we all know because of her diary that was found and published. But Margot was a real girl too, and because her diary was never found, we know virtually nothing of her. She was snuffed out too soon. This book gives her a life, even if it’s a fictional one.

5. I had lunch at a new little place downtown this week called Feast and Forest, owned partly by Kristen Farmer Hall. If you live in Birmingham, check it out. It’s just off 2nd Avenue North on 24th Street, sort of behind Urban Standard. I had the “Ham Sammich” and potato soup and it was lovely. And the whole vibe of the place is perfect–it’s really tiny inside, but warm and cozy and inviting. Here’s more on Kristen and her partner opening Feast and Forest.

Have a great weekend, play in the snow if you get some, and don’t buy all the bread.