Guest Blogger

Today I'm a guest blogger "Moonlight, Lace, Mayhew." The host Carrie Hinkel-Gill posted a Q & A that I had fun answering. Please, if you're so inclined, check it out and post your comments &/or
questions at: http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com/2009/11/starlight-saturday_28.html

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This year we gathered in New York City at Jonathan's, Katrin's, & Sophie's apartment. Katrin cooked a fabulous meal, e.g., check out the roasted vegetables on the plate in the foreground--beets, parsnips, turnips, fingerling potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes that Sophie selected when Linda & I took her grocery shopping at Fairway. (That's not to say she ate all of them, but we did!) Desserts were Katrin's spectacular chocolate mousse and apple crisp and Linda's delicious pumpkin pie. We played a new game. Here we are trying to figure out the rules, no easy task!


Then Linda & I took Sophie outside to run races up & down the sidewalk, or, I should say, Linda strolled, I raced twice, then appointed myself the timer for Sophie who loves to run! Once when she was getting too far ahead, I yelled, "STOP!" She did, as so did everyone else between her and me! (l to r: Sophie, Linda, me, Jonathan; click on image to enlarge)

Radio Interview Thanksgiving: The True Story

You can listen to a lively radio interview I did with Dov Hirsch, creator and host of Crop to Cuisine
at http://www.croptocuisine.org/Thanksgiving.htm There are three parts: "Thanksgiving the True Story by Penny Colman;" "Penny Colman on Sarah Josepha Hale," and "Penny Colman on Wamsutta and the National Day of Mourning."
Dov was great fun to talk with & here's an excerpt from his web site about Crop to Cuisine:
Produced in Boulder, Colorado, Crop To Cuisine reminds people that improving our communities and our world should be a pleasurable, affordable, and delicious experience. While the program is designed to educate the public about the problems of safety, sustainability, and the economics surrounding the food we eat, it's emphasis is to provide our listeners with easy and accessible solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into daily life.

At the Jersey Shore

On Friday, Sophie came for an overnight. After breakfast--(pancakes in whatever shape she wants; this time it was dolphins)--we took a day-trip to our Jersey Shore bungalow, located on a barrier island between the ocean & bay. Gorgeous day, as you can see. The first pic needs no explanation. However, here's the scoop re the second pic: occasionally at high tide, especially in the Fall, the water from the bay comes up through the storm sewer at the end of our driveway. Seeing it, Sophie spontaneously went into the house, returned with the bowl in which she placed alyssum blossoms & petals from the geranium that were still in bloom in the pot on the bulkhead and put them in the bowl, which she carried to the end of our driveway. Then she walked along the wall around the neighbor's flower garden, and sprinkled the flowers on the water. Linda told her it was a good idea 'cause the water was looking "kind of scuzzy."

Congratulations Sarah!

Sarah Jones, my daughter-in-law, completed the New York City Marathon in under 4 hours, 20 minutes faster than she ran last year!!! She ran for Shoe4Africa, a nonprofit organization that is raising money to build the first public children's hospital in Kenya. Linda and I met up with Sarah & Steve at the corner of 67th & Central Park West--hip, hip, hurrah for Sarah!!!!!
(click on image for larger view)

Sophie's New News

Sophie had "new news" on Thursday--"I read my first chapter book!"
"Fabulous! That's sooooo exciting!!! What was it about?"
With that question, I was introduced to Bella The Bunny Fairy, one of a long list of titles
in the Rainbow Magic Book Series, written, (according to Wikipedia, I should note since I knew absolutely nothing about this phenomenon until I check it).

In celebration, we went to two independent bookstores & bought several more titles, including Penny the Pony Fairy (my, oh, my!).
As we chatted, I learned that Friday was Character Dress-up Day, which, Sophie, explained meant she was suppose to go to school dressed like a character from her favorite book.
As a nonfiction writer & lover, I was delighted when she said she was going as Knut, the real polar bear in Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World. Today she told me she wore white clothes and pink socks. She was thrilled to report that she got to read part of book to her classmates.

Sarah Jones

Check out this great video, "A Roving Run with Sarah Jones." Sarah is a Tony Award winning actor and playwright known for her compelling characters & she is my daughter-in-law.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/25/sports/1247465337588/a-roving-run-with-sarah-jones.html?ref=sports

Gorgeous day

Sunday was a gorgeous day & we took a long walk along the Hudson River. Our starting point was Ross Dock Park, located just north of the George Washington Bridge and at the foot of the Palisades Cliffs, which were saved in 1900 from destruction by the quarrying industry by tenacious members of the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs. The plaque, "Preserving the Palisades," in the first photo tells the story of the women's victory. The second photo explains why, I always stop to say, "Thank you, clubwomen!!!!!!!" (click on picture for a larger image)

Sophie's Surprise

On Wed. Sophie's mother had emailed me that "Sophie is REALLY looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. She has a surprise and keeps asking to make sure you'll be there to pick her up. Very excited."

So, yesterday (Thursday), as always, I was there ( her school).

"Hi, Sophie, I hear you have a surprise!"
"Mmmmm," she replied through her clenched lips.
"What is it? I'm so excited!"
She held out--with one hand over her mouth. . . through which leaked giggles. . . .until she settled into her car seat--then off came her hand & she opened her mouth to show me--what you who are reading this have already guessed--she lost her first tooth!
"Grammy, last night, I was so excited to tell you that I woke up in the middle of the night!"
"Sophie, last night, I was so excited to find out that I woke up in the middle of the night, too!"

p.s. Yes, she reported, that the tooth fairy came & left her a note with fairy dust sprinkled on it, although Sophie thought that it was weird to sleep on a tooth.

Check it out

Check out "Swallowed by the Sun Colman" at www.colmanmusic.com
Listen to "Hollywood, Florida" and join the mailing list. The Colman is my son Jon!

Sophie & Woody

Recently, Sophie, who says she's going to be a vet, and her parents adopted Woody, a cuddly, rambunctious kitten. Monday I had a sleep-over at Sophie's, so her parents could stay as late as they wanted at the opening night party. Apparently intrigued, Woody entertained me throughout the night--batting at the venetian blind cords, etc.--and I didn't mind 'cause he's soooo cute!

Hip Hip Hurrah

This is the morning after the opening of "The County of Kings," for which my son Steve is on the "formidable team of producers" to quote from Ben Brantley's fabulous review in today's The New York Times!!!! http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/theater/reviews/13county.html?ref=theater
Congratulations to all!!!

Sophie and a "pourquoi" story

Thursdays I drive into NYC to pick up Sophie after school for our Sophie/Grammie Day in NJ. Today we read How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck retold by Verna Aardema & illustrated by Marcia Brown. It's a delightful, fun read & Sophie loved it. I also read her the author's note that introduced the concept of pourquoi (the French word for "why") stories, or stories that explain how a particular characteristic of a person or animal or a natural phenomenon came to be. Later, while "hanging out" in the kitchen, waiting for the pasta to cook, I said, "Hey, Sophie, you could make up a pourquoi story--like: "Why did Grammy get gray hair?"

"Grammy," she thoughtfully replied, "got gray hair because she got old."

Sophie's garden

Since August, Sophie has had a vision of expanding her garden all the way to the edge of the sidewalk. I've been stalling, in part because her vision exceeds her time & passion for digging & turning the soil. Plus we'd loose a nice batch of grass. However, last week, as part of our Sophie/Grammy Day, we stopped at a garden store & ended up with a bunch of bulbs, in particular--tulips with fringed edges, which, of course, need a special spot, which, of course, jump started me to get out our shovels and start digging our way to the sidewalk.

My son Steve. . . .

Check out "When Life Names You Lemon . . .," a terrific article in Sunday's The New York Times about "County of Kings," a one-man show by Lemon Andersen that opens at the Public Theater in New York, tomorrow, September 29th. Lemon and my son Steve Colman were two of the stars who shared a Tony Award for "Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway." Now, Steve is one of the producers of Lemon's memoir, "County of Kings." (The title refers to Brooklyn where he grew up.) Here's a picture of the cast of "Def Poetry Jam on Broadway that Sara Krulwich of the Times took in 2002. Steve is first on the left, Lemon is third. Here's a link to Sunday's article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/theater/27sont.html?scp=1&sq=Lemon&st=cse

Previews are this week; the opening is 10/12. We've got our tickets!

Chusok, or Korean Thanksgiving Festival

I love being a writer for many reasons, including having learning adventures! For example, in writing Thanksgiving: The True Story I attended Chusok, the Korean Harvest, also called Korean Thanksgiving Festival, in a park near my house in northern New Jersey. Here videos from this year's event: The first are students at Rutgers University who belong to the Rutgers Korean Culture Group. The second group performed on the main stage:

The "R' Word

We are not bumper-sticker people; that is we weren't until Friday, the day Linda led a "Train-the-Trainer Workshop" on the research-based curriculum that she and her colleague Ishita Khemka developed and evaluated--ESCAPE-DD: An Effective Strategy-Based Curriculum for Abuse Prevention and Empowerment for Men and Women with Developmental Disabilities. The workshop was sponsored by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) in cooperation with the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women and New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. That's where Linda got a NJCDD bumper stickers protesting the use of the "R" word. Since Linda had objected to the use of that word for years, I wasn't surprised to see it on her car bumper. "Retard" is also a trigger word for bullying. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

On the go

Since my last post, Sophie & I spent a day at the New York Aquarium, Linda & I went peach & apple picking & my semester started at Queens College.
The school bus ride & new school seem to suit Sophie; I'm picking her up tomorrow for the weekend & am looking forward to hearing her stories.
Saturday night I'm speaking to a group of women, who are on a book getaway retreat at the Jersey Shore led by my dear friend Mollie Hoben, co-founder of the Minnesota Women's Press, which among other wonderful activities publishes my favorite literary little journal, BookWomen. You can subscribe to BookWomen, order The Great Book: because women say so (includes a list of 400 titles, selected by book groups from 1986 through 2007, plus lists of books they've used around themes at their "Reading Retreats" and for "Book Groups on the Road") at www.womenspress.com

Happy Day

65th

On a "bright sunny day"--November 12, 1880, Elizabeth Cady Stanton started to keep a diary. She began with: "Today, I am sixty-five years old." In my forthcoming book, Stirring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a Biography of a Powerful Friendship, I described how she spent the day in her house, in Tenafly, New Jersey, which is about three miles from where I live (Susan is Susan B. Anthony, Harriot through Kit are her seven children, Henry is her husband): Susan was away for several days, and her family was scattered--Harriot in France; Theodore in Germany; Maggie, Gat and Neil in Iowa; Bob away at college in New York; Kit and Henry were in New York City. Alone, she spent the day "writing letters and walking up and down the piazza."
"Dear Children," she wrote, "This is my birthday. . . . Looking back through life, I feel that our troubles are fully compensate by our joys."
Today, also a "bright sunny day," I am sixty-five years old!!!