Endings & Beginnings

Last day of 2009: yesterday Sophie & I enjoyed our final Sophie/Grammy Day of 2009, happily Linda was free to join us. Today I'm back to doing picture research but just took a break to shovel snow, bake bread with these yummy ingredients--honey, butter, rough cut oatmeal, bananas, whole wheat flour, buttermilk and believe it or not a tablespoon of baking soda and baking powder, eggs, vanilla, pecans and raisins. Our evening New Year's tradition is to listen to the Classical Music Countdown on the radio--lots of Beethoven (Sophie & I are still going back & forth about the phenomenon of Beethoven the composer & Beethoven the dog)-- and make a puzzle; It's simple but heartfelt as we move from one year to the next.

Update

Chilly, chilly day in my basement office where I'm immersed in selecting images for Sitrring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, A Biography of a Powerful Friendship. Yes, I do all the picture research, including some photography for my books, an enormously time-consuming, intense activity. (There's more info about my process in the author's note in my books Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference and Thanksgiving: The True Story.) Sophie just called: "Can we have a Grammie Day tomorrow?"
Of course, I said--Yes! So shiver, shiver--back to work because my editor wants all the images and captions on 1/4!!!

Books, Wildflower Seeds, Happy Holidays

So, the gifts are wrapped--books galore, including one I'm really excited about--The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder; in fact, I bought two copies--one for Sophie & one for Sue, my friend & science educator at NYU. I also tracked down a copy of the December 1934 (yup, 1934) "The National Geographic Magazine" that featured the article, "Half-Mile Down," by William Beebe, about his first descent in the Bathysphere, which he co-invented with Otis Barton. Recently Sophie & I had read a picture book biography about William Beebe that listed his article in the bibliography--yes, we check out all the front and back matter when we read together! Sophie expressed interest in it so I set off on a quest to buy it--hurrah for the Internet. I'll be interested to see if it engages her?!?!
My other cool gift, at least I think so, was to parcel out pieces from a puzzle (I'm a avid jigsaw puzzle maker) that are embedded with wildflower seeds!! Each person on my list is getting a baggie with puzzle pieces & a baggie of soil & instructions to soak the seeds overnight in water and plant in the soil in a pot (no, I didn't include a pot, hum) or wait until Spring then soak and plant outside.
Ooops, Linda just called down, "Should I be watching the pot that's on the stove?" Better get back to my cooking for tonight & tomorrow. . . . Happy Holidays to all!!!!!!

Author Visit at P.S. 174

Last week I visited with two classes of sixth grade students & their teacher Marie Russell at P.S. 174. The students had read my book, Where the Action Was: Women War Correspondents in World War II, so I brought in samples of the production process from revised manuscript pages to page proofs to the advanced readers copy that gets sent to reviewers. The students were lively, smart, fun & asked great questions!

Sophie's Birthday

Tomorrow is Sophie's 6th birthday. But, since it's a school day she had a sleep-over on Saturday. On Sunday, we gathered for a bowling-birthday party. Katrin just emailed these pictures: l-r: Katrin, me, Linda, Sophie, Sarah, David, Crystal(cupcake & cookie maker), Steve; bottom picture: l-r Sophie, Crystal, David, Jonathan, Steve, me, Linda, Sarah, Katrin). Tomorrow I'll join Sophie & her parents for dinner; as I have since she was born I'll continuing the tradition of making the cake in the shape Sophie requests--this year it's a star, vanilla on vanilla.

A modern postcard

"Greetings from the Seine," is the caption on this photo that Steve just sent via his iPhone to my email. He titled it "A modern postcard."
Note: Steve & Sarah celebrated Thanksgiving and Sarah's birthday in Paris."

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.