Well, that's that. I am officially on summer vacation. Yesterday turned out to be busier than I expected -- I had a lot of re-shelving to do, taking down our displays and putting away all our new books, and we had a long Zoom meeting to mark the end of the year and take note of several retirements.
The construction crews have already almost entirely dismantled the fiction room, which as I've mentioned is being divided, with half turned into a classroom. That didn't take long! When we go back in August, organizing the remainder of that space will be our top priority.
Now, for a few days at least, I get to chill at home -- and I mean that literally because right now it's 53ยบ F and rainy, and it doesn't get any better until the middle of next week. I'm going to catch up with my New Yorker magazines and start a new book. I brought 18 books home from the library for the summer! It's probably a fantasy to think I'll get through them all, but you never know. A few of them are Newbery winners -- I'm going to keep chipping away at my goal of reading all of them.
So many questions.
Dave and I have been catching up on movies we've been meaning to watch. Last night we finally got around to "The Dig" on Netflix, about the discovery of the Sutton Hoo treasure in Suffolk in the late 1930s. We enjoyed that, and the night before we watched "The Woman in the Window," even though I'd already read the book and knew where the plot was going. It was good too.
Finally, on Wednesday, we watched "The Father" with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, and it was excellent. It hit home for me because it's about a man with dementia, and it portrays the way that reality shifts, people change and time unspools in the mind of a dementia patient. Of course my mom suffers from a type of dementia as well, so all I could do while watching is imagine her experience.
(Top photo: A hotel entrance in Kilburn on Wednesday, when it was still sunny.)
You survived! Very happy for you. That entrance is so playful and charming. That note confuses me and I guess we’ll never know the truth -- although I’m sure someone reading it is bound to explain it all anyway. We recently enjoyed watching “The Dig” although I find it difficult to understand why they found it necessary to take so many liberties with the facts. Often it just doesn’t seem necessary to me. Still, ignorance is bliss. Had I not known the actual story, I would have enjoyed the film completely.
ReplyDeleteOh, do tell about the liberties! I wondered how accurate it was. I read a blog post on the British Museum web site that said Basil Brown and the museum guy, Phillips, didn't have such an antagonistic relationship and that Phillips credited Brown for his work almost immediately -- but of course, that's coming from the museum, and they're hardly a neutral party.
DeleteHonestly, the liberties they take weren’t huge, despite my comment, and they did get the gist of the story right. The cousin/photographer was fiction, so there was no romance with Peggy Pigot, who was a successful and well-known archaeologist having already published a lot on the subject before Sutton Hoo. She wasn’t a “comes with.” Plus two amateur photographers arrived and produced most of the images of the dig and site — two women who were teachers and good friends on holiday. Picky picky picky.
DeleteOh, interesting! I guess in typical Hollywood fashion they felt there needed to be a romance somewhere in the story.
DeleteApropos of nothing, I notice that the curious note was written on notepaper that advertises "The Doyle Collection" which is a group of hotels including The Bloomsbury Hotel and the Marylebone Hotel. I loved "The Dig" and thanks for your recommendation of "The Father". I will try to see it - perhaps next week. Regarding your summer vacation, remember that it will be September very soon. September always hurries back.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I looked up "The Doyle Collection" myself to see what it is -- looks like an Irish outfit. Maybe Amii works there?
DeleteYou get a very short break if you go back in August, enjoy!
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty short -- about eight and a half weeks, I think.
DeleteHappy holidays to you.
ReplyDeleteIs your library space been taken over by another department?
Converting because I can't remember F...all, 53 is 127 degrees. I've gone the wrong way. It is 12 degrees. Bit chilly for summer. Winter here now and it was a cold 15 today but without wind, not too bad.
Part of the library is becoming a classroom, yes. We hate to see it go but we did have a very large space. I usually convert F to C myself to save readers the trouble but I was feeling lazy on this post!
DeleteYou’ve earned those weeks off, for sure, with all that packing and moving. I remember the magic of those days of no responsibility strung out ahead of you.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the best things about this job, for sure!
DeleteHappy vacation!
ReplyDeleteAnd, for me, any film with Hopkins or Colman is sure to be a treat; two of my favorites!
I agree. They're both terrific.
DeleteHappy holiday! It took me a while to catch on to that note too but when I did all sorts of love stories arrived in my imagination full blown, which were added to when I read YP’s notation that the stationary was from a chain of hotels. You can imagine the stories. Very romantic and clandestine. Thanks for the diversion.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely the sort of thing one could build a short story from!
DeleteHappy Holidays! That note is strange and I haven't cottoned on. If it is a cryptic clue then they are not my strength! I liked 'The Dig' too and 'The Woman in the Window.' I have yet to see the other film but want too. Enjoy your reading week!
ReplyDeleteSay "I love view" out loud and it makes more sense. :)
DeleteI really enjoyed The Dig. I've yet to see "The Father" but it's on my list. How intriguing about the note.
ReplyDeleteThey're both really good!
DeleteThat is the most whimsical hotel entrance I believe I have ever seen and that includes hotel entrances in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteVACATION! Hurray! No more teachers, no more books, no more students' dirty looks! Or something like that.
But really? 53 degrees? Oh my.
It kind of looks like something you'd see in Mexico, doesn't it? So colorful for England!
DeleteHappy Vaca Brother Man - What A Relief - And Hope The Current Books Are Covered So That You Don't Return With EVERYTHING Covered In White Dust - Haven't Seen Ether Movie And Hope For All The Best With Your Mother - Enjoy The Easy Paced Mornings - Olga Girl, Its Pink Blanket Time
ReplyDeleteCheers
We removed all the books from the room undergoing construction -- hence all the boxing we did. There's a door blocking that room from the rest of the library so the others should be OK. Olga is on her pink blanket right now, as I type!
DeleteIt took me a little while to read that note and get it. Very nice find.
ReplyDeleteHurray for your summer vacation. I hope the weather warms up soon and you get to play outside with Olga and Dave in the sunshine.
It took me a while to get it too! I think the rain ends in the middle of this upcoming week.
DeleteThe end of the school year is always a bit chaotic and then you are also completely exhausted. Have a good summer.
ReplyDeleteI could barely move off the couch yesterday!
DeleteHappy summer holidays. I hope you get to do a lot more than read that stack of books
ReplyDeleteWell, there will be some travel involved, for sure. But I'm looking forward to the books, actually!
DeleteEnjoy your break! You know how quickly it flies by so make the most of it!
ReplyDeleteI will watch "The Father", altho, since my Dad died with Alzheimer's I will need my tissues nearby. My Dad was a calm Alzheimer's patient so the disease always seemed harder on us who could see his decline than on him who was quiet and peaceful. Hope your Mom isn't suffering.
Sorry about your dad. My mom has a different kind of dementia, but I suppose the effects are essentially the same. She too is a "good" patient -- always happy and laughing. She doesn't appear to be suffering but I think if her healthy self could see her now, she'd be appalled.
DeleteMy grandfather had Alzheimer's. It was hard to watch the process of forgetting. The thing he never forgot was 'home'. He may not have remembered details of it, but he never forgot that he wanted to go there.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a good sense of where my mom is these days in terms of her memory. She can't really communicate because her language centers have all atrophied. Maybe I'll understand more when I see her.
DeleteDidn't seeing "The Dig" make you want to run down to the British Museum and see those artifacts? It did me only running there is a bit more complicated for me. I've been wondering about "The Father". I feel like I need to be in the right frame of mind to watch it.
ReplyDeleteI love that hotel entrance in the photo. It's very inviting.
Yes! In fact I'm contemplating an outing to the museum! Maybe when I return from Florida.
DeleteHi you three.....my brother in Louisiana wife have alzheimer. We feel for him because just calling and when she answer the phone it can get very disturbing. You will hear the same thing over and over again but we do realize she can't help it. She has a daughter living with them but he said the others don't hardly come by anymore. People will leave you when you get sick. Before my brother passed away at (84) my sister had started to complain about helping him. Her husband told her he was going over to his house and tell him off which pissed me off. I told her she know that no one mess with him and if she wanted to keep her husband he had better not go over there. He would have seen my little black car driving that way. I told my brother about it and he said the same thing. I see how people are treated when they are ill and always said if I get to where I can't help myself I will prefer to leave this earth at God's will and not mine now. (lol) I admire you for always thinking of your mother. When he was really getting ready to leave us his swallowing was bad and he couldn't eat. I called him and told him I am so far away but don't wait for her to come and carry him to the doctor and that he should call the ambulance. He did do that and he never came back home. I told her if you are tired of taking care of him she should stop instead of her husband is threatening to go tell him off about worrying his wife. "I can't stand that man."
ReplyDeleteCaregiving can be exhausting for both the caregivers and the patient. It's sad, but I understand why some people instinctively back away when a family member becomes ill. It can be difficult to live with the changes. We're fortunate that Mom lives someplace where she has assistance.
DeleteNow I can't stop thinking about Amii's note. Does keep me have to mean the note, or could it possibly mean that if you find Amii, you are required to keep her? That could be quite a responsibility. She loves the view without the. What might that mean? Does she live at the hotel? Aimii, you fascinate me.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
It IS weirdly fascinating, isn't it?!?! Say "I love view" out loud and it will make more sense. (Sort of.)
DeleteAnd here I thought that bright happy photo up top was in honor of your vacation! Have a great one anyway and enjoy that cool weather as we bake here in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteWell, I suppose it IS in honor of the vacation, in a way. Sunny and colorful! Let's go with that!
DeleteThat note is a novel bit of word play. I had to mentally say it aloud (is there such a thing?) to get it.
ReplyDeleteVacation always seems to stretch forever at its beginning, and then somehow it's like driving down a mountain road without brakes. I hope your weather gets better in a hurry. Regardless, I know from reading here over the past few years that you are one of the smart ones who wrings the most from the time given.
It took me a while to get it too. I hope I use my time wisely. I don't always feel that way!
DeleteEnjoy your time off! Summer vacay is just the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's a good feeling to be right at the beginning of it.
DeleteI'm a week ahead of you on the summer break. I've already been enjoying myself and hope you do too!
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I think we go back at the same time? I think our break is a bit shorter than yours. Oh well. :)
DeleteHappy holidays!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a lovely photo! Are those bird cages? They are very pretty. Have a super day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteThey are bird cages! I'm guessing they picked up an assortment at flea markets and turned them into decorations.
DeleteActually, now that I look at them again, I see that they're all the same style -- so maybe they were purchased new.
Delete