dappled shade

Springtime Celebrations

When I was a kid, like all children, I used to get very excited about my birthday. I was born on Easter and I would check every year to see whether my birthday would fall on Easter again. I was always disappointed. (I checked this year, though, and I'm only two days away, so that's pretty good.)

I trace my attachment to Easter to this coincidence of dates. It was helped by the fact that we never celebrated Easter in church, so I don't think of it as a Christian holiday. As a child, it seemed like a celebration of spring and new life, and it still gets me that way.

And right now in California, even with its two seasons of rain and drought, it feels as close as it ever does to spring. The wildflowers are blooming and the hills are properly green. We've also had some gorgeous weather recently.

Last weekend, my husband I went hiking out at the coast with my in-laws. We had a very nice time as we always do with them. Three of the 4 of us had cameras so it was a meandering walk involving a lot of pauses for photographs — I've attached a couple that I took.

I'm hoping to go hiking again this Easter Sunday — being outside seems the proper way to celebrate a spring festival. And while I have asked for no birthday presents from my husband, I am looking forward to this year's Easter basket.

Book Review: A Vision of Light

The other evening, before meeting a friend for dinner, I had a few minutes to wander through a bookstore. I was looking for something different to read, and came across A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley.

I did my normal check on any new book that comes my way — I opened it up at random and read a few paragraphs. It was well written, and I was moderately interested to see that it was set in the middle ages with a female protagonist.

The book was entertaining and well put together, but I don't see myself buying the next one in the series.

Merkle Riley is correct that the middle ages were unbelievably misogynistic, and she portrays the worst case scenarios with great flair. The author sets up the protagonist, Margaret, as a saint, but also tries to make her a real person by pointing out her faults. (Quite literally as a saint, incidentally; Margaret communes with God.)

All the book's characters come across as flat, though, including the protagonist. They seem like modern day stereotypes dropped into the middle ages and then draped with fourteenth century costumes and ideas. This doesn't sit well as many (though not all) of the male characters are so awful, whereas the women tend to be long-suffering martyrs. It seems to me that the author isn't playing fair.

The problem may not lie so much with the book, though, as the reader. I seldom like melodramas; and Vision of Light is definitely a melodrama. This book left me with a vague feeling of irritation and disappointment as I don't find the world of melodramas — with its heroes and villains — convincing.

Vision of Light is a good read, and it certainly held my attention. It's not a book to be read to understand people better, though it does dramatically argue against a misogynistic society.