Day 18: What book could you read over and over again?

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Ellayne Shaw

“From that first moment, in a way she could never explain, the Meadows claimed her and made her their own.” Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Other than the Bible, I could probably read Elizabeth George Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond every week for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. Within the first year or so of owning the book, I read it eight times. I love this book. Just thinking about it makes me want to go home and hug it tightly to my chest. No other novel comes even remotely close to how much I adore this story. Harry Potter and Narnia and Middle-Earth take a back seat to 1687’s New England. Continue reading →

Saudade

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

Sunshine and cigarettes and the sound and smell of the surf as it skirts the shore. Hot and heavy with humidity, the ocean air is tangy on my tongue and sticky on my skin. The breeze causes a skeletal rattle from the coconut tree fronds above me, and I absent-mindedly pick up a fallen baby coconut from the sand, rolling the still green fruit in the palm of my hand. Pausing to examine the smooth green exocarp, I imagine I can see a cartoon lion’s face in the natural patterns and smile lazily in amusement. Continue reading →

Crepuscule

Aside

Sunset brings respite from the heat of the day, and the city of N’Djaména breathes out a collective sigh of relief as its inhabitants go through the routines of settling in for the night. Inside, my mother and sister are preparing dinner, and from my seat on the still-warm cement of our front porch, I absorb the last of the early spring day. We have reached the end of harmattan’s towering dust clouds, and this year’s hot season has not quite crescendoed to full strength. Continue reading →