Travellin' Penguin

Our book for our June group meeting is Betty by Tiffany McDaniel. 

Good reads describes this American book as:

It begins with the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence–both from outside the family, and also, devastatingly, from within. The lush landscape, rich with birdsong, wild fruit, and blazing stars, becomes a kind of refuge for Betty, but when her family’s darkest secrets are brought to light, she has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.

But despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters, and her father’s brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write. She recounts the horrors of her family’s past and present with pen and paper and buries them deep in the dirt–moments that has stung her so deeply, she could not tell them, until now.

Inspired by the life of her own mother, Tiffany McDaniel sets out to free the past by telling this heartbreaking yet magical story–a remarkable novel that establishes her as one of the freshest and most important voices in American fiction.

I enjoyed the story of this book but I must give trigger warnings for it. There is suicide, beatings, incest, rape and animal abuse. It is not always an easy read. But as the author based this book on her own family and the events are not sensationalised just for a story, I was okay with it. It’s not for everyone. Looking back, if this wasn’t a book group book I may not have picked it up knowing what I now know. But, as I said the overall story over 13nyears is interesting.

I enjoyed the prose and I enjoyed hearing of how the family lived outside of the violence. The native American father has interesting tales to tell and I enjoyed the sayings he had based on native proverbs. It could be a bit confusing as her sisters have very similar names and I did mix them up at times. I think the conversation at the book group will be interesting. 

***************

In other news, I had quite a social week. I had my seniors group meeting at a local pub. There were 10 of us “oldies” and we enjoyed a lovely meal together. We always have so many laughs.

Then yesterday a very good friend of mine and I went to a small town not far away and visited a market. Country markets are always interesting and this one has been going every Saturday for many years. Things we saw:

Local handicrafts, beautiful plants that inspired, a book stall that had some very old convict history books that I would have snatched up if I was still collecting old books but I’m not anymore. 

There was another stall where older women were playing music from the past on an old boom box and an elderly lady who was very agile was doing a really creative dance and smiling at everyone who walked by.

We went into a newish shop and looked at all the art supplies, puzzles that were most unusual and there were gorgeous cards. There is a beautiful small book shop in the town and they had quite the crowd. We had cappuccinos and they make the best coffee. Lots of chocolate on top of the coffee. 

After walking the length of the town, we stopped for lunch. It was quite cold yesterday and as our hands were frozen we ducked into the warmth of a busy cafe. We grabbed a seat and enjoyed hot toasted sandwiches, mine with tomato, cheese and pineapple. There is something lovely about hot food on a cold day chatting with a bestie. We often talk about what we would do to change the world. That is a topic that makes us laugh. It;s as if we are the only ones who have the answers.

Next Saturday another lovely friend of mine and I are going there again, but this time with our cameras to do some street photography and maybe capture some historic icons of the place. The town is quite old and there is the opportunity to get some interesting photos so stay tuned.

I still need to post up some of my southwest Tasmania photos I took from that excursion. 

All in all, the Penguin and I enjoyed the past week and it was wonderful to get out and about and shake the cobwebs from my mind. 

Penguin loves getting out and about with his friends.

Question:   Did any of you spend time chatting with a friend this week? 

You know when you look forward to an event and it lifts the mood. The event arrives and it is such a good time. Then it is over and you look ahead once again. Nothing on the horizon? A bit of a slump happens. 

I looked forward to the photography fungi trip in the southwest. We photographed fagus and fungi and spent time with new friends. It was fun. Then it was over. Now what? 

Winter is coming. Our beautiful small state is in drought. Back to the gym. Same old, same old. Now is the time to pick up a book and get motivated again. I have a list of things to do. Edit my fungi photos. Get back to my long walks with the camera. Enjoy the drought? Not really but it does mean the temps are a bit higher and the sun is out. Good for getting out. 

Today I have pulled this book off my shelf. It isn’t really a self help book but I suppose a pep talk of a book. It is published by Flow Magazine. I like Flow magazine but they stopped publishing in English a few years ago. I understand they are now printing an English version but it doesn’t seem to be scattered around Australia. It is published in the Netherlands I believe. It is a lifestyle type of magazine with lots of stationary thrown in.

The book is called A book the takes its time:  an unhurried adventure in creative mindfulness. It has poetry;

In today’s busy world, it’s often hard to find time to devote our attention to a single task. We want to do everything! And sometimes it’s so paralysing that we end up doing nothing. (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

and fun little lists of things to do. 

• Read a book out of your regular genre
• Clear our a closet and donate
• Try a fruit you’ve not eaten before
• Mail a letter to someone using snail mail
• Start a new diary or journal. Find a tiny journal and go on a day trip and record it.

You get the gist. There are recipes. Suggestions to visit a touristy spot you’ve not visited. Write in your journal. It is really “start something and commit to 10 minutes”  just to get out of a slump.

The reason I’ve pulled it off the shelf is because I want some activities where I can take my camera. I want to document a bit of life that no one else is taking photos of. I’m kind of thinking of driving to one of the small little towns in southern Tasmania and park the car. Get out and walk with the camera. What can I find? People? Structures? Knick knacks? Decor? Animals? Who knows. 

I just know I need to get out of the slump and do something to rev up my mind and body this coming week.

Will this book kick my backside and get me out of the house?  Who knows?  It is quite corny in parts. One of the suggestions is to try a new cocktail I’ve not had. Will I go down to a waterfront restaurant, look out at the harbour and try new cocktails? No, I hardly think that would be a good idea, though it does sound fun.

Instead I will spend this sunny, warmish afternoon thumbing through this book and see what others in Scandinavia are suggesting through this publication.

 I do know I am going to see my personal trainer at the gym Monday morning at 8 am. I’m going to have her set me up on a new program with the machines I’ve not used. I always feel good after a gym session. I like the people. It can be quite social which is important. 

I have a photography excursion coming up this week at the waterfront. After dark with friends and cameras. That might get me inspired.I also have a lunch later in the week with a group of friends. I’d go to a book launch at Fullers book shop but there isn’t anything on at the moment I’m interested in. Though they are having a couple of launches that are outside of the type of books I read. Could be something. 

We’ll see how the week goes and I’ll let you know next weekend what happened.  Will it get me out of the slump I’ve been in since I got so ill? My health is good again so no reason it shouldn’t. Sometimes we just have to trust we’re doing the right thing for ourself whether we feel like it or not. 

Question:  What do you do when you’re feeling lethargic and uninspired?  I’d really like to know. Maybe you get in a reading or exercise slump or you’re just fed up with the world.  Thank you for dropping by. I like hearing from you. 

Art Work: On the creative life by Sally Mann

2025

Sally Mann is an American photographer who calls herself an artist. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and three time recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship.

She finds she gets too many questions when she says she is a photographer. She also does not want to be roped into taking photos of weddings or babies.  I could not agree with her more on this front. 

She says, “And why not? Being an artist is not such a big deal. When you get right down to it, art is a job a profession not unlike being an insurance adjuster or a sportscaster. And it’s not all that hard either. The writer Nell Zink once asserted that. You could take the winos off the sidewalk in front of a drug store and teach them to be poets in half an hour. And I had a friend who quipped that he could strap his iPhone on his cat and have a series of masterpieces by the end of the day. In a similar vein, Veronica Geng once wrote a mordant New Yorker piece in which several hostages play ‘Lifeboat’ to pass the time. Whom do you throw off:  the nun, the pregnant woman, the majorette, or the artist Helen Frankenthaler? ‘Throw off Frankenthaler,” one of them says. “What’s art anyway? Somebody making some little something.” 

So like the drowned woman, I an just somebody making some little something. Many little somethings. A lot of the time. And how many little somethings I have made over a long, long time perhaps qualifies me to write this book.” (from the Prologue)

Throughout the book she shares some of her photos, her journal entries, her little drawings and doodles. She makes lists. She does some bits of poetry. 

I am really drawn to this book and can’t wait to get into it further. How many of us do these exact little things? Photos on our phones or cameras. Journalling, sketching, making lists to get through a day.

I think I’m going to enjoy dipping into and out of this book and hopefully get some inspiration for my own photography, making lists, journalling little poems or illustrations. 

I think when the world is so crazy or we go through health or home problems we need to step back and immerse ourselves in something that is creative, calming and often just makes us laugh. My drawings always make me laugh. I’ve been told by children in the past that I am good at drawing. Just like a five year old!!

Question:  What do you do to escape the world of stress to calm yourself. Photograph? Draw? Paint? Journal? Read? Walk? I’d like to hear about it very much.