quality literature: the greatest generation (speaks)

as i sit here sipping my steaming cup-a-soup and contemplating the backlog of blog posts that i meant to write this summer, i am feeling nostalgic.

tomorrow is officially the first day of fall and tennessee's weather patterns seem to be in sync with this fact.  we had a cold front go through last night and now our forecast for the coming week is upper seventies by day and lower fifties by night.  florida girl is feeling a bit chilly.

i'm ready to pull out my sweaters and corduroy skirts and i'm anxious to go shopping for new tights and boots.  i'm not ready to be cold though.

even though we have been back in school for almost two months now, i've been holding on to the relaxed summer attitude.  sadly, shorter days and colder nights are pulling those last remnants of summer breeze from my mind.

i am ashamed to admit that i am tired of watering my flowers.  i think, perhaps, they are getting tired of blooming too.  i shall miss their riotous color display, and can only say, "thank goodness for pansies."

farewell summer of 2013.  you were a good one.  as fall settles in and winter approaches, i hope to at least hang on to the joy of reading that you rejuvenated in me.  i'm sure my books will be just as lovely under grandma's quilts as they were in your bright sunshine.

photos taken at bryant's grove state park in mid-june.

the greatest generation and the greatest generation speaks were two of the books i read at the lake this summer while the boys swam.   these collections of stories are gut-wrenching, heart-warming, inspiring, and indeed, life-changing.  they are the stories of ordinary young men and women who faced extraordinary circumstances and were forever changed. 

my only complaint of them is in tom brokaw's repetitive argument about the greatness of the world war two generation.  while the greatness of that generation is unquestionable, i wish that he had just let the stories speak for themselves (which he does in the follow up book - a collection of responses sent in by readers of the first book).  for me, the deeper truth in these recollections is that there is greatness in all of us.  every day we have countless opportunities to extend the hand of kindness, to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, to count our blessings, and to give back from the bounty that we have received.  choose to be great.