May ~ Rain, Rain, Go Away .....

© Cleo @ Classical Carousel

Ugh!  I don't know how else to say it.  Most of April was rain and not just regular rain, but capricious rain.  It would pour and then stop, sprinkle a little and then stop, be sunny for not very long and then stop, because mother nature must know how torturous it is to have fleeing views of that warm golden orb before it is snatched away and the rain continues.  I do realize that we live in a rain forest, but seriously, it can become ridiculous!  Fortunately the last week has seen less rain and more fleeing glimpses of the orb so I'm going have a positive outlook for May.  Work with me, okay ...... ;-)

© Cleo @ Classical Carousel

April was not such an exciting month for me as the last couple, I must admit.  I've continued with my yoga classes, which I still enjoy but haven't been going as frequently as I'd like due to time constraints.  I am improving, although with some poses I wonder if I'll ever be able to bend my body completely in such unusual shapes.  I was able to take one long bike ride, which was very exciting because I wasn't tired at all afterwards. Do you know what that means?  Yes!  I'm in shape!  Softball season has begun and I'm starting to search for scorekeepers for the international tournament in July and practicing my skills.  It's nice to be able to be outside more, even though the weather has not been cooperating to make it pleasant.  Dratted rain!

I'm behind on my garden prep work too.  My potatoes from last months farm visits are chitting and I need to get them into the ground now!  It's my plan for this week.  And, of course, I still haven't looked very closely at my seeds to see what I need to plant now and what will wait.  So disorganized!  I'm usually an organized person, honest, but I have so much to do that it becomes not humanly possible to be organized in every task. So I become a little organized in most things, and not so much in others. Anyone have any ideas how to fix me? ;-)

© Cleo @ Classical Carousel

The most dreary part of the year falls in April for me, only because it means taxes, taxes, and more taxes.  Sadly, in spite of my cheery determination to stay on top of my bookkeeping during the year, inevitably other things ---- other more pleasant things ---- tend to monopolize my time and every year I'm scrambling come April to put everything together from square one. No, not a relaxing start to spring.  Of course, this year was no different so I spent much of April, searching and gathering, finding and entering until the completed tax document was finally on hand.  Arduous work, certainly. No wonder I like to put it right out of my mind when it's all over.  Can you blame me?

My reading has still been progressing at what seems like a snail's pace but I did have some highlights in April: I finally finished reading Herodotus' The Histories and put up my final review.  It was such an enjoyable read but I must admit, I'm happy to move on to Thucydides.  My thorough reading of Herodotus has given me a great base for The History of the Peloponnesian War, which I've begun.  Thucydides is certainly drier than Herodotus, but more organized.  I also was able to read four books for Amanda at Simpler Pastimes' Children's Classic Literature Event:  Finn Family Moomintroll, Cyrus the Persian, The Moomins and the Great Flood and Alice in Wonderland, although so far I only have reviews up for the first one.  I was happy with my accomplishment.  My read of Dead Souls has come to a screeching halt as I absolutely hate my Pevear-Volokhonsky translation.  Why do I torture myself with them?  This is the third of their translations that I've read and they somehow manage to kill any life that the stories have.  I don't know how they do it.  Their marketing is superb but their translations are painful.  I've ordered a used copy of the Chistopher English translation, which seems simplified (I'd rather the Bernard Guilbert Guerney translation), but at least the satire is apparent.

© Cleo @ Classical Carousel

My plans for May include gardening (someone needs to show up with a cattle prod to keep me focused), scorekeeping, blogging and exercise.  I'd like to find some days to take a couple of hikes, but we'll see.  I'm leaving for a little scorekeeping get-away mid-May and then at the end of May I was supposed to be off to the island but I might have to cancel.  Very unfortunate, as I would have been able to get lots of reading accomplished.  And speaking of reading, I'll continue with The History of the Peloponnesian War, Dead Souls and my Deal Me In Challenge and Great Ideas project. I have a few temptations that have come my way from a couple of my Goodreads groups: a re-read for me of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain which also would be a re-read.  The latter is pretty long, so I probably won't join but I'd like to.  I'd also like to begin another Russian novel when I finish Dead Souls, perhaps One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.  AND I'm pondering starting Ulysses and reading it very slowly.  I did not get on well with it the last time I attempted it, but there is a Ulysses aficionado on Goodreads who assures me that he'll help me out. Ulysses or my good common sense?  Who will win?

And the oh-so-elusive food blog?  It's coming ...... very slowly.  I've been prepping recipes and cooking ...... when I started this blog with my partner, neither of us realized the logistical incompatibility.  I cook the recipe and then have to somehow get it to my partner to test it.  With two busy people, we've been using drop-and-run/grab and go tactics.  Perhaps we should find a hollowed-out log somewhere where I can drop it and he can pick it up later.  Ha ha!  And we still have to write up our bios in order to get the blog launched, which we've been promising to do for over a month but obviously are rather uninspired.  What does one say about oneself?  Anything that would appear interesting to others, seems boring to oneself.  Sigh.  We'll just have to take up the gauntlet ---- or the pen ---- and get writing!  But to give you a little foretaste, I'll leave you with a photo of one of our/my creations.  Here's to a great May filled with food, books and friends!

© Cleo @ Classical Carousel