August 13, 2017 I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE

So when did people start celebrating Left-Handers' Day?? I've been left-handed my whole life and NO one has ever wished me well on this fine day! Seriously.  I wonder what THE LEFTIES do at their parties--stand around and WHINE about the injustice of SCISSORS, SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS and CAN OPENERS. You've got to be kidding. We live in a STRANGE world today where people CELEBRATE EVERYTHING. It's so weird. Yesterday, a good friend told me she was going to a "Reveal Party". I was like WTH--Let me get this straight. People actually have parties to announce the sex of their babies. Remember back in the olden days--we didn't EVEN know THAT until we POPPED the baby out. SHAKING MY HEAD. Did you know that women today EVEN get what's called a  PUSH GIFT. CRAZY--Women  actually get a REWARD for "pushing" out babies. WOW. So what happens if THEY have a Cesarean?? Do they still get a gift because technically speaking they don't actually push??? HHHUUMMMMM. What about the Bachelorette/Bachelor parties people are having these days? Serious parties-- weekend trips to Las Vegas-Martha's Vineyard-Miami. We were lucky if we went out one night for dinner and drinks right?? Did you know that engagements have also become family events??  Everyone within a 1000 mile radius actually watches the  engagement. THAT WOULD TOTALLY FREAK ME OUT. When I got engaged it was just the two of us--a private moment. IT'S ALL TOO MUCH FOR ME. I guess it's all part of the ME GENERATION.

If only Hester Prynne, the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter had only lived in 2017! Poor Hester! Written in 1850, this novel is considered by many to be the masterpiece of Hawthorne's career; therefore, a must for any seasoned reader. Set the 1640's in the Puritan Bay Colony, this is the tale of an ADULTERESS. The novel opens as Hester is released from prison for committing the criminal act of adultery.  As part of her sentence, she must submit to public humiliation by wearing the letter "A" on her dress for all to see--a spectacle.  While standing in front of a large crowd,  Hester see's her long lost husband, presumed lost at sea. After witnessing his wife's transgression,  her husband decides to change his name to Roger Chillingworth and imbed himself into the colony so that he can discover Hester's lover and revenge his misdeeds too.  The problem is that Hester refuses to name her lover. After her release from prison, Hester and her daughter, Pearl, live a life of solitude and penitence in order for Hester to regain her dignity. Tormented by guilt, Hester's lover finally exposes himself at the end of the novel. Will Roger make Hester's lover suffer the way Hester did at the beginning of the novel? Will Hester and her lover end up together at the end of the novel? Just who was Hester's lover?? Find out for yourself when you read this beautifully crafted piece of historical fiction. It's about 275 pages or a 4 mile run that explores sin, guilt, and loyalty at an interesting time in our history.