tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post5026889095614246423..comments2023-10-06T23:44:18.004-07:00Comments on Wednesday Book Club: Wild! esperanzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-16751199434344323002013-04-16T12:05:33.748-07:002013-04-16T12:05:33.748-07:00That does answer a few of those questions, NL.That does answer a few of those questions, NL.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-21015571830373806702013-04-16T11:48:32.838-07:002013-04-16T11:48:32.838-07:00Found this fascinating:
http://www.oprah.com/oprah...Found this fascinating:<br />http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/7-Things-That-Didnt-Make-it-Into-Wild-by-Cheryl-Strayed/2<br />--Neighbor LadyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-82746532677858457962013-04-14T16:46:21.990-07:002013-04-14T16:46:21.990-07:00But...more people...that makes it seem less appeal...But...more people...that makes it seem less appealing to me. I totally got why she wanted to hike alone sometimes. I'm sure I would get tired of it, but that amount of solitude sounds just about right. But perhaps I've spent most of the day hanging out with people...esperanzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-65641375639281249342013-04-14T13:05:26.699-07:002013-04-14T13:05:26.699-07:00A friend and I are meeting up to do some hiking to...A friend and I are meeting up to do some hiking tomorrow! Our hiking:Cheryl's hiking::toothpick:sequoiaesperanzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-33484592087439874132013-04-14T12:54:32.955-07:002013-04-14T12:54:32.955-07:00Great link, Sue! The AT sounds so much more reaso...Great link, Sue! The AT sounds so much more reasonable -- shelters, even sometimes shelters where you can order pizza! More towns along the way. And more people.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-65600872104719632452013-04-14T12:39:38.771-07:002013-04-14T12:39:38.771-07:00She did resolve it -- not an elegant fix, but the ...She did resolve it -- not an elegant fix, but the best available one. At least nobody thought she should toss the duct tape to save weight!<br /><br />The most heart-stopping moment for me was when she reached the patch of snow and ice, with the horrible slide down to boulders below. ACK! I sincerely think I would have turned back rather than cross that with The Monster on my back -- being of the klutzy persuasion myself, I could see myself going right over.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-55210623297155774602013-04-14T12:30:18.336-07:002013-04-14T12:30:18.336-07:00Nope.Nope.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-8590154755297837192013-04-14T12:29:56.119-07:002013-04-14T12:29:56.119-07:00Maybe the rating of boys links back to having alwa...Maybe the rating of boys links back to having always relied on her cuteness, never having thought of herself as one of the guys?<br /><br />Obviously, she had plenty of reasons to feel insecure: abuse and abandonment by her biological father; her mother's absence (leaving the kids alone while she worked); living so isolated on the farm after the stepfather showed up (no indoor plumbing, which was not how the other local kids lived); nobody to give her direction about college; death of her mom; disintegration of her birth family; collapse of her young marriage; job insecurity. <br /><br />Perhaps she just did not realize she had other talents and survival tools? My own defense against the insecurities was feeling I needed a good education, and that I needed to work and be self-sufficient. But I knew women -- smart, funny, creative -- who always felt they needed a man (at least a date), to the extent that they sold their own talents short. (That was absolutely true for my own mother.)kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-5670693456958494722013-04-14T10:56:16.136-07:002013-04-14T10:56:16.136-07:00I've been following the blog posts of a young ...I've been following the blog posts of a young woman who is hiking the AT right now. <br /><br />Here is the link (sorry not to link it properly - rough morning) <br /><br />http://kidinboots.weebly.com/appalachian-trail.html<br /><br />Her site is called "Kid in boots" :)Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407981987874669303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-7572727001803490472013-04-13T19:42:02.918-07:002013-04-13T19:42:02.918-07:00....when that HAPPENED. .....duh. Should proofread.......when that HAPPENED. .....duh. Should proofread.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407981987874669303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-60984076124530067942013-04-13T19:41:06.773-07:002013-04-13T19:41:06.773-07:00At the very beginning of the book, she talks about...At the very beginning of the book, she talks about watching her boot fall off the edge of a cliff. I actually caught my breath when that and thought "that is totally something that would happen to me." It's true - I am deeply and profoundly clumsy and have been my whole life. <br /><br />It was one of those moments when something life-changing (or in this case hike-changing) happens and you know it will have a huge impact on your life.<br /><br />I can think of a few "boot off a cliff" moments in my life. I knew at the time that what was happening would reverberate for a long time. But, like Cheryl with the lost boot, i resolved the situation the best way possible and kept moving forward. <br /><br />Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407981987874669303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-1073932831356953582013-04-13T19:31:06.421-07:002013-04-13T19:31:06.421-07:00That's so sad kathy. Family dynamics......they...That's so sad kathy. Family dynamics......they're never simple are they?Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407981987874669303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-82355988608626595322013-04-13T18:51:02.950-07:002013-04-13T18:51:02.950-07:00make that "her behavior with MEN" not me...make that "her behavior with MEN" not me. Duh. And why can't I edit my own comment, Blogger???esperanzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-49793401966693106702013-04-13T18:47:53.363-07:002013-04-13T18:47:53.363-07:00I'm done! I finished it today in the car, brav...I'm done! I finished it today in the car, bravely fending off motion sickness. Because that's comparable to hiking 1000 miles.<br /><br />It left me simultaneously thinking that I should go hiking again sometime (the memories of pain and breathless gasping and how much I dislike going without a shower having faded over the last 15 years or so) and thinking what a big weenie I am, that I would never do something so...brave/stupid/big/beyond me. <br /><br />Like many of you, her behavior with me was a little perplexing. For almost every man she mentioned (except the gay guy), there was almost a rating system of how attractive they were and how likely or unlikely a bed partner they would be for her. Maybe I'm repressed, but that's not the first thing that comes to mind when I meet a stranger.<br /><br />That's enough for now. Gotta work tomorrow, sermon needs polishing and printing.<br /><br />Thanks, again, Sue. Five stars.esperanzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-33249009620089419512013-04-13T14:23:36.238-07:002013-04-13T14:23:36.238-07:00Oh, Kathy a., that is heartbreaking.
I, too, found...Oh, Kathy a., that is heartbreaking.<br />I, too, found the situation with the step-father so sad. And hard to understand.<br />--Neighbor LadyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-13644644443694625862013-04-13T12:40:04.006-07:002013-04-13T12:40:04.006-07:00She didn't want to become again the person she...She didn't want to become again the person she had been in high school. I can understand that -- though personally, I never wanted to change my name, even though I knew I would become different things as time went along.<br /><br />Names are such personal things. It was important to her then to make a clean break, from both her childhood and her marriage.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-15987191183010957322013-04-13T12:34:37.405-07:002013-04-13T12:34:37.405-07:00P. 153, reflections on Eddie, the step-father who ...P. 153, reflections on Eddie, the step-father who was her real father, and then stopped doing that when her mom died. That is incredibly sad.<br /><br />My kids loved my father -- loved loved loved -- and they were raised thinking of his second wife as the grandma they knew best. And after dad died, she cut us off. I really wish it had not gone that way.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-78981995155986790722013-04-13T12:28:49.455-07:002013-04-13T12:28:49.455-07:00On re-read, p. 111. This, I found really sad -- C...On re-read, p. 111. This, I found really sad -- Cheryl decides that being the only girl in the woods, she needs to "sexually neutralize" the men. Then she explains that she has always used her prettiness and girliness, the strategy she had "banked on all through high school, starving myself thin, playing cute and dumb so I'd be popular and loved." Now she just needed to be smelly and tired and one of the guys.<br /><br />Maybe it was a gift that I never was one of those cute thin pretty play-stupid girls? (Not that I haven't used the "I'm really nice" thing as needed.) But really. I always wanted to be an actual person, and it is heartbreaking to think she got to 26 and had to go do something this major before she thought of just being a person with the guys.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-83112611036562072432013-04-12T16:34:51.125-07:002013-04-12T16:34:51.125-07:00I agree, Sue -- there are different ways of "...I agree, Sue -- there are different ways of "showing up" and helping. Your sister did the parts she could, and that was a big part that helped everyone. We all give in our own ways. xoxokathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-39144858284863739562013-04-12T16:26:38.925-07:002013-04-12T16:26:38.925-07:00Esperanza -- I was trying to figure out her backgr...Esperanza -- I was trying to figure out her background from the name, too.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-10453250883759862842013-04-12T16:21:47.616-07:002013-04-12T16:21:47.616-07:00oh, well, just take the credit, Sue! I have anothe...oh, well, just take the credit, Sue! I have another to add too.<br /><br />I just read the name change part. Until then, I had been pronouncing it (in my head) with two syllables and wondering what sort of ethnic background it came from. Clearly, I am clueless.esperanzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-89764442086187295582013-04-12T16:08:03.566-07:002013-04-12T16:08:03.566-07:00I agree that showing up is important, but I saw a ...I agree that showing up is important, but I saw a different side of this when my mom was dying. One of my sisters simply could not visit mom in the hospital. She's a little bit fragile that way, and the rest of us did not think it was necessary to push her.<br /><br />Because she wasn't spending time with mom at the hospital, she kept everything else under control - I mean everything. She could be relied upon for all of those little things like making sure mom's nightgowns were fresh and clean, that dad had meals, that we always had rides to the hospital. <br /><br />What she could not bear to do at the bedside she made up for in caring for the rest of us. Taking care of us was her way of helping mom. I'm still thankful. My sister did what she could do and that was enough.<br /><br />For Cheryl though, it was a different story. Her brother was a no show and her step-dad wasn't much help even when he was there. I was 32 when my mom died and I had an amazing support system around me. Cheryl was ten years younger. It must have been awful.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407981987874669303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-86071226227097304132013-04-12T15:57:47.940-07:002013-04-12T15:57:47.940-07:00Cheryl Strayed is a two-word story. She always wa...Cheryl Strayed is a two-word story. She always wanted to be a writer.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-2517322090498596922013-04-12T15:53:26.645-07:002013-04-12T15:53:26.645-07:00Glad you're enjoying it esperanza. "Wild&...Glad you're enjoying it esperanza. "Wild" was in the first group of pixie suggestions, but was not one of mine. I read it after that first round of ideas and liked it so much I tossed it back into the line-up later on. I just finished a book that I will recommend next time were looking for new material - it is soooooo good!!!<br /><br />I watched the two minute teaser for the Oprah interview. Cheryl says if she had to sum up the book in one word, it would be "acceptance." She went on to say that she was constantly needing to accept the next mile, the time of day, the conditions etc. she also said the whole experience taught her humility as well. <br /><br />I've been thinking about her name change. Was this another way to leave the pain of the past behind? I wonder if her last name was originally the same as her mother's. if so, it would have been easy enough to take back after the divorce. I do like the name she chose though. It seems like it was a good decision for her - I didn't pickup any hints of regret.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407981987874669303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7236190218512497520.post-54033144971796561212013-04-12T15:38:03.955-07:002013-04-12T15:38:03.955-07:00OK, I'm only about a third of the way in, and ...OK, I'm only about a third of the way in, and I'm not reading any other comments right now to avoid spoilers (though I guess if she's writing the book she made it, huh?). But...I love it. Sue is two for two. She can pick my books anytime!<br /><br />I will chime in in a day or two when I finish it. Baboos are strangely uncooperative with Mama Reads All Day Plan.esperanzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12508921986071164221noreply@blogger.com