Friday, October 23, 2020

By Jove We Did It!

We had our first book club meet, M2M (mask to mask rather than face to face, ha!) yesterday. First one since January. Through some influence, the RCL in Holyrood (Royal Canadian Legion) gave us a huge room for free. So our chairs were miles apart and 12 of us showed up.

As there was no common book on the agenda, we discussed what we had been reading during The Covid, and writing down others' recommendations. Some brought books along to give away which was wonderful. I got two. I've been remiss in not posting my reads here for the year but will tackle soon. I've always kept journals of books read and am pretty meticulous about recording my ratings along with quotes that capture my attention and a summary of the book itself.

We managed to talk books for around two hours which was intellectually quite soothing and we all felt the better for it. We decided to approach the local golf club for our annual seasonal feast and see if they could manage a distant meal for us in December. A few of us tried to convince the club, yet again, to tackle Zoom, but the majority are still adverse opposed, not quite grasping that we can have a gatekeeper and they won't see guys jerking off on camera which seems to be the biggest negative. Any Zoom groups I attend have never had a breach of this kind due to gatekeepers.

Some pictures taken yesterday, there was a lone seal (your can barely see it) out in the water at Holyrood bay:

And I was intrigued with the colour of this new stone water breaker in a harbour on the same bay which went on into the horizon here:

34 comments:

  1. Gazing out at water and reading, what can be more soothing?

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    1. So very true. I love reading and knitting by the water.

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  2. Great you could meet. We Zoom our book group as well as our discussion class. Never a problem ... and we don't have to suffer through the masks, the social distancing, and more than anything the worry about what's lurking in the air.

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    1. Very true Tom, but try and convince my book club, even though they're all fairly web literate.

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  3. Zoom is a great idea. Good for you and the club for considering a holiday party.

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    1. Yes, we always enjoy those, with fab book exchanges and often a small talented group (part of our BC) performing some great jazz numbers. I've been part of this group since I moved here. One of the best things in my life.

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  4. Hooray for book club meetings. And water views. The seal would be icing on an already delicious cake. Thank you. I do hope that you can find a way to have the holiday gathering.

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    1. Yes, I just wished I had my "real" camera to capture the seal which was bobbing up to look at me, as they do. I find them extraordinarily curious and playful.

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  5. Books and seascapes are both good for the soul. Real m2m meetings are much better than digital ones, but digital ones are vastly superior to none. Keep safe and sane!

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    1. thank you Charlotte, we are all super conscious of The Covid even though we are so safe here. Only 9 active cases at the moment, all from away.

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  6. At my local library site I can now look back and see what I have borrowed in the last year. Very useful when you want to recommend a particular book but can't quite remember its title or author.

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    1. Oh that's a good site Cris, I don't believe we have that here. I will check with the librarian, they are opened limited hours right now and all perspexed.

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  7. Well, I can see the seal. Looks like one of those lovely black beach stones, floating away out there

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    1. Yes, I missed the big occasional bob-up. They are such beautiful creatures, though I am aware they have caused devastation to the fish out here due to lack of culling and activists. There are always two sides to every story.

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  8. I ‘love’ the first photo with the sight of the sea flowing out into infinity- on and on and on it goes.
    Stony pebble beaches I’m not so keen on :)
    My book club does a similar thing in that we talk about books, recommend books and lend each other books. Big no vote for all reading the same one each month.

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    1. Oh that's interesting Cathy. We do have the one book read normally and the discussions have been so interesting with opposing viewpoints often taken. The odd time we will post reviews to each other in between meets.

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  9. The colour of those stones say Australia to me.
    I'm glad you got to go to a book club meeting and swap books too.

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    1. Isn't that interesting River. I've never seen a breakwater of that colour here before. And wonder where those boulders came from, it is mainly dark blueish and grayish granite.

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  10. What??? That worked? Then let me try this.

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  11. Well, cut off my legs and call me Shorty! Did you fix it, Wisewebwoman? -Kate

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  12. There were two after the Shorty quip. Those disappeared. -K.

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    1. You're all back again, Kate. I think it a Wordpress/New Blogger fix and I certainly didn't do it. Much as I'd like to take credit.

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  13. Our Senior Citizens Group had its first web meeting and it was fun getting every one used to its discipline.

    I envy you your location.

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    1. The water does something to my soul, Ramana, I love living beside it. It runs through my bones. A long line of boatbuilders and sailors on one side of my family. Though I miss my old house, right on it. I feel so blessed having lived there for so long.

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  14. I love your writing, and am envious of you living in Canada (and especially Newfoundland, where I too drove up to see the Viking site). Hate to be picky, but since I know you care about this sort of thing:

    "Adverse, usually applied to things, often means "harmful" or "unfavorable" and is used in instances like "adverse effects from the medication." Averse usually applies to people and means "having a feeling of distaste or dislike." It is often used with to or from to describe someone having an aversion to something." (from Merriam-Webster)

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  15. Corrected to "oppose" and thank you RBH. I do care about such things! Though correcting with published posts in New Blogger is another hurdle. They have complicated the hell out of this by "improving" - ha! - it.

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    1. I hesitated to write this for fear you'd be offended so thanks for your generous response!

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  16. I've never had a problem with a Zoom meeting. But I spend all day in front of a camera talking to people so I avoid anything social on Zoom or other platforms if I possibly can.

    The water looks so peaceful.

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    1. Yes, you need time away from that SAW, my days are spent mainly in isolation so I welcome support groups on Zoom.

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  17. The Ladies Who Lunch have become the Ladies Who Zoom, but one refuses to use zoom, believing some conspiracy theory about it. Her loss. Another just can't seem to get the hang of being in the right place at the right time and clicking in the right places. However, we are seeing signs of dementia with her.

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    1. Ah you're here DKZ, they must have fixed the issue. I see traces of dementia around me, the fumbling for words and even names. It is distressing.

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