Edenbrooke

“It was the oak tree that distracted me. I happened to glance up as I walked beneath its full, green canopy. The wind was tossing its leaves so that they twirled upon their stems, and at the sight I was struck by the realization that it had been much too long since I had twirled. I paused under the branches and tried to remember the last time I had felt the least need to twirl.”

My friend lent me this book for my vacation.  She had told me she thought I’d enjoy it because it was a light story, like Anne of Green Gables, but without the annoyingly long, detailed descriptions of things.  I read the first paragraph above, and thought “… am I really going to read this book?”  The answer, yes. And I loved it.

Now a couple posts back, I said I was thinking of giving up and reading books sold by Deseret Book. That was a joke. But then, I was walking downtown last weekend with my parents and as we passed Deseret Book, what was in the window? A huge poster of this book cover. Oh my, I read a Deseret Book book and I enjoyed it.

College is when I started to become insecure myself.  I had a roommate much like the protagonist's sister in this story. If she saw a boy and thought him attractive, she essentially “called” him.  I’d attend a ward prayer, come home and a guy I’d met there would call me later that evening or the next day and ask me out, and she would get mad.  Have you seen “How I Met Your Mother”? (It’s one of my favorites.) If you have, you’ll recognize the tag line, “Have you met my friend Ted?”  I became a really great wing[wo]man for my roommate. When guys would come up and introduce themselves, I would immediately ask, “Have you met my roommate Molly?” (Names have been changed to protect the innocent).  And thus started my habitual stand in the back, make sure my friends are the center of attention, while I’m just there to meet the new guys and entertain until thy meet my friends. What I am getting at, is in too many ways, I could relate with the protagonist in the story.  So much of her attitude and her actions reflect my own actions and attitude. Lucky for the character, she snaps out of it and lives happily ever after, or at least the story ends well for her.

Oh, and her twirling is actually part of the story.  And if you are interested in some great twirling in SLC, during the holiday lights on Temple Square, just inside Temple Square (west of the Main St plaza gate) and south of the temple, there is a very large tree that they fill with red lights. I just told a nephew about this tree on Monday as we were twirling up at Bear Lake.  Stand under the red tree, look up and twirl. It is quite fun.

 Enjoy (the book and the tree).