Artist Jennifer Gordon

Finally!  It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this year’s R.I.P challenge to begin and now, the time has arrived!

I discovered this challenge last year at Carl’s awesome blog, Stainless Steel Droppings:  Eclectic Musings of a Renaissance Geek, while surfing through some book blogs and immediately signed on.  I didn’t successfully complete the challenge last year, maybe because it was an all around crazy year and I took on more reading challenges than I could possibly complete, but I’m up for the challenge this year! 

I start thinking about Halloween around mid-summer but hold myself off from indulging in all things spooky, scary or creepy until September at least.  So, this is the perfect time to start a reading challenge relating to the dark and unexplainable.    To explain the challenge, I give you Carl:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Though the weather outside ain’t frightful, this type of reading makes September and October delightful. I know that as I have gathered together books for this, the fifth annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge, I have felt that chill up my spine and an anticipation that was hard to put on hold until now.

There are two simple goals for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril V Challenge:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

As I do each and every year, there are multiple levels of participation that allow you to be a part of R.I.P. V without adding the burden of another commitment to your already busy lives. There is even a one book only option for those who feel that this sort of reading is not their cup of tea but want to participate all the same.

R.I.P. V officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. But lets go ahead and break the rules. Lets start today!!!

Multiple perils await you. You can participate in just one, or participate in them all.

This year I have added an addition Peril, and that is for those who also like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on to the book review site as well.

You may participate in one or all of the various Perils. My one rule: enjoy yourself!

The R.I.P. V. Challenge does not require you to read from a pre-selected list of books, but like many of you I love to get ideas from what others are thinking of reading. If you want to include a pool of potential reads when you sign up, either in the comments or on your own sign up post on your blog (not required for participation), please do!

1. Hmmm…thinking on this.

If you’re interested in joining us in this challenge, please check out Carl’s challenge invitational post and please let me know if you decide to participate.  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or viewing! 

Happy sigh…..

A.M.

I’ve been longing for silence, freedom from feeling, peace and quiet.  When I do find myself alone with the freedom to do as I please, I shut down and can’t seem to function.  I find no excitement or joy in doing those things I’ve dreamed about doing. Noises hurt my head, even music I’d normally enjoy seems harsh, like an intrusion.

My physical well-being, or lack thereof lately, has only exacerbated the pickle I find myself in.  The pollen count must be out of this world because my seasonal allergies have definitely taken over.  Added to all my other allergies, it makes for one tired messed-up woman with a headache.

I would love to be sitting outdoors, looking out at the mountains, desert, or ocean, wrapped in a luxurious terry-cloth robe, my hair saturated with nourishing oil, its light spicy scent captured by the soft, warm breeze.  The sun warms my skin and serenity fills me.  Oh, how I’d love to spend time being nourished and pampered at a spa or retreat…

P.M.

It’s funny how when you wish for something, you just might receive it but not in the manner you expect.   My son was invited to visit a friend he hadn’t seen in over a year, and this friend does not live close by.  They would only have a three hour window and I’d be required to drive him to his friend’s house, then pick him up after their visit.  I never relish the idea of driving to a location I’m not familiar with, however, I wanted my son to see his friend again and enjoy his day, so, we made the trip.

After driving for what seemed like an eternity, I dropped off my son and realized by the time I got home, it would almost be time to turn around and come back.  I opted to stick around and explore the area.   I didn’t want to stray too far and not remember how to get back so I found an intersection with a few department stores and a bank, and set up camp.

Here’s where the wish comes in.  There were three hours to kill and luckily I had left a book in my purse, Storycatcher by Christina Baldwin, so I lowered the car’s front windows, opened the sunroof, and just sat in my car, enjoying my book and the breeze.  The only sound was the movement of nearby traffic, which, thankfully, was light.

Did I really want to spend three hours in my car?  Of course not, but it was lovely to sit in relative silence, reading about something I love, and enjoying a teaser of the beautiful Autumn weather I always look forward to.  It might not have been a beach or mountaintop, but it was my own little crazy spa retreat.  Even walking through WalMart (a store I rarely visit), became an exercise in settling in to me again.  I sniffed so many candles, I thought for sure I’d get a headache.  I looked at and touched one skein of yarn after another and dreamed of all the beautiful scarves, gloves and sweaters I’d make (yeah, right), and took my time browsing books and blankets, baubles and beads.  Heaven!!

My three-hour getaway was just what I needed to enjoy the silence and find myself again.  I felt more relaxed and acquired a much better outlook.  It was not quite a week at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa but it was a wish fulfilled.  Thank you!!

I experienced a surreal moment while exiting the grocery store recently.  As I crossed the parking lot to reach our SUV, the world became still…utterly still…  There was no movement, no breeze, nothing.  It couldn’t have lasted long but while it did, I half expected the heavens to open and my long sought after life purpose, along with a heretofore untapped superhero-like ability, be revealed to me.  Or, a ninja assassin would jump from the store roof to land directly in front of my cart only to impress me with his most excellent drunken-monkey style karate. Life returned to normal in very short order, but for that moment, I knew a great feeling of expectation.