Dear Sunday Letter friends~
Whew! It’s been a FULL week. A wonderful, celebratory book launch week. And, surprise-surprise, I have a few thoughts to share. (And I’m required to tell you that purchases made from included links, will result in a few pennies to me…)
Theo in the World!
It feels surreal to know the story and characters I love are out in the world now. For the most part, it’s completely out of my control, how the book is received, who takes the time to write and post a review, who tells their friends about it. Oh, I will continue to talk about it to anyone who will listen—of course I will—because the launch of a book is only the beginning of that book’s life.
When I started writing my first book, The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee, I had no idea the bigger picture or the effort I would expend in the process. And these first few days after the official book launch feels like a long-awaited exhalation. Certainly a reason for celebration.
Thank you for joining me on this adventure, and please humor me while I share a few of my favorite pictures from the neighborhood launch party:
I believe in celebrating the small things, the rare things, both the ordinary and the extraordinary. Do you?
Also, Fayetteville friends—Ozark Charcuterie & Wine Bar catered the charcuterie boards for the party. Highly recommend!
So what exactly is a Third Act?
In a story or play, the third act is the resolution. The slaying of MacBeth. The demise of Romeo and Juliet (although technically that happens in Act V). Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the West, returns to the Emerald City, clicks her heels three times and discovers there’s no place like home.
If a person’s life is divided into three acts, the third act is the last portion. Say, ages 60 – 90+, give or take. The third act may be the empty-nest years if you have children, the retirement years, a time when we shift our primary focus from climbing the career ladder and juggling family commitments to other endeavors. Spending time with grandchildren. Traveling. Growing a garden. Writing or painting or photography. (Of course, the third act likely encompasses its own set of unique challenges, like health issues or money problems, but that’s a topic for another time.)
The point I’m trying to make is that the third act of life is fuller and more robust than it was for our grandparents. It’s something to celebrate too, for us and for Theo Gruene.
The Joy in Cancelled Plans
My mother and sister and I had planned to spend the Memorial Day weekend at our happy place, Lake Norfork. But things beyond our control happened, and we thought it best to cancel our trip. Not going to the lake is a sad thing for us. In my entire life, I don’t think we’ve cancelled a scheduled lake trip. Ever.
But it was the right decision. And now I’m happy to have the entire weekend with nothing on my calendar.
During the past two weeks, my plate has been crazy overloaded, and while I’m grateful for every opportunity, Thursday night I completely hit a wall. Went to bed at 8:30. Slept hours and hours. Being the (slightly) extraverted (mostly) introverted person that I am, I need downtime the same way I need coffee in the morning. Without it, I don’t function very well.
This morning, I feel human again. And I am embracing the joy in cancelled plans.
Sometimes we wear busyness like a badge, don’t we?
There’s this idea in our culture that if we aren’t going and doing all the time we are unproductive.
I disagree. No matter which act of life you find yourself in, I believe everyone would benefit from embracing more downtime. Rest more. Sit in quiet. Read a good book. Watch the soft rain fall and the dandelions grow. Nature is good therapy.
The Best Treehouse in all of Fayetteville!
Can you imagine being a kid again, one with this treehouse in the backyard?
My Fayetteville friend, Nancy, built this glorious treehouse for her grandchildren. Now that they are grown it seems to quietly look over her backyard, a tribute to sweet memories.
A treehouse is such a marvelous symbol of childhood innocence. It’s a place for imagination and adventure, a place for napping and dreaming. A place with a view providing a difference prospective.
My sister and I were forever trying to build a treehouse in the cottonwood tree, but other than a few boards nailed willy-nilly, we were wildly unsuccessful. So we climbed trees instead and just imagined the “house” part of a treehouse around us.
I hope this treehouse sparks a few memories of your own.
Things Momma Says:
I really don’t even need a phone anymore.
(Oh yes you do, Momma.)
****
Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Letter, and in the bigger picture, thank you for being part of my community. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day that unofficially marks the beginning of summer. Be sure to reflect on the reason behind the holiday. It’s the day we set aside to honor and mourn U. S. military men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice to our nation.
Be safe, friends. And play nice.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Hi Talya, I’m reading The Third Act Of Theo Gruene as we speak, and I’m very happy you explain in your Sunday letter, what the third act really means.
It makes a lot of sense and it’s kind of funny, because in Spain, people who are retired (65 or older) are in “la Tercera edad” – literally translation “Third age”
Thank you for the good reading 😁
Thank you Winnie! I love having a reader in Spain:))
Why the Willow Weeps
Original short story made up and written by yours truley Jack Ward—–
A Weeping Willow was a tree
With the Grandest canopy
It’s only friend was the Oak
Who liked the Willow wips it took.
Every whip made Oak stronger.
But with strength comes with weight.
Not every limb grows too straight.
If one breaks it will be missed.
If it was the limb the Willow Whissped.
Strength in friends bear in mind.
Even Oak can love a Pine.
With this story never told.
Willow-oak love is old.
With their touch from another.
Gave incentive to outgrow each other.
When very young life was fun.
When it was them by a pond.
◦
I adored your story of the mimosa tree, it touched close to home with me. That’s why I had to send you this poem I made up one day some years ago about the lives of the trees that were in my backyard during my childhood. I’m also a novice gardener with an ambition to get my degree in silviculture. Contact me if interested for further conversation, I do have some questions and I’m sure there is something you can teach me. God bless You, farewell for now.
You could have been describing me to a tee with the Joy of Cancelled Plans. After 49 years it still drives my husband when I am happy when some plans get canceled, he is a person who hates”wasting daylight” as he refers to inactivity. Where I say “I am not the least afraid of constant activities, I can lay down right next to it and take a nap any time.” An empty week or even a couple days on my calender, brings great joy to my life.
We are definitely on the same page!!
I’m home, getting rested and ready to read The Third Act. It was waiting alongside a big stack of mail. I like your take on life stages. Terry and I are enjoying our third act; although occasionally we talk about how fleeting time feels.
Sometimes I don’t mind canceled plans at all. Some days it’s feel good to “just be.”
And our tree house was a platform of boards somebody’s dad had put in the biggest tree in the neighborhood.