My Friend Flicka

We gathered at Sandy's lovely home to share another delicious meal and great discussion.  Sandy, it was so nice to enjoy your festive Halloween decorations, which included many of your own counted cross-stitched pieces.  It is always a pleasure to be able to relax and spend time with friends.  Thank you, Sandy, for hosting our gathering.

Our book was a classic coming-of-age story about an American West ranch family.  The main character was a young boy - a dreamer who was finding it difficult to please his demanding father.  His mother helps him find his abilities by encouraging her husband to give the boy the horse of his choice during one summer break from school.  The summer becomes a long, hard lesson about life and gaining ones' own self confidence.  The boy is not the only one with lessons to learn; his father, who is actually a lot like his youngest son, has lessons to learn that summer also.

It was revealing to realize that this was written in the 1940s and that the economics of ranching haven't changed much over the years, save the introduction of modern farm equipment.  The author had moments of waxing poetic surrounded by repetition as she set the scene.  She beautifully describes Wyoming:
   "The East is cozy.  There is never the distance, the far, empty distances - the wide loneliness.  You    can smell the emptiness - almost a desert.  A sweet, fresh, singing wildness - you can breathe it in.  And it lifts you."
We did feel that the first two thirds of the book were somewhat boring and repetitious, but agreed that the end was compelling and made it all worth the read.

We set the date of our December gathering.  It will be Wednesday, December 7th at 5:30 pm.  Although Barbara will be our host, the meeting will be held at Claudia's home.  This will be our meeting to collect children's books to donate to local children of need.  We will wrap our selections that evening.  We will also have a "secret Santa" book exchange.  If you care to join in, please bring a book/gift which is already wrapped.  We will draw numbers and each select a surprise gift!