flotsam & jetsam | July 2022

I haven’t written this sort of post for a long time, but I miss them. So here is a little collection of random thoughts.

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I finished rereading the Narnia books recently. Then I tried to rank them. It’s very difficult but my list would probably look something like this:

1. The Horse and His Boy
2. The Silver Chair
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Magician’s Nephew
5. Prince Caspian
6. The Last Battle
7. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I think I’m going to try reading them in publication order next time through. (*gasps of horror*) I’ve always been a die-hard “read in chronological order” kind of person, but then again, I do think you should start with LWW, not The Magician’s Nephew. But on the other hand, LWW is my least favorite so maybe you shouldn’t start with it?? I am conflicted and must try the other order before I can decide.

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I also finished reading Rule of Wolves and I am angry. Zoya and Nikolai deserved more time together (and Nikolai deserved to actually be the main character of his own duology), the Alina and Crows cameos were poorly done fanservice, and if you wanted me to ship Nina with Hanne it was going to have to be a tiny bit believable (spoiler: it wasn’t). So yeah. I don’t know why I expected better from the Grishaverse, which I don’t even like that much anyway, but I liked Zoya and Nikolai a LOT and so I stuck it out for them. I probably should have stopped.

At least they are good characters. (Certain scenes in King of Scars are very emotionally compelling and I hope I can write arcs like these someday.)

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Random note: I met K.B. Hoyle!! I’ll probably talk about this more at another point, but for now, you should all check out her new publishing house (:

Owl’s Nest Publishers

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I just got back from a week spent up north at camp. A year ago I was there for two weeks (I’d still be there if I didn’t have a job and actually need the money I’m making at said job)… and those two weeks felt like the bridge between childhood and adulthood for me, so it was weird to be back at such a formational place, but without the people who made that bridge. Most of them were crew members last summer and aren’t there this year.

(This poem was mostly inspired by last year’s trip up north.)

What really makes it wonderful is the place itself, though, so I still enjoyed myself. But another woman (she’s older, has children of her own, and came there as a child herself) told me that when she looks around, all she can see is the ghosts of her past, and… that was a bit true for me too.

I am glad that there are things that will not die. I am glad that there are children playing on the beaches and getting camp crushes and learning to sail for the first time.

I will be back next year.

But still, there is this endless ache —

and still I will give thanks for this —

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It’s funny, dear readers. You must get bored of how often I talk about my longing for home and my wish for love and my missing people and places and aching with all the brokenness of the world…

But these are the things that make me human, and these are the things that remind me that He is coming soon.

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I haven’t got much more to say, so I’ll close with a hymn that we sing every year at camp:

How good is the God we adore
Our faithful, unchangeable friend
His love is as great as his power
And knows neither measure nor end

‘Tis Jesus, the first and the last
Whose spirit will guide us safe home
We’ll praise him for all that is past
And trust him for all that’s to come

~ a m e n ~

until next time,

have courage, be kind, trust God, and fear no evil. live the life that unfolds before you.

go gaily in the dark.

— MAYA