Celebrating June

June is a good month. It  brings beautiful flowers, delicious fruits and vegetables, and plenty of sunshine. June is the month to celebrate National Rose Month, National Dairy Month, and National Candy Month. It also includes great holidays: Paul Bunyan Day, World Environment Day, Flag Day, Father's Day, and the Summer Solstice. Each day of the month has it's own special celebration. For instance let's look at June 9th. On this day you can celebrate Donald Duck Day, National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day and (insert long drum roll) my BIRTHDAY!! I wasn't sure I'd be too happy about my birthday this year, but I decided instead of bemoaning the fact that I've just completed my 65th year and now carry a Medicare Card, I would find unusual ways to celebrate.

With the hot weather I've been spending my afternoons inside, so I thought why not read books that were written in the year I was born, 1953. I looked through book lists and really didn't find any adult books I wanted to read, so I decided to read children's books. I first went through my collection of Little Golden Books and discovered I have four written in 1953. Since they were a pretty quick read, I searched the local children's library for picture books and juvenile chapter books.

I discovered:

• The Clue of the Velvet Mask, a Nancy Drew mystery by Carolyn Keene
• Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
• The Crisscross Shadow, a Hardy Boys mystery by Franklin W. Dixon
• . . . and now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold
• Scrambled Egg Super, a Dr. Seuss book I've never seen before
• A Very Special House written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (I'm sure you recognize that name)
• Sleepy ABC written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina

It was a coincidence that I'd just been reading about the illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina who was an artist, author, and illustrator. She's best know for her picture book Caps For Sale. I remember this story from my childhood and several years ago bought my own copy. As I looked through the library shelves, I discovered that a sequel had been published celebrating the 75th anniversary of Caps For Sale. More Caps For Sale was developed by Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer using illustrations similar to what Slobodkina used in her original book. It was fun to reread Caps For Sale and see what other mischief the monkeys got into in More Caps For Sale. Other works I found by Slobodkina include The Wonderful Feast and The Little Fireman, in which she once again teamed up with Margaret Wise Brown.

My days begin and end with reading. Each morning I read from one of Max Lucado's books, at lunch I read a children's book, and before bed I read some type of fiction. I'm grateful during the hot days of summer that I love to read!!

Reading gives us someplace to go

when we have to stay where we are.

~ Mason Cooley

  * * * * *

One more thing to celebrate in June! Today is National Sunglasses Day. Yes, I'm serious. This celebration began in 2014 to promote the importance of UV eye protection. On this day everyone is encouraged to celebrate by wearing their favorite pair of sunglasses and sharing a photo on social media used #NationalSunglassesDay and #SunglassSelfie. Wellington couldn't resist the challenge!

HAPPY JUNE!!

Marylake

My camera is sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I have no desire to pick it up and especially have no desire to be outside. With heat indicies over 100 I'd rather stay inside. I know, that you know, I DO NOT LIKE SUMMERTIME!! Enough said about that! Anyway I was scrolling through some old summertime blog posts trying to get a little inspiration when I discovered a post I'd begun, but never finished. So I thought, why not share it now? I can do that from the coolness of my living room and it's an amazing place with an interesting history!

Nestled in the woods beside a lovely spring-fed lake sits a castle-like rock building built in 1926 as the Shriner Country Club which included a golf course, clubhouse, and swimming beach. During the late 1920's, the country club was popular with wealthy Little Rock residents, who drove 15 miles down a dirt road to attend dances in the ballroom. Although the country club did well for a while, the Shriners struggled to make payments on their construction loan during The Great Depression and were forced to close it.

a postcard view of the side away from the lake

found at http://www.rrmerritt.com/mabelvale/MHS_Brinkley.htm

After the country club closed, the land and the building were sold. That's when the inhabitants of the building gets interesting.

• 1937 - Property was bought by the infamous Dr. John R. Brinkley  who was known as one of the greatest quacks of the 20th Century! He preformed surgical procedures transplanting animal organs into humans. He used the building as a convalescent home for his patients. Needless to say, he was run out of town!

• 1944 - Little Rock's Baptist Hospital bought the property for use as a convalescent home.

• 1947 - Property was sold to R. G. and Evelyn LeTourneau with the stipulation that it be used for "Christian purposes."  The couple opened an interdenominational camp called "Pine Lake Camp" for underprivileged boys.

• 1951 - The property was sold to Carmelite Friars. The clubhouse became Marylake Monastery which serves as the novitiate house of our Province of St. Therese. Here men undergo a year of intense prayer, discernment, and training in the Carmelite life.

Jesus was given honor when the property name "Pine Lake" was changed to "Marylake" after was His mother. The former country club ballroom was converted into a chapel.

This beautiful swinging bridge was built in 1963 by Father Herman Estuan prior at Marylake. Father Herman studied the Golden Gate Bridge to get the proportions correct, and then he designed this suspension bridge, that leads over to the cemetery which was formerly the 9th hole of the golf course.

Even though Marylake is on a fairly busy road, there is a feeling of peace as you stand looking over the fence.

I've been there several times and every time I've seen dragonflies land on the fence posts.

The still lake is perfect for reflections and . . . 

waterlilies!

I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson about the great rock castle in the country. I have this insatiable appetite for information about historical buildings. I want to know when it was built, who built it, and who occupied it. I find if I post the information on my blog, I can remember where it is and revisit it.

Hope you're having a great summer!