We’d gone for a slice of pizza and looked west on our drive through the rural rolling hills of Georgia. What we saw took our breath away. Golden twilight peeking over the hill. I stopped at the end of our driveway and photographed it, hoping to capture the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows like a brush stroke of melted crayons. The next morning, I opened the front door to the beauty of the sun over the recent harvesting of trees.
Beauty surrounds us in this place we call home, and I wanted to share the artistry of the skies. It’s not always able to be seen this way in cloudless ways, but even though the eye can’t always see through to it, I know it’s always there. It’s euphoric when it reveals itself in its full splendor.
Some Tuesdays I write about a tiny slice of life. A moment. Today, it’s going to have to be the whole pie. You see, I’ve been on a book adventure, and I want to share it with you.
When you fall head over heels in love with a book, its setting, and all the characters, you can’t just shake loose of the mind and heart embrace and move on with life. You want to live there in the pages, remain with the people, and mourn the ending of the page-turning joy that held you tight right through the last sentence. You slowed down because you didn’t want it to end, but you couldn’t stop that train.
When all you want to do is linger, you can’t accept that it’s over. The End. Done.
I’ve told all my friends about Theo of Golden by Allen Levi and its impact. It restores our hope in humanity and leaves us wanting to be more like Theo.
When fellow blogger Sally Donnelly watched Katie Couric interview Allen Levi, she sent me the link. A huge shout out to Sally for doing this ~ I was meeting with my own book club that evening and could not watch live.
When my sister-in-law Bethany finished the book, she was eager to see the coffee shop that inspired the book. We planned the one-hour drive over to Columbus, Georgia and invited our husbands along for the fun. Turns out, there is also the bike shop and the book store and the fountain and so many benches and the Riverwalk and even a character. But we didn’t know about the inspired character until our visit.
The Chalice in Golden is the fictional version of Fountain City Coffee Company, which sits on Broadway, a downtown street two blocks east of the Chattahoochee River that divides Georgia and Alabama. This is where we started our adventure on a rainy Sunday. We ordered coffee and muffins and sat at a table admiring the portraits on the wall – wondering about the stories of each face.
The man in the left corner above, wearing khakis, offered to take the photo below of our group when he saw us discussing the photos and referencing the book. Locals were extra kind and seemed to understand our need to experience this place.
We asked about Fedder Fountain, and one of the baristas explained that Columbus is known as “the fountain city” because there are fountains everywhere. We discovered this as we walked, but as we later discovered in the bookstore, all of the significant places we wanted to see were wrapped tightly within a block or so, and the photo below is probably the inspiration for Fedder Fountain. We believe that they turn the fountain off for the winter months to prevent freezing.
We saw art everywhere, but here is what we believe to be a feather (or a dragonfly wing), below. It resembles the cover of the book even in its gold and beige tones.
Next, we strolled down to the Riverwalk. The bricks to the left in the picture below form a walkway that extends a good way, and this is where Ellen and Theo would have taken their bike ride along the river. You can see the bridge in the photo, too – this takes you to Phenix City, Alabama on the other side, and there is a bike shop called Brickyard Bike (RiverRides in the book) where Ellen arranged the bike ride. Along the banks would be the place where she showed him the birds’ nest. One of my favorite parts of the book is when she takes out the Student Driver tag and puts it on the back of his borrowed Noble Invention after giving him these instructions: “Don’t bring anything with you. I want you to be able to keep both hands on the handlebars and your eyes on the trail. The last thing I need is a casualty. I’ll bring some water for us in my basket.”
Next, we found the bookstore. JudyBug’s Books was exactly as I had pictured The Verbivore from the descriptions in the book. The man behind the counter was as friendly as they come. We asked if he was the inspiration for Tony, and he grinned a knowing grin, tapping his chest. “I’m Tommy,” he smiled, introducing himself while stressing his similar name.
I have never met a bookseller I didn’t like, but I genuinely took interest in Tommy. He talked with us and told us about the town, even pausing to explain how before Covid, men would gather outside and talk (the Penny Loafers). I could tell that this man was happy and unhurried, peaceful and well-read. I asked him the title of the last great book he’d read. He ambled over to the display, kind of scratching his chin, and recommended Big Fish as the one he recommends to everyone. He explained that while he isn’t big on magical realism, he thinks this book is the best in its genre. Of course, when Tommy from JudyBugs or Tony from the Verbivore recommends a book, I’m buying it as I envision him drinking port with Theo from that bottle that told the story of a life.
I’d overheard a woman speaking with my sister in law as I was paying. She said she’d overheard us talking about Theo of Golden, which her book club was reading this month, and wondered if we’d read it. “Oh yes,” Bethany explained……and I watched the woman’s face light up as they talked after Bethany asked her if she realized she was standing in the Verbivore.
Tommy at JudyBug’s Books
Before leaving town, we drove across the bridge to Phenix City to see Brickyard Bike Company, which sits just half a block away from the river. It was closed, but we imagined Ellen giving biking advice to Theo before setting off down the Riverwalk.
A quick video of The Riverwalk in Columbus, Georgia
The photo below I have intentionally saved for last to leave those who have read the book with one last photo gift ~ Theo’s balcony.
if you know, you know
the significance of that
balcony upstairs……
I nearly cried when I saw it: there, directly across the street from the coffee shop, is a balcony with the most exquisite railing.
Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers at Slice of Life
If you don’t have a book club in your life, go find you one – or better yet, start one – that likes to read across a variety of genres, gather and discuss books, and be so inspired by them that there is that one little thing or two that makes you want to do something you wouldn’t ordinarily do, see, taste, or experience. People who say that books can change your life aren’t joking; my father always said that if your book isn’t changing your life, it’s time to change your book. His words were never more true than yesterday, on what was his first heavenly birthday.
That’s one of the reasons that in the Kindred Spirits Book Club, we squeeze every drop of life from every book by allowing it to take us to new places. I think back to that first book we read together in January 2025, The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend, and one of our group members noticed that one of the characters was always serving hot tea. We found a local tea room and paid them a visit one Saturday morning. One year later, we’re still going strong, seeking the full adventure that’s ours to claim as we find it between the pages.
Our last book of 2025 was The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan, and one group member noticed that the chef in the book was always talking about her cookery books. It inspired us to want to take some sort of food class – a charcuterie board class, a cooking class, or some type of cake or cookie decorating class. We found the answer right in our own small town. A retired teacher created a cookie business as her next chapter and now travels the surrounding area with her own personally-designed cookie decorating kit, setting up in homes and giving groups the opportunity to create together.
L-R: Janette, me, Joy, Jennifer, Chris Tyree, and Jill (we were missing: Martina)
We called our friend Chris Tyree of Cookies by Chrissoula, and we set Friday, February 13 as our cookie decorating party, complete with a chili dinner and the fun of togetherness – in pajamas, sweats, and slippers. We laughed, we concentrated on cookie details, and commiserated over the woes of the world. If a cookie broke, we learned how to glue it back together with icing – discoveries that become metaphors for all the broken places in our own lives. Just slap some sugary sweetness in between the jagged edges and put it back together and keep going. In a world of tension and deadlines, frustrations and disappointments, we counted our blessings and considered the icing on our cookies, so to speak.
Georgia Heard’s Substack offers writing calendars that work for both children and adults. Here is her February Valentine Mini Writing Calendar, inspiring us to fall in love with the everyday. Day 6 asks us to fall in love with love with a small ritual that brings us comfort or joy such as morning coffee, walking the dog, or lighting a candle.
My friend Margaret Simon shared Georgia Heard’s Substack with me, and I love reading about her travels and writing experiences – and her book recommendations.
I love that she offers writing calendars that work for both children and adults. Here is her February Valentine Mini Writing Calendar, inspiring us to fall in love with the everyday. Join me with a journal and a pen – and fall in love with the living!
Day 4 asks us to fall in love with love with something living: a tree, a spider, a dog, a person, and then to describe it with care. I’ve been house hunting in the place where I plan to retire, and watching carefully for signs of just the right vibe. My brother reminds me: You’ll know it when you find it. I chose a sign along the way ~ a friendly daffodil ~ and wrote a shape poem, also known as a concrete poem.
My friend Margaret Simon shared Georgia Heard’s Substack with me, and I love reading about her travels and writing experiences – and her book recommendations. A couple of months ago, she was reading The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life, recommended it on her post, and I picked it up and loved every page of it. You can see her posts here. I think what I love most about her book recommendations is that they are journey-related and not necessarily bestsellers that everyone would naturally pick up and read. I like books that take me down back roads, and she does a splendid job of this.
I love that she offers writing calendars that work for both children and adults. Here is her February Valentine Mini Writing Calendar, inspiring us to fall in love with the everyday. I’ll be starting this today and walking with Georgia through the week. Join me with a journal and a pen!
Day 2 asks us to fall in love with love with a sound: birdsong, traffic, a voice, silence…..and to share what touched our hearts.
My friend Margaret Simon who blogs at Reflections on the Teche shared Georgia Heard’s Substack with me, and I love reading about Georgia’s travels and writing experiences – and her book recommendations. A couple of months ago, she shared that she was reading The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life, and recommended it on her post. I picked it up and loved every page of it. I think what I enjoy most about her book recommendations is that they are journey-related and not necessarily bestsellers that everyone would naturally pick up and read. I like books that take me down back roads, and she does a splendid job of sharing sacred places, both inward and outward.
Georgia Heard offers writing calendars that work for both children and adults. Here is her February Valentine Mini Writing Calendar, inspiring us to fall in love with the everyday. I’ll be starting this today and walking with Georgia through the week. Join me with a journal and a pen!
Day 1 asks us to fall in love with love with something ordinary: the sky, a pencil, a crack in the sidewalk, and to write a few lines about what we noticed.
Rabbit, rabbit! It’s the first day of February, and here we are almost to Groundhog Day again, about to hang all our faith and hope in a soothsaying rodent. It’s 15 degrees here and feels like 3, and I’m not sure whether to wish for more chances of snow for mid-week reading or hope for the greeting of the roadside daffodils.
One type of poem I’ve been writing since last year is a gift basket poem – – what would I give a recipient in any given month of the year? For February, the choice is clear: it’ll be filled with oatmeal colors to help keep you warm.Â
If I were giving you a gift basket I’d go with oatmeal tones
This cold weather has my memories of Alaska swirling like magic-dust snowflakes of wanderlust. I’ve been there twice, both times on cruises – so even though I tasted none of the “local” flavors of the non-touristy places in the nation’s largest state that was anything but a folly, both times I’ve indulged in that spectacular smoked sockeye salmon that is sliced thin and served with eggs, capers, lox and bagels. We’d go to brunch, and they’d serve it as an early tea time with breakfast for late risers being more of a light lunch.
The cold weather brought the memories, but the threat of power outages last week brought shopping for things we could eat with minimal preparation. I found a good brand in Publix over in Peachtree City and gave thanks for the fish, imagining it swimming upstream to spawn, trying to avoid the fish-spearing claws of grizzly bears out there standing on those shallow rocks as ribbons of fresh red fish flitter past their feet. The one I was holding made it back home to do its one last thing before ending up in a sliced and packaged fillet.
I always boil all of our eggs prior to a winter storm. We’ve discovered that they keep fine in a cooler on the back porch and can feed us for days on end. And when we put a little sliver of salmon on top, it’s just the ticket for an Alaskan meal right here at home in middle Georgia!
This company also publishes “Write The Poem” which I will also share in an upcoming blog post
I was browsing through our local used bookstore on a lunch break last week when, on my way out the door, a book caught my eye. Its title, Write the Story, glimmered in gold lettering down the spine, as if to plead: Hey, over here! See my sparkle? Take me home with you!
Already reaching for the doorknob, I changed course and went back to check it out. I expected a how-to on the writing process. Instead, I discovered the hidden treasure of a delightful writing challenge. Each page bore a titled topic with ten pre-determined (seemingly random) words to be used in the writing of a story.
The pages appeared to be blank except for one on which someone had penciled a story to satisfy one singular challenge and apparently moved on with life, abandoning the book and donating it to the bookstore, where it now rested in my hands. Treasure, indeed!
Poems to be written. Winter seeds of poetry, all scattered between the covers of one book. Destined for me, cast off like a stray no one else wanted, knowing all the while that a cultivator of words and writing would be most likely to pick it up, fall in love with it, take it home, and feed it.
I bought it and realized that other members of my small-group Stafford Challenge writers must have a copy. When we commit to writing a poem a day for a year, we all need a little prompting from time to time when the well runs dry or life gets too busy to think deeply like a poet. Once back inside the car, I turned on the heat and warmed up. I ordered three more copies online from the parking lot to send to Glenda Funk, Barb Edler, and Denise Krebs upon their arrival. Then I took a few snapshots to send them in the mean time.
Today’s title: In the Middle of a Long, Cold Winter
concluding a futuristic opera treading frozen spring water
winter cleanses our lungs
razor-sharp alveoli icicles fall sun breaks out in a crescendo of seasonal transition melting the white powder milkshake from the mountainside grace of its forgiving kiss beckoning crocus, groundhog-like peepers stretching up through frozen ground ready to crawl out of bed emerge from quilted slumber shed their corm-sewn bud vests and sing a new song
Common Threads 