I am an Orthodox Christian, recently widowed after 43 years of marriage, mother of five, and grandmother of seventeen. In 2019 I became a great-grandmother! I live in Northern California and have been blogging since 2009. My interests include homemaking, my family, theology, education (We homeschooled for 25 years), history, wildflowers, and gardening.
Favorite Movies
“The Secret of Roan Inish,” “Ushpizin,” “Children of Heaven,” “Ostrov (Остров),” “The Tree of Life,” “Joe and the Volcano,” “Moonstruck,” “Breaking Away,” “Groundhog Day,” “The Well-Digger’s Daughter, “Big Night.”
Favorite Music
My husband singing, my children playing their instruments, Grieg, Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Gershwin, Santana, Rich Mullins, Celtic, Lost Dogs, Orthodox hymns, Dylan’s “Everything is Broken”
Some Favorite Books & Authors
For the Life of the World, Laurus, Till We Have Faces, Letters of a Woman Homesteader, Perelandra, Kite Runner, Father Arseny, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Journals of Alexander Schmemann, Cry the Beloved Country, Along Came a Dog, Rumer Godden, Meindert de Jong, G.K. Chesterton, Richard Wilbur, Dana Gioia, Victor Davis Hanson, Anthony Bloom, The Hungry Soul by Leon Kass, Witness by Whittaker Chambers, Kristin Lavransdatter, Rebecca West, The Supper of the Lamb
E-mail: gretchenjoanna@gmail.com
My mom sent me a copy of Ushpizin years ago! I just watched it again tonight. Small world! I’ll have to try some of the other movies you mentioned. I also loved The Secret of Roan Inish. 🙂
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Listening to my children playing their instruments – something I enjoy also.
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So glad to see that “The Tree of Life” is one of your favourite movies. It certainly is one of my all time faves. I just saw Terrence Malick’s latest, Knights of Cup; a possible review is brewing in my mind.
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I hope you will write that review – I read on Wikipedia — just now, because I hadn’t heard of the movie — that “it would be ‘impenetrable and intolerable’ for most audiences,” so I may need your encouragement that it is worth it, if you do think it is. Someone also said it is “not a young man’s movie,” so I’d be interested in your take on that aspect, too!
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Just posted my thoughts on Malick’s “Knight of Cups.” You’re most welcome to stop by! 🙂
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I just discovered your blog about 2 months ago, and am enjoying it a lot.
because of you, I just ordered The Path to Sanctity from Eighth Day Books in Wichita, KS.
I hope you know about that bookstore. I was just there this last weekend. Great place.
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Oh my goodness, I love “The Secret of Roan Inish” and Kristen Lavransdatter! Now I’going to have to check out your other favorites.
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Those are two favorites from very different genres, Irish fairy stories and medieval historical fiction – no telling which of our other loves are the same!
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