NOT ALL OF US ARE SAINTS...

Through rain, sleet/snow yesterday it wasn't just the mail that made it to the End of the Rainbow Valley but also a carload of Happy Bookers. When you are a hostess with dinner and a book discussion, sometimes better sense says postpone the gathering when there are blizzard condition warnings. Two of the group had already RSVP'ed no, and a third was questionable as she still had to drive home from the other side of the state. So cancel/not? I took the wait and see approach...

Earlier in the day tax work had taken me into town and although rain sprinkles and a little sleet accompanied me along the river road, snowflakes greeted me in town. The car was snow covered  by the return trip but the roads were remarkably clear and there was less snowfall the closer to home I drove. 

OK, will the girls cancel? Warnings were the bulk of the storm would arrive later that evening. We were supposed to meet at 5 pm earlier than usual, and then the phone rang but not with a cancellation rather with an even better solution of the group coming earlier. Perfect. 

By 4 we were discussing  Saint Mazie, a legendary figure in the Bowery of New York with a reputation of helping the homeless. This Saint really existed as from her cashier booth at the Venice theater for 40 years she didn't just watch the world go but she helped those in need. She daily handed out nickels and dimes to the homeless and less fortunate. In the early days 40's/50's small change could buy a meal. 

Located under the train, the Venice Movie Theater, the theater provided a get away from inclement weather/ the real world with a movie and perhaps a handout. Mazie's donations would sometimes be used for its recepients  for not only food but perhaps warmer shelter/ a bath. Mazie also would walk the back streets at night and not only call but pay for ambulances for those in need. Normally these homeless were just ignored.

The book, Saint Mazie, was in diary form, actually Mazie Phillips's real diary. Full of the real life of a young girl becoming a woman filled with family and a world of people generally invisible to most, the reader becomes not only a voyeur to a working class family but the realization that within all of us there is the possibility of being a Saint. It was a good discussion.

Through rain/sleet/ and snow I was glad that the mail wasn't the only thing that arrived to the End of the Rainbow Valley. It was another terrific gathering of the Happy Bookers and perhaps one of the highest rated books we have read in a while. 

  If you want to know the significance of the green apples, just like in elementary school, you are going to have to read the book.  Go check out Saint Mazie. We liked it and we think you will too.