It’s hard to know where to start with my thoughts on Tom McNeal‘s new book, To Be Sung Underwater.

As a women who’s own mid-life crisis adventure placed her back at her roots a couple of years ago, on so many levels I could identify with the main character in the novel, Judith Whitman. In To Be Sung Underwater, Whitman’s life took her from Vermont to Rufus Sage, Nebraska and then California, where she ironically ended up living in Toluca Lake, CA, the area of Los Angeles that I lived in for 19 years.

I could not help but wondering when reading the book if there was not something in Los Angeles, that for small town people like myself and Judith Whitman’s character, drains the soul for lack of nature. Because surely in reading To Be Sung Underwater there was a sense in my opinion, that as Judith Whitman returned to Rufus Sage to meet her long lost love after 25 years, she returned not only to a relationship she left behind, but to a place where life was simpler and far more serene. A place that where simpler truly connected the soul to the earth, sky, air and water.

In our youth the idyllic notion of love is far more simplistic than the reality of adult life. Marriage and children bring responsibility that can be difficult at times to settle into and often as the years pass by, leave us wondering about that simpler time in our lives. This time when we start to wonder, mid-life, for many brings a strong desire to reconnect with our lost youth.

Judith Whitman’s wake up calls in mid-life, triggered a series of round-about events that brought her back to her past. And what she found there was profoundly heartbreaking yet enlightening. In the time spent reuniting with her lost love, Willy Blunt, Judith Whitman was given a chance to grow, and make peace with the past. I finished reading To Be Sung Underwater and felt that in time she would.

I was immediately captured by the characters in To Be Sung Underwater. I felt the author, Tom McNeal was at his best in describing scenery in the book only in writing about Nebraska and looked for more about her surrounding in Toluca Lake which were vague. Perhaps it was the parallel of my own life spent in Toluca Lake, but I think it was more of interest in Judith’s life there.

Once immersed totally into the book, as the story deepened I could not put To Be Sung Underwater down. Then when I knew I was nearing the end, I needed to step away to breathe deeply before I finished it. I was glad I did.

If you’ve been through your own mid-life crisis, or long to rekindle with a lost love, you’ll feel this powerful book very deeply as I did. In truth, To Be Sung Underwater is book to get lost in at any stage of adult life.

I may just have to read it again because it’s one of those books that I know will cast a different light the next time around. So much to absorb, so much to feel. So good to read.

I’ve had great success this summer with my first perennial garden as I mentioned in a post below. Yesterday I spent time weeding, dead heading and watering in preparation for the heat wave heading our way. I’m so happy to live in apartment with a lovely yard that I can garden in…

During my 19 years living in Los Angeles I was limited to potted plants outside of my apartment door on the walkway. Although they were all beautiful, it just wasn’t the same as creating a little garden paradise that is lush with the beauty of summer…

(Photo: Blackeyed Susans ~~ © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

I was driving down to Plum Island this afternoon and had just made the corner at the airport when I spotted an animal walking out past the runway. Having lived in Los Angeles for 19 years, I recognized that it was a coyote. Although I have heard that there are coyote in this area, I had not seen one before this. Coyotes tend to be nocturnal creatures, so I was surprised to see one in the middle of the afternoon, slinking along the salt marsh heading for Plum Island.

I has however heard just yesterday that there was an article in the Newburyport Daily News about a cat missing on Plum Island and the suspicion that it had been caught by a coyote.

Well they are definitely out there on Plum Island.

A commentor on the Newburyport Daily News shared an awesome closeup photo and sighting here.

UPDATE (3/29/11): There was a good follow up piece in the Newburyport Daily News… Life With Suburban Coyotes.

Last night in Newburyport an 80 pedestrian bridge was raised over Low Street, filling in “the last gap in the trail that will connect” the train station in Newburyport to the Waterfront.

So much has changed around the Newburyport area in the 19 years I lived in Los Angeles. Still it’s good to be back here living again (in Amesbury), reflecting on my childhood in the area and the first 30 something years of my life.

I think the bridge will be a welcomed edition to Newburyport and as I continue to take daily walks around downtown Newburyport and the Waterfront Park, one day soon I will check out the trail and the bridge. I enjoyed reading Joel Brown’s piece on the bridge raising complete with a bit of local Newburyport color.

Home is Massachusetts… It always has been, even during the almost 19 years that I lived in Los Angeles, and the 7 lovely months I just spent in Maine, home is and always has been… Massachusetts. And… It’s good to be home.

Home is a drive along Main Street in Amesbury, looking across the Merrimack River to Newburyport… A walk along the waterfront park in downtown Newburyport, admiring all the beautiful boats in the river.

Home is a short drive to Plum Island…

There really is no place like home.

After spending a 7 months living in Eastport, Maine, I’ve moved back home to the Newburyport area of Massachusetts (Amesbury), where I grew up. I’ve been away from the area for a little over 19 years.

I’m settling in, finishing unpacking and gearing up for a new chapter in my life. Next week, I’ll be starting a new job, which I’ll be juggling with my business and my blogs. I love to stay active and busy, so I doubt I’ll have much free time on my hands for a while.

It’s nice to be home again.

As a wholesale supplier of natural bath and body products to small retailers, I wasn’t at all surprised to read the news this morning that “Retail sales fell for a second straight month in April.”

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.4 percent last month, much worse than the flat reading economists expected. The April weakness followed a 1.3 percent drop in March that was worse than first estimated.

Cottage industries like my own have taken a big hit in this recession. My clients are all lagging in sales, as am I. Which brings me to another piece of news…

I moved to Maine about 7 months ago, hoping to save some money living in an area that is cheaper to live than Los Angeles, where I had lived for nearly 19 years. Unfortunately my daughter has been out of work since we got here, and there isn’t much opportunity here for her, or me for that matter. I find for the first time in 12 years, I need to find work to help supplement my business income. So… I am moving again — on May 22.

I’ll be packing up and moving to New Hampshire for a bit to stay with friends and then the ultimate destination is Massachusetts (the Newburyport area).  The good news is, we’ll be back in home in Massachusetts in short time and I’ll be officially a constituent of my 2 favorite Senators — Kerry and Kennedy!

Stay tuned… I’m taking all this change in stride — it’s the next chapter in my great Mid-life Crisis Adventure, fueled by the recession!

[Originally posted at The Democratic Daily]