We received our first measurable snow (3") of the year yesterday, and you know what that means? It fell on the 29th of the month. According to my late grandmother, we'll have 29 snows this winter. I'm counting.
It also means it's time to make chili!! Except I didn't. I made "party mix" instead--you know, with chex cereal, etc. I found an old "Ralston" package buried in a drawer, so I decided to make my first batch ever. Pretty good!

Now the second half of my title.

I don't do movie reviews like Dale and Martin. I do book reviews. My latest was "The Greater Journey" by David McCullough (he's so good!). According to the cover slip: "The Greater Journey" is the enthralling, inspiring--and until now, untold--story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work."

Some people I was familiar with, others I never heard of. Not only did I learn about the characters, I saw Paris (and Americans in Paris) in a new light. It helps that I've been to Paris and have seen The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Montmarte, etc.

I had no idea Samuel Morse was a famous painter, long before his invention of the telegraph. I had never heard of John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt (painters), or sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (whose work is found in several NYC parks). I am intimate with them now!

Also mentioned, if not featured, were Harriet Beecher Stowe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, pianist Louis Gottschalk, portrait painter George Healy (think Abe Lincoln), James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Sumner and Elihu Washburne (politician and ambassador). And many more. Educational!

Really, this is a fascinating account of a world and history I didn't know existed. In school, we learn American history in detail, but when it comes to "world history", we just get bits and pieces. Here's 450 pages (with photos and paintings) of a particular place and time in our vast history. Splendid!!