Spring is in full bloom!
Be sure to visit our full monthly calendar for all our upcoming activities HERE
May is Team Member Appreciation Month! National Nurse’s Day and Team Member Appreciation Week fall in early May! We’ll kick off a celebration of our team members with Team Member Appreciation Week (May 8-12)! You’ll notice various “theme days” throughout the week, and this week is always a great opportunity to tell a team member just how much you appreciate them. You can always fill out a “Solheim Feeling” employee recognition form found at any nursing station, at the front desk, or online at www.solheimsennior.org/employee-recognition.
Friday May 5th at 3pm we are excited to welcome the Los Plateados Mariachi Band (accompanied by some festive folklorico dancers) to help us celebrate Cinco De Mayo.
May 17th, we’ll be celebrating Syttende Mai which is Norwegian Constitution Day! (For those who don’t know, or might have forgotten, Solheim’s name comes from the Norwegian term “Sun Home,” and you can learn more about Solheim’s history of 100 years of serving seniors at www.solheimsenior.org/100.)
The Solheim Book Group continued to join the celebration with a discussion of a book which was a bestseller one hundred years ago, in 1923, the novel The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim. CLICK HERE to see the list of the ten Bestselling Books of 1923.
The Enchanted April tells the tale of four very different women who escape dreary London for an Italian castle in Portofino, shortly after World War I. The ageless novel compellingly responds to the eternal question of how to achieve happiness in life, and features unlikely female friendship, newfound empowerment, rekindled love, and unexpected romance.
The Book Group enjoyed reading The Enchanted April, and discussing, among other things, favorite characters, and what might have lasted for them into their return to life after Italy.
A favorite passage:
“The hot smell from the pine-needles and from the cushions of wild thyme that padded the spaces between the rocks, and sometimes a smell of pure honey from a clump of warm irises up behind them in the sun, puffed across their faces. Very soon Mrs. Wilkins took her shoes and stockings off, and let her feet hang in the water. After watching her a minute, Mrs. Arbuthnot did the same. Their happiness was then complete. Their husbands would not have known them. They left off talking. They ceased to mention heaven. They were just cups of acceptance.”
The Book Group had a wonderful discussion, inspired by the magic of Italy in the book, concerning magic places in our own lives. Magic places included the ocean, a backyard brimming with blooming wisteria, a cherished garden just outside Tokyo, a church grotto and retreat set among dramatic bluffs in Oregon, and a comfortable glider in the corner of a resident’s own home at Solheim.
The Book Group will continue to read throughout this Solheim Centennial year books which were published in 1923 or were bestsellers in 1923. The members are excited to be part of this very special Centennial celebration.
The Book Group has selected for its May meeting another 1923 bestseller, Wanderer of the Wasteland, by Zane Grey. The book is considered the last of Zane Grey’s four Western epics, and tells the story of the hero Adam Larey setting off on the Colorado river, and encountering adventures and memorable characters as he journeys west across the “Wasteland,” ultimately in pursuit of redemption for his role in the fate of his brother. The novel is considered somewhat autobiographical, as Grey explores his struggles, losses, and journey of self-discovery as to what the desert meant to him, and how the desert and the environment shape lives.
The Book Group will meet on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at Solheim Senior Community in the Navigage Room. All are welcome. Please join us even if you have not read or finished the selected book. We always seem to have a lively general discussion or two!
Please join us in May as we celebrate Solheim’s 100 Years, and Happy Reading!