Orbital

Samantha Harvey, a British author, wrote Orbital. This is a literary novel published in 2023 about the International Space Station. The story takes place during 24 hours in space. There are four astronauts and two cosmonauts. The people from space are from Russia, Japan, USA, Italy, and Britain. Two are female. This is to be one of the last missions before the International Space Station is dismantled. Traveling at 1700 miles per hour, they glide over the earth and admire the beauty. They see a huge typhoon over the Pacific. The book talks about their meals and their exercise and their sleeping arrangements. We learn about their assignments. We learn what countries and cities they are passing. Interesting book but the list of countries and cities got to be too long and extensive. 

 

 

The Favorites

 Layne Fargo is the author of the novel called The Favorites. This is a sports/romance story. The sport is ice dancing. Katarina grew up north of Chicago into a poor family. She met a boy and they became friends. Heath grew up in a series of foster homes until Katarina's father took him in. They practiced skating at a neighborhood ice rink. Katarina's goal was to win at the Olympics. Heath went along with her dream. Their story, their success and their failures makes up this novel. I found this turbulent story to be very intriguing.

 

 

Happy Labor Day

 

Blue Sisters

 Coco Mellors is the author of Blue Sisters. The tale is about a family with four daughters. Their last name is Blue. The father of the family is an alcoholic. The mother is a workaholic. Avery, the eldest daughter, raises her younger sisters and feels responsible for their safety. She comes across as a control freak. Once her youngest sister, Lucky, left home at age 15 to be a model, Avery became addicted to heroin. She put herself through treatment and went on to become a lawyer. Bonnie, younger than Avery, started boxing while in high school. Nicky became a teacher. Lucky became a model and traveled the world posing for photographs while overindulging in drugs and alcohol. The story of these four sisters is fascinating, sad, and happy.

 

 

Skylark

Paula McLain is the author of the historical fiction novel called Skylark. This tale takes place in Paris, France during two timelines. Part of it is set in 1664 and part of it is set in the 1940's. The 1664 part was interesting. A girl lives with her father after the mother abandoned the family. Her name is Alouette which translates into skylark. Her father is a dye master. The dye guild is in complete control of the industry. Individual dye masters do not have many rights. The dye factories are poisoning the river that runs into the Seinne. The dye master's daughters knows something about dyes. She learned from her mother before the mother left. But women are not allowed to dye cloth. When the dye guild jails her father the girl tries to find a way to free him. Instead she is jailed as well. In the 1940's a local psychiatrist makes friends with a Jewish family in his apartment building. After the Jewish family is taken away by the French police he joins the French resistance. He helps people escape the Nazi's by using s complex system of tunnels formed by rock quarries.  As I read I wondered if the two stories would be connected somehow but they never were.

 

  

Unfriendly Pollinators

Three and a half days ago I was sitting on a park bench next to the Mississippi river. I was reading a book on my phone. Pollinators kept visiting me and invading my personal space. They would buzz in front of my face, crawl on my arms, and explore my legs. Most of them were small wasps; not the dangley legged wasps. I crossed my right leg over my left and there must have been a wasp there. I felt a sharp pain. I uncrossed my legs and slapped my outer calf. I was stung by a wasp. The pain was immediate. Using ice would have been a good idea but I didn't have any. I was on my way to the library and the library doesn't have ice. I used water from the fountain and spread it on the sting several times which helped quite a bit. I was in pain the rest of the day. The next morning I found I had a round red spot about 2.5 inches in diameter. As the day went by the pain changed into an itch. And it still itches today. The spot is still red and there is a lump beneath my skin. Sitting with my right leg over my left is too painful. I have never had this much of a reaction to a wasp sting before. Dang pollinators, I know they are good for the environment but I am not too happy with them right now.

 

  

Birds of The Southern Island Of New Zealand

Tonight I attended the bird club meeting here in Winona. The speaker makes presentations and writes books about her travel adventures. She toured the southern island with a company. Part of her time was spent on a bus but also a helicopter and a boat. When New Zealand separated from Australia, it left with no mammals except a couple of small bats. As 3000 years passed, the birds evolved. Since they had no predators, many of the birds went flightless and nested on the ground. This includes the kiwi, a giant parrot, and the penguins. When the Maori and Polynesian people arrived they brought rats with them. When the European people arrived they brought stoats (weasels). Several of the flightless birds went extinct because of the rats and stoats. One bird that is endemic to New Zealand is the kea. Kea is the only alpine parrot in the world. They are known for their intelligence and tendency to be mischievous. As the department of transportation was building a tunnel through the mountains, the kea birds caused problems. They begged for food. If not given food they would rip off windshield wipers or the rubber around the car windows. With their sharp beak the kea can puncture tires. The tunnel is a one-way road. Kea birds were caught on film moving the cones which could have caused collisions. To this day, if cars have to wait for the traffic to go by, kea birds will beg for food and cause problems. She was a very interesting speaker and her photos were top notch.

 

The yellow-eyed penguin is endemic to New Zealand and endangered.