I am glad I walked in the morning because by the time I finished my lunch in the car that flaky white stuff was falling from the sky. I groaned aloud. |
Orange is my favorite color.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Deer Dike Park
Queen Of Babbl
Meg Cabot is the author of Queen Of Babble. This is a cute story about a college graduate (or at least she thought she was a college graduate) from Michigan. The story begins at her graduation party at home with her friends and family. Her degree is in the history of fashion. In three days she plans to travel to London to stay with her boyfriend who was the RA at her dorm. Her best friend from childhood does not like the guy and does not think this is a good idea. Her friends wants her to travel to France where she will stay at a villa with her boyfriend. The main character's name is Lizzie and she does have a tendency to put her foot in her mouth on a regular basis. This is off-putting to some and charming to others. I enjoyed this cute story about fashion, rehabilitating fashion dresses from the 1960's, and a young woman's first trip to Europe where things definitely do not go according to plan.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Redhead By The Side Of The Road
I have been a big fan of Ann Tyler's books for over 25 years now. I found a new one I hadn't read called Redhead By The Side Of The Road. Only 5 hours long on audio book, this one was highly entertaining. The main character is Micah. The youngest brother to 4 older sisters, Micah lives in New York City. He manages the building for the owner so he gets a free apartment in the basement next to the laundry room. He helps his tenants. One tenant on the second floor is dying of cancer so he adjusts the billing to install a grab bar in her bathtub. When she leaves via ambulance he offers her husband a ride. He was getting along with his girlfriend when she suddenly dumps him. All of his sisters and nieces and nephews want him to get her back. A young man shows up one day. As it turns out, he is the son of his college girlfriend. This guy thinks Micah is his father (which he isn't). He feeds him and lets him stay in the spare room for a night. His sisters insist that he should let the former girlfriend know about her son stopping by. He finds her photo when he googles non-profit lawyers in the D.C. area. The next morning she knocks on his door. Her son had left college and she didn't know where he was. She asks him to call her son. He calls the son. The son answers. Micah tells him his mother is here. The son hangs up the phone. He promises her that if he comes back, he'll keep him here and secretly phone her. A month later the kid arrives. He makes him coffee and burgers. He asks him if he should call his mother. The kid agrees. I would like to know someone like Micah.
Proving Grounds
Monday, November 18, 2024
Shortest And Steepest
I wanted to ride the funicular in Dubuque. Here is the view from the top. Turns out you need cash, not a credit card. |
He suggested I park at the bottom and hit up an ATM down there. |
I parked at the bottom and walked to a drug store. I took out $20 at the ATM and bought a small package of Blue Diamond almonds. |
I parked on this street and rode the world's smallest and steepest railroad. Four dollars is a good price. |
I wandered around historic Dubuque. |
This was near that drug store. |
Cute town square with ginkgo trees. |
I wish I could do art like this. |
By the time I got to the art museum it had closed. But admission is free on Thursdays so I think I will come back here on Thursday. |
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Arboretum
The Body
I have read about five of Bill Bryson's books and I find him to be a very entertaining author. This time I read The Body: A Guide For Occupants first published in the fall of 2019. In my version he added an update about the COVID crisis. He starts out with the head and goes down from there. As he describes each organ and their function he also includes diseases of that organ and how they were treated in the past and how they are treated now. The United States does not come out looking good at all as we spend more on health care than any other country and have worse health outcomes that many countries including some underdeveloped countries. Sometimes women have worse outcomes and sometimes men have worse outcomes and no one knows why. I learned that some of the things I was taught about bodies are not true. There are not five areas of the tongue that taste sweet, salty, bitter, savory or sour. All of our tongue tastes those things. And we don't use only 10 % of our brains. That wasn't true either. I thought it was a great book to read.
Deer Dike Park
The morning started out sunny and cool so I headed to the other side of the John Deere factory to Deer Dike Park. I walked along a dike road...
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My class was on television. I am pretty good at hiding from the cameras! http://kstp.com/news/anoka-county-residents-citizens-academy-poli...
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A yellow rail, one of THE MOST ELUSIVE birds around, sound like a manual typewriter. And if you're too young to know what a manual ty...
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Jacqueline Windspear is the author of her memoir This Time Next Year We Will Be Laughing. She starts out with her parent's stories. H...