Happy New Year!

 

Fruit Soup

 My mother-in-law used to make fruit soup for the holidays with raisins, prunes, and dates. I decided to make some this year but with different fruits. Here is the recipe I made up.

Ingredients: 1 1/3 C. diced dried apricots, 1  1/3 C. diced dried mango, 1 1/3 C. diced dried pineapple, 3/4 C. tapioca, 3 honey crisp apples peeled and diced, 8 cups water, one cinnamon stick, 1 C. sugar.

Method: Mix the dried fruit with the tapioca and 4 cups of water in a large kettle and let soak overnight. Add sugar, fresh apples, cinnamon stick and 4 cups of water to the mixture. Bring to a boil. Simmer for one hour. Serve warm or cold.

If I had it to do over again I think I would cut this recipe in half and use dried peaches instead of pineapple.

The President Is Missing

 I listened to The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Let me tell you, this is not the kind of book you should listen to as you drive to the Cities a day after a blizzard on an ice-covered highway in the wind. By the time I got to Minneapolis after that white knuckled drive, my anxiety was high. This book is full of danger and action and violence. This is a fictional tale about a U.S. President named Jonathan Duncan. Like Clinton, President Duncan has one child, an adult daughter. Unlike Clinton, Duncan was widowed in office after his wife succumbed to cancer. Also unlike Clinton, Duncan served in the Army Rangers which is why he knows what to do in a gun ambush. This political thriller takes place over three days. I have not read James Patterson before so I can't tell which parts are probably written by Patterson and which parts are probably written by Clinton. After reading this book and watching the news, I really wonder why anyone would want to be the President of the United States.

Rhapsody

 Lauren Rico wrote Rhapsody. I chose this book because it was about musicians. What I didn't know is that it is the second in a trilogy and is also a romance novel. I am not a fan of romance novels. I didn't love this book but I did find it hard to put down. One of the characters is a psychopath and I found the effect he had on the others around him including his parents, his brothers, and his victims very interesting.

Winesburg, Ohio

Sherwood Anderson wrote Winesburg, Ohio. This collection of short stories is mentioned in some lists as one of the 100 best American novels. The author grew up in a small town in Ohio. The book contains 22 separate stories. A young newspaperman, George Willard, is mentioned in most of the stories. One thing all the characters in the book had in common is that they were lonely and despairing. Several people were suffering from mental health issues. Or maybe the author had mental health issues. In his descriptions of people he would always include some indication of poor health. If a woman had a trim figure and straight shoulders, her face would be blotchy. If a man was tall and strong, his fingers had nervous twitches and he could not keep them still. All the stories take place during the 1890's and it is interesting to hear about telegraph operators and people using horses on their farms. I am struck by how many people in Winesburg felt isolated from everyone else. 

Happy Winter Solstice

 

Today is the shortest day of 2020. I spent 2.5 of my hours of daylight taking a walk along Lake Superior. Four inches of snow fell this morning and it was lightly snowing again. The temperature was just below freezing. The wind was slight or none at all so I was surprised to see so many waves crashing on the shore. Looking out I saw a few white caps out there but not many. Some waves crested and spilled over the rocks. Most of the time the waves dissipated on shore. At a couple spots where tall flat rocks were arranged to meet the wave head on the water splashed nine feet into the air in a tremendous, noisy, explosion. Some of the rocks that don't get wet very often were covered in a thick blanket of ice. I think I would like to come back after a strong wind has been blowing from the east for a day or two. Then I would see even more impressive waves.

The Second Mrs. Hockaday

 Susan Rivers wrote The Second Mrs. Hockaday and I think she chose a poor title. Yes, Placidia Hockaday is the second Mrs. Hockaday but that is not the point of the story. This story in set during the Civil War. Placidia married Gryffth Hockaday who is a colonel in the Confederate Army. He is home on leave and happens to buy a mule from Placidia's father. His wife had just died of typhoid fever and he is nursing his son, Charlie, back to health. The next day he asks for Placidia's hand in marriage. Placidia, only 17, agrees to marry him even though he is twice her age. The next day they travel to his 300 acre farm. Two days after that Gryffth is called back to duty. He doesn't come home for two years. Putting a 17 year old in charge of a farm and asking her to raise his son is a recipe for disaster. Placidia tries her best but life on a South Carolina farm is not easy during the Civil War. The story is cleverly told by a series of letters, some pages from a diary, and a report of a legal inquest against Placidia. This historical fiction is based on a true event. If the author had written about the slaves who helped Placidia instead of just using them to tell Placidia's story, I think this would have been a better book.

Between You and Me

 Susan Wiggs wrote Between You And Me, a novel about the relationship between Dr. Reese Powell and Caleb Stoltz. Reese is a medical student working in an emergency room when she meets Caleb. Caleb comes to the hospital in a helicopter when his nephew, Jonah, suffers a terrible farm accident in which he looses his left arm. Jonah is Amish. Caleb grew up in the Amish community but decided to leave. He only came back when his brother and sister-in-law were murdered in order to raise their two children, Jonah and Hannah, in the Amish faith as his brother requested. Reese assists Caleb and Jonah because, as the author mentions way too many times, Caleb is a tall, blond, hunk of a guy. Although I can't say I loved this book, the relationship between two people who come from very different world was interesting partly because they both had manipulative and controlling parents.

Cold Water

This boulder in Lake Superior has some snow on top and icicles clinging to the bottom. That water looks cold!

 

This Land Is Our Land

 This Land Is Our Land; An Immigrant's Manifesto by Suketo Mehta is another non-fiction history book. Mehta immigrated from India as a teenager. He combines facts about immigration along with emotional stories told by immigrants. He covers the changing perceptions about immigrants and it usually the most recent to arrive who are despised the most. Our country has always had people wanting to come here. Even during the Civil War and the Great Depression, people wanted to become American citizens. This book has a definite pro-immigration stance. The figures on new arrivals are staggering. How does a nation decide how many people can join in a given year? And who gets to decide that figure? Although I did learn some things about immigration by reading this book, I am now aware I have a lot more to learn before I can even begin to understand the complexity of it all.

Stamped

I listened to Jason Reynold's and Ibram X. Kendi's nonfiction book called Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You. The audio book was read by Jason Reynolds. His energetic recital of the history of racism was engaging and enlightening. Although he kept repeating that this was not a history book, parts of it were history. This is not the typical history that I learned in school but I think it is the brand of history that should be taught in schools. The authors divide people into three categories. You are either racist, assimilationist, or anti-racist. People can and have moved from one category to another. Several of the early black leaders like W.E.B. DuBois and Dr. Martin Luther King started out as assimilationists but became anti-racist at the ends of their careers. Anti-racists believe that everyone is equal. No race has unique characteristics.  On the other hand assimilationists believe in differences between races are valid and that everyone should act like the people in power so we can all get along. Lastly, racists believe in differences between races and that one race is superior to another. According to the authors the idea of racism began six hundred years ago in Portugal. A man named Gomez Zurara was a scribe for the King Edward and Prince Henry of Portugal. Portugal was having trade conflicts with the traders from Africa. In order to gain the upper hand in trade Zurara wrote a document claiming that dark skinned people from the continent of Africa were inferior and heathen and in need of the salvation of slavery. Ibram Kendi has a Ph.D. and teaches college level American History and African American studies so I am sure he knows what he is talking about but part of me doubts racism didn't exist before Gomes Zurara wrote his words. In 2016 Kendi wrote Stamped From The Beginning; A Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.   This book is a remaking of those ideas into a book that is more suitable for younger readers. I wish more history books could be as engaging as this one.

Things Fall Apart

 I chose to read Chinua Achebe's debut novel Things Fall Apart because this book is on Time Magazines 100 best novels. This tale is set in Nigeria in the 1890's. The main character, Okonkwo, is famous in his village for his wrestling skills. Most of his life Okonkwo acts in opposition to his father. His father was lazy and did not pay his debts. At an early age Okonkwo had to plant yams to feed himself, his siblings and his father. Okonkwo was as hard of a worker and his father was lazy. Okonkwo also tried to assert his masculinity with anger, violence, and impulsive behavior. He ended up wealthy with three wives and ten children. The first third of the book describes village life and customs. The middle and end of the book describe the reaction when missionaries come and try to convert the villagers to Christianity. Along with the missionaries came other white people and soon a government was formed to replace the system of government the village already had. Okonkwo is dead set against any and all changes made by the missionaries. This was a very interesting book told from the African side.

 

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop

 Roselle Lim wrote Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop. The main character is Vanessa Yu who is an accountant in California. She is weirdly close to her family and relies on them for all her socializing. Vanessa has a slew of uncles, aunts and cousins who gather for birthdays, holidays and celebrations of Chinese holidays. Vanessa is 27 and is under considerable pressure to get married next as she is now the eldest unmarried cousin. Never lucky in love, Vanessa accepts the offer of her Aunt Evelyn to fly to Paris and take a three week vacation. Vanessa and Evelyn are a lot alike in that they are both stubborn. Evelyn is opening a tea shop in Paris and Vanessa helps her get started while also sight seeing in Paris. There is some magic involved in the form of clairvoyance. The best part about this book were the detailed descriptions of art, architecture, and food. Some sentences about French pastries were so vivid my mouth filled with saliva. Neither Vanessa nor Evelyn do any cooking but they sure do enjoy their food.

With Or Without You

 Caroline Leavitt is an author who once suffered a medically induced coma for several months after the birth of her child. That is why she wrote With Or Without You, a novel about a woman who goes into a coma. Stella is a nurse living in Manhattan. She is forty years old and her biological clock is ticking. Her partner, Simon, is a guitar player in a band that has seen better days. While Stella is organized and responsible, Simon acts like a teen aged boy. Their relationship is on rocky ground when Stella lapses into a coma. In Stella's coma, she is aware that she is in a coma and can hear people talking to her. She can feel when her body is washed or turned side to side. This was the author's way to process her own situation and sell a book at the same time. The entire story is not about the coma but it does focus on the fact that life can turn on a dime, people can let you down, and if you don't process your past you might end up to scared to take any risks to improve your future. 

The Honey-Don't List

 Have you ever succumbed to temptation and bought a packet of junk food only to be disappointed once the food was consumed and you don't feel good? Reading The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren is like buying a bag of expired non-brand potato chips from the Dollar Store. I think the only reason I kept reading it to the end was that Carey, the main character, had dystonia which is a movement disorder that I am familiar with because I know someone who has it. Carey works for Rusty and Melissa Tripp who are on the edge of becoming famous in home remodeling and design. Carey started working for them when she was 16 years old and when Rusty and Melissa were in love. Now, ten years later, the relationship between Rusty and Melissa has soured. On top of that all the room and furniture designs are done by Carey who gets zero credit. On top of that the Tripps don't pay her a living wage. Carey doesn't assert herself in this crazy situation that everyone can see is going to blow sky-high. This was a very predictable story.

The Lives Of Edie Pritchard

 The Lives Of Edie Pritchard is set in eastern Montana and was written by Larry Watson. In the first third of the book Edie's last name is Linderman. She is married to Dean, working in a bank, and living in an apartment above a bakery. Dean's twin brother, Roy, is attracted to Edie and constantly tries to win her affection. Marriage to Dean doesn't work for Edie so she leaves town. In the middle third of the book Edie is married to Gary Dunn and has a daughter. Gary becomes obsessed with jealousy because of his wife's good looks even though she gives him no cause to worry. Edie eventually leaves him once the daughter is grown and on her own. In the final third of the book Edie takes back her maiden name of Pritchard. She lives in an apartment and works at a dental office. Men are still trying to win her affection and control her. I loved the description of small town life and the rolling grasslands of eastern Montana. The dialogue was good. I enjoyed reading about Edie and how she manages to stay true to herself despite all the desperate efforts of the men who love her.

A Confusing Gift

I saw something posted about licorice ice cream. I know some people who love it. The picture triggered a memory. I was about ten years old. My Dad drove me and a bunch of my little sisters to the 29 flavor ice cream shop in Alexandria, MN. We go in and my Aunt Geneva is behind the counter. My father speaks for his sister for a time and we don't listen but we're very interested in the buckets of ice cream in front of us. I see chocolate and fudge and strawberry and butter brickle.  My aunt asks us if we want a free ice cream cone. We shake our heads that yes, we do want a free ice cream cone. Our aunt does not ask us what kind we want. She grabs the scoop and goes for a bucket of ice cream toward the back that is green in color and has some black specks in it. She gave us all a licorice ice cream cone. Such a confusing gift. On the one hand it was a free ice cream cone and who can complain about that? No one can complain about free ice cream. On the other hand it was licorice flavor. Out of all the 29 possible flavors, why do we get licorice? We say thank you as we are handed our free ice cream cone. My father declines a cone. We eat our cones in silence, pleased by the cold and sweet creaminess yet disgusted by the licorice. We know better than to complain about the free ice cream cone. Once we are back in the car and driving away my father asks us how the ice cream tasted. We tell him the truth. The ice cream was terrible. He says something about she probably had a good supply of that flavor because not many people like it. As we drove out of Alexandria, past the beautiful lakes and nice homes, I sat in confusion. How is it possible that the offer of a free ice cream cone be so disappointing?

 

Tamarack County

 I was in the mood for a Minnesota author so I chose Tamarack County by William Kent Kruger. I chose a mystery even though I typically don't like mysteries but I do like William Kent Kruger. I wish he would write more books that are not in the mystery genre. I have read one other mystery by him that involved Cork O'Connor, a former deputy in Tamarack County, MN who now works as a private detective. He still consults with the current sheriff and she takes him along on investigations and questionings which I think is a bit unrealistic. The story is about crimes and set in December. His descriptions of the cold are very realistic and intricate. Kruger has a very gripping way of telling a story and I like that. I just don't like the crimes and the violence involved.

A Good Family

 A Good Family is the debut novel of A. H. Kim. Kim is also the surname of the husband of the dazzling young couple in the center of this twisted family drama. Sam Kim marries Beth Lindstrom when he finds out she is pregnant. She agrees to the marriage if it is an open marriage and if he does what she wants. So you know this family is anything but a good family. Beth is a rising corporate star at a huge pharmaceutical company and Sam is a tennis pro at a club. Because of Beth's success they have two huge houses and can afford to send their two daughters to private schools. Beth takes the fall when the pharmaceutical company gets into trouble for marketing their stimulant drug to female children who need to loose weight. Some customers died from using the drug. Beth is sentenced to ten years of prison. Sam's sister, Hannah, steps in to help Sam raise his children as a single parent once Beth is in prison. Hannah appears to do anything she can to help her family. This entire family is loaded with greedy people obsessed with only the finest things in life. I finished the story but I really didn't like any of the characters.

Love

 I recommend you enjoy Love by Roddy Doyle via audiobook because most of the book takes place in Irish pubs. I enjoyed listening to the Irish accents. This story is about two guys in their late 50's. Joe and Davy grew up and went to school together. Joe stayed in Dublin. Davy emigrated to London. Both Joe and Davy got married and had children. Joe went to work out of high school but eventually got his college degree and a masters degree. Davy went to college before going to work. They meet in pubs when Davy comes back to Dublin to visit his father. Since they drank as young lads, they tend to drink when they get together even though neither one drinks much otherwise. I can't even count how many pints of Guinness were swallowed by Joe and Davy.  On this last visit Joe is trying very hard to explain why he left his wife and family to move in with Jessica, a woman who plays the cello whom they both met before either one got married. Davy vaguely remembers Jessica. Joe struggles to explain himself. He tried to use analogies that fail. Davy presses him on details and both men are frustrated with each other. Sometimes they get somewhat aggressive with each other but then they apologize and start again. The more they drink the less coherent the conversation becomes. Both guys use a lot of obscenities. This book has more F bombs than any other book I have ever read. Between the conversations both guys have memories of their marriages and their health problems. Both men love their wives (even though Joe left his) and their children. This is a story about the friendship of two men. The ending was poignant and by that time both men are sober again.

The Disaster Tourist

The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun was written in South Korea and recently translated into English. The story is about Yona Ko, an employee at Jungle, a travel agency. Jungle provides travel combined with service to places with disasters such as floods, earthquakes, war, disease, or fires. I have known people who have gone on mission trips to Mexico or Israel or India to work and to see the country. Many people travel to Pompeii to see a city ruined by a volcano. Yona Ko has worked at the Jungle for ten years planning trips, researching new trips and handling customer service calls. When her supervisor starts to sexually harass her she resigns. Her supervisor doesn't accept her resignation but instead sends her on an all expense paid trip to Mui to determine of Jungle should continue to plan trips there. Mui is an island off the coast of Vietnam. The disaster Mui is known for is a sink hole in the desert. Tourists come to see the sinkhole and to dig a well for the village. Yona sees the sinkhole and is less than impressed. Her opinion is that Jungle should cancel all future trips to Mui. From here the novel takes a thrilling turn and I don't want to spoil it for you. Since I can't travel due to Covid, I find pleasure in reading about travel. This book makes me think twice about my past travels. Have I ever traveled to witness a disaster? I guess I did go to the ghetto in Poland and some war museums in London, Warsaw, Pensacola, and Athens. This book has provoked me to think more about why I want to travel.

Members Only

 Most of the drama in Members Only by Sameer Pandya takes place in one week's time. The story is narrated by Raj who has the. worst. week. ever.  Raj is an untenured college professor of anthropology at a small college in California. Raj was born in Bombay, India and came to the United States when he was eight years old. Some conservative students accuse him of reverse racism. They follow him around and video him. They splice the videos to make him look bad and post them. They organize a hunger strike vowing not to eat again unless his employment is terminated. Raj also has trouble at home. He, his wife, and two boys belong to a Tennis Club. Raj is the only person of color in the club and a member on the membership committee who interviews and selects new members. Raj makes a careless comment to a potential new member who is black. Although Raj and the potential new member discussed the comment and all is well, other members of the club want Raj expelled from the club. Poor Raj is being accused of racism and reverse racism at the same time. Meanwhile he suffers the racist treatment and micro-aggressions at work and at the tennis club. Raj tries to use humor to deflect his situations but he doesn't always handle situations well. Members Only is one of those books I found difficult to put down.

Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters

 I read Jennifer Chaiverini's book, Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters. This historical fiction travels back in time to Mary Todd Lincoln's childhood, her adulthood, and the end of her life. The story is told from the perspective of four of her sisters. In total Mary was one of seven siblings from the marriage of her parents and went on to have nine more half-siblings when her father remarried. Mary's mother died shortly after giving birth when Mary was five. Elizabeth was her eldest sister who acted more like a mother than a sister after their mother died. Francis was younger than Elizabeth but older than Mary and was a peacemaker in the family. Ann was Mary's younger sister and always a bit envious. Emily was a much younger half-sister. According to this book, Mary stated her ambition to be the wife of the President of the United States when she was a teenager. As a child she was moody and stubborn, unwilling to apologize or admit error, and very used to getting her way. Historians say she might have had bipolar disorder because she swung from depression to mania rather quickly. Two of her sons died in childhood. When her third son, Tad, died at age 18 her mental health suffered. She acted erratically and tried to commit suicide. Her remaining son, Robert Lincoln, had her declared insane and committed to a hospital for treatment. Her sister Elizabeth arranged for Mary to live with her which was no easy task because Mary was a difficult person to live with. I really enjoyed reading about this controversial First Lady.

Down Along With The Devil's Bones

 Conner Towne O'Neill wrote the non-fiction book Down Along With The Devil's Bones: A Reckoning With Monuments, Memory, And The Legacy Of White Supremacy. O'Neill, a man born in a northern state who went to school at the University of Alabama, was unaware of Nathan Bedford Forrest when he first moved to Alabama. In this book he recounts the biography of Forrest along with the attempts in four southern cities to remove the statues of Forrest. Forrest was a cotton farmer in Tennessee who made his fortune by selling slaves. Later he was a general in the Confederate Army. Later still he was elected to be the first Wizard in the Klu Klux Klan. According to the author, statues of Forrest were installed at times of  racial tension.  When a black man is elected mayor of a town, the townspeople respond to their discomfort by erecting a bronze statue of Forrest. The author talks about palliatives. Palliatives are medical care or medicine that don't change the progression of a disease but do provide pain relief. He says the statues of Forrest were installed to ease the discomfort of positive racial changes in society. The book details the struggles to remove statues of Forrest in four southern cities. Not all the campaigns to remove the statue were successful. Reading the book taught me more about the history of the inaccurate notion of white supremacy.

The Age of Grief

 The Age of Grief is a collection of five short stories and one novella by Jane Smiley. I enjoyed her work before and I enjoyed this one too. My favorite was the novella which is the story of two dental students who marry and have three little girls. The dentists work in the same office with one parent working 9 to 2 and the other parent working 12 to 6. The story is narrated by the father. His love and appreciation for his wife and each of the girls is evident in the way he describes their learning styles and habits. Each character is fully developed and I enjoy that style of writing.

Thanksgiving Greetings

 

Bear Necessity

I just finished reading a heartwarming, poignant book that I really enjoyed. The title is Bear Necessity and the author is James Gould-Bourn. The story is about Danny, a recently widowed father of an eleven year old boy. The boy, Willie, was in the car accident that killed Danny's wife. Since her death Willie has not spoken. Willie is using selective mutism to cope with his grief. Danny tries to help his son but is consumed with his own troubles. He has trouble keeping up with the bills with only one income and he just lost his job. He is two months behind on his rent and his landlord is threatening him with eviction. Desperate to earn money and unable to find any jobs he buys a panda costume and becomes a performer in the park. In the process he meets a string of colorful characters. Danny and his son, Willie, form a bond over the dancing panda act. Eventually Willie was always closer to his mother than his father. Now Willie and Danny form close emotional bonds. Not only is this story heart warming but also comical. I was sorry to come to the end of the book.  

The Wild Winter Swan

 Hans Christian Anderson wrote a fairy tale about wild swans. A King with 12 children remarried. The evil stepmother put a spell on the 11 sons of the King turning them into swans during the day. She forced the brothers/swans to fly away. The evil stepmother tried to put a spell on the sister of the 11 brothers but her brothers got her away to a safe place. In the safe place the sister learned that if she knit the fibers of nettles into clothing and put the clothing on the swans the spell would be reversed and they would not be swans anymore. She also had to keep a vow of silence during the construction of the clothes or her brothers would die. The nettles stung her hands but she kept working in silence. People who saw her working asked what she was doing. She did not answer because if she did her brothers would die. A rumor started that she was a witch. She was about to be burned at the stake. She will still knitting the 11th jacket when she was taken to be burned at the stake. Just then her brothers, the swans, flew in. She threw the jackets at her brothers. One by one the swans became brothers except for the youngest brother. He became human but kept one swan wing. In the book The Wild Winter Swan, Gregory Macguire (who also wrote Wicked and other novels about fairy tales) has the boy with one swan wing fly into a house in New York City in the 1960's just before Christmas. A fifteen year old girl pulls him into her room and nurses him back to health. Her name is Laura. She lives with her paternal grandparents who immigrated from Italy. Her father and brother are dead and her mother is too ill to take care of her. Laura helps the swan boy without anyone in the house finding out. The story was told slowly and sometimes seemed to drag on. The story is told exclusively by Laura. I would have liked to know what the swan boy was thinking sometimes.

Pumpkin Head

Somebody dared to walk out on the thin ice of this pond and build a small snow person with a tiny pumpkin head.

 

The Barkskins

 Annie Proulx, the author of The Shipping News and the short story Brokeback Mountain also wrote The Barkskins. This is an epic novel covering time from the 1690's to the 1990's. Two French men, Rene' Sel and Charles Duquet travel from France to be indentured servants in Massachusetts. Charles Duquet flees from the unfair treatment he gets in Massachusetts and temporarily becomes a fur trapper. Rene' Sel stays for the three years and ends up marrying his employer's wife, Marie. Marie is a Mi'kmaw native and a healer. Her knowledge of native plants is well renowned. The descendants of both Rene' and Charles are involved in forestry. The descriptions of the mighty white pine forests are lovely. The novel is also about the ecological consequences of clear cutting the forests. I learned very much about the timber business and how it changed over the decades. The descendants of Rene' and Charles had to move on from the Massachusetts area once the one pines were gone. They went on to New Brunswick, Ohio, and Michigan. Eventually they went to New Zealand for the kauri trees and to the Amazon for mahogany. Rene's descendants have more respect for the forest due to their native heritage. Charles descendants made more money on the forest because they were white. I loved reading this very long book. The tale has been made into a television series on the National Geographic channel.

  

The Last Sailor

The Last Sailor is a short novel by Sarah Anne Johnson. I have a friend by that name which is why I chose the book even though I knew my friend was not the author. The story is set on Cape Cod in 1898. Nathaniel Boyd is a successful businessman on Cape Cod. He has three sons. The eldest, Nathaniel Junior, is in his 20's. He lives in grief on a marsh in Cap Cod in a hut he built himself. He lives hand to mouth catching fish and selling the fish. His second son, Finn, is married and runs a fish shop. His youngest, Jacob, drowned in a boating accident. Although Nathaniel Junior seems to be the one person in the family who can't get over the death of Jacob, that is not true because Finn and the elder Nathaniel are also altered by the loss of Jacob. No one in the Boyd family is the least bit happy or well adjusted. The best part of the book was the love the younger Nathaniel had for the sea, for the fish, for the beauty of nature, and living in the seasons on Cap Cod.

Buck On A Bridge

 Today on my daily walk I headed west to the Twin Pond area near the Enger tower. A six mile walk is good exercise. Quite often I have a view of Lake Superior and/or the mouth of the Saint Louis river and seeing all that blue water is calming. I am walking along, almost to my turn around point, and I get to the part where a sidewalk leaves the road and a little wooden bridge goes over the stream that empties the twin ponds. Standing on that bridge is a deer looking at me. This deer is standing out in the open on the bridge. I stop walking. This deer has an impressive set on antlers on his head with at least 3 or 4 points on both sides. I smile at the deer. This sounds crazy but I think the deer smiled back at me. A car approached me on the road, saw the situation, and stopped to watch. The deer wanted to cross the road and get into the woods on the other side. I was standing on the road in his way. I stood still as the deer slowly approached with one eye on me and the other eye on the waiting car. The deer got off the bridge, came down the sidewalk for a bit and then angled through the snow and the grass up the hill. He crossed the road maybe 8 feet ahead of me midway between the car and myself. The deer crossed the road and sedately strolled ahead with his tail hanging down. A few steps into the woods he disappeared. I proceeded to finish my walk. As I passed the car the driver rolled down his window and waved at me. We both shared a special moment today.

Pollinators

 Tonight the master naturalist chapter had a zoom meeting with Naturalist Dave. He talked about pollinators and about his new passive house on Lexington Parkway in Saint Paul. Passive homes are very energy efficient. He also has solar collectors on the roof and instead of getting an electric bill he got a check for five months of the year. Only time will tell if he is able to use less electricity than he makes. He kept a list of all the pollinators he saw at his new home and at his old home in White Bear Lake. He had terrific pictures of bees, wasps, flies, beetles and bugs. He has a very engaging speaking style and I enjoyed spending time looking at bugs made all the more fascinating by what Dave knew about them and their habits.

Sweet Sorrow

 The British author David Nichols wrote Sweet Sorrow. The story is about Charlie Lewis. At the beginning of the book Charlie is 38 years old and about to get married. Most of the book is about Charlie at age 16. Charlie's parents have just divorced. His sister and mother have moved away leaving him with his depressed, alcoholic father. Charlie worries about his father because he is taking psychiatric medications and also drinking alcohol. Charlie is not doing well in school. He meets a girl who is in a local production of Romeo and Juliet. She convinces him to join the play because they need more players. He decides to give it a try for one week if she will have coffee with him. The experiences he has in the play and with this girl change his life forever. The story was poignant, sweet, yet also incredibly sad. Some parts were downright comical. I came to like this Charlie Lewis so much I was sad when the book was finished. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

The Discomfort Of Evening

 Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is the author of The Discomfort of Evening. Marieke grew up on and still works at a Dutch dairy farm. She grew up in a strict Christian family and had a brother who died at a young age. In this novel, Jas is a ten year old Dutch girl on a dairy farm. Jas' parents are very strict Christians. Her older brother, Matthies, died during an ice skating competition when he fell into the thin ice of the canal. Jas' family does not talk about their grief. Gradually everyone in the family of five starts to fall into a state of emotional disturbance. Actually, this is a highly disturbing book. I chose it because it is up for an international Booker award and is being translated into many languages. I found myself cringing and disgusted many times as I read it. To compound the grief of the family, foot and mouth disease comes to the Dutch countryside and every cow on the dairy farm has to be slaughtered. This is not a book about happy times yet I was compelled to continue reading until the very last page.

Uncommon Type

 Uncommon Type is a collection of 17 short stories written by the actor/author Tom Hanks. Just about all the stories include mention of a manual or electric typewriter. Tom Hanks is a collector of typewriters. Each chapter has a picture of a manual typewriter on the chapter title page. The stories vary from broken hearts, the struggles of immigrants, children watching as their parents divorce to a science fiction story about time travel. The story about the time travel to the 1939 World's Fair in New York City was  my favorite. What the stories had in common is the characters are good, honest people doing good things. I enjoyed these heartwarming stories. One story takes place on Christmas Eve in 1953. The parents put the kids to bed and set the presents under the tree. Dad drinks the milk and eats the cookies set out for Santa Claus and waits for his annual midnight call from an army buddy. Both served in World War Two. The fellow who calls suffers mentally from the war and lives an unhappy life. The fellow who gets the call, the one with a wife and kids, seems adjusted and happy. After the call he goes to bed and that is when we learn he is missing a leg and most of one hand from his war wounds. These days it's nice to read some warm hearted stories for a change.

Birds of Madagascar

Tonight I attended a zoom Audubon meeting featuring Dr. Sushma Reddy who talked about the birds of Madagascar. Since Madagascar is an island many species evolved in isolation. Although closer to Africa than anywhere else, only a third of the birds came from Africa. Another third came from Asia. She showed us genetic charts showing which birds are the most closely related. The pictures she shared show very exotic and interesting birds so now I would like to take an eco-tour of Madagascar some day. Human arrived on this island only 500 years ago. Unfortunately yet predictably, the arrival of human on Madagascar spelled the end of the line for the now extinct elephant bird. With eggs a full 12 inches long and 22 pounds in weight, one egg could feed an entire family. Some beaches on Madagascar are littered to this day with the broken shells of elephant bird eggs.  Imagine seeing a bird that is 9 feet, 8 inches tall. Genetically the closest cousin to the elephant bird is the kiwi in New Zealand which makes sense because the kiwi also has very large eggs.

From the left, an elephant bird, an ostrich, a person and a chicken.

Tischer Creek

 

The sight of fresh, white snow next to running water is so pleasing to my eyes I can almost almost forget the cold temperatures and slippery walks. This is Tischer Creek as it flows down the hill from the Rice Lake area to empty into Lake Superior near the Glensheen Mansion.

A Shooting Star

 I have read several books by Wallace Stegner including  Big Rock Candy Mountain, Angle of Repose, and The Spectator Bird. All three were wonderful books. A Shooting Star just didn't measure up to his other works. The main character, Sabrina Castro, is a narcissistic drama queen who possibly has borderline personality disorder. Born into wealth, she is unfulfilled. She is jealous of people who have to work for a living. Although she, too, could work for a living, she knows she doesn't have to so she doesn't. The story is set on a peninsula south of San Francisco. Sabrina leaves her husband, a physician to the wealthy, and goes home to her mother's estate. She worries about herself and is rude to others. Sabrina is not a likeable person unlike her friend Barbara. Barbara is married to Leonard, a public high school teacher, and with their two girls they have a happy marriage and a satisfying life. Barbara and Leonard and the two girls stay up one night watching a meteor shower with Sabrina. Leonard entertains the group with his stories. Barbara and Leonard seem like a real family. The rest of the characters act like they are in a soap opera.

We Came Here To Shine

 Susie Orman Schnall wrote We Came Here To Shine, a novel set during the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. The story is about the friendship of two women. Max (Maxine) is a journalism student working at the World's Fair daily newspaper. Max is known for her assertiveness and brashness. Vivi is starring in the water show at the World's Fair swimming with Johnny Weissmuller after Esther Williams had a falling accident and was unable to continue swimming anymore. Vivi is known for her shy and unassertive manner. The two women meet at a speech about women's rights at the fair. Both women face challenges related to their gender. Max and Vivi vow to help each other. Vivi will help Max become less of a bull in a china shop and Max will help Vivi become more of a bull in a china shop. The character development was good. I found the story interesting and easy to read. The women are fictional but many of the stories in this novel are based on facts that happened at the World's Fair. After reading this story, I want to go to a World's Fair. United Arab Emirates was going to host one in 2020 but it has been postponed until 2021.

His Only Wife

 His Only Wife, a novel by Peace Adzo Medie is set in Ghana, Africa. The narrator is Afi, a young seamstress in a small town. She is convinced by her mother to marry a man she has not met to better her family's resources. Eager to please her hardworking mother, Afi agrees to the arranged marriage. At the wedding ceremony her future brother in law stands in for her husband because the groom is out of the country on business. The husband's family keep Afi and her mother in the dark about most things. Afi and her mother are taken to the large town of Accra and installed in an luxury apartment. The descriptions of the two towns in Ghana are enchanting. The story is about how Afi adjusts to life in the big city of Accra and to a life where her husband is evidently not all that interested in her. Even though Afi was brought up to be kind, obedient and subservient, she comes around to the idea that instead of trying to please others all the time, she ought to spend more time pleasing herself. Afi becomes a fashion designer. After reading this story I think it would be great to go to Accra sometime and look through some of the fashion designs and eat the food and listen to the music.

One Bold Chickadee

 Today I had a break from my usually socially distanced life. I met some friends who were taking full advantage of the warmer weather by camping at Jay Cook State Park. When I arrived at campsite #65 I met my friends and another person I hadn't met before. We started out eating our lunches at the picnic table. One bold chickadee flew down and landed on a plate next to a piece of bread spread with peanut butter and took a beakful of peanut butter before flying back. Next it came back and took a bite of banana. The picture shows the bold chickadee eyeing the banana before it takes a bite.  Seeing this I spread some peanut butter on my finger and held it out hoping the chickadee would eat the peanut butter off of my finger. For a half hour I had peanut butter on my finger before I finally licked it off myself. One of my friends had an E bike. She let me take it for a spin. I have thought about buying an E bike because I live in a hilly town now so I was excited to try it out. I biked around the loop of the campgrounds. The bike has three levels of assistance. I was on the lowest level of assistance. I was encouraged to try the middle level of assistance and suddenly I am going faster than I wanted to go on a gravel surface. I can't imagine what the highest level of assistance would feel like. After lunch we walked down to the swinging bridge and hiked to the other side. We hiked the  Superior Hiking Trail for awhile before heading back towards the campsites. We wanted to be back before it got dark. Dinner was made and we sat by the campfire enjoying the nice evening and talking. Hiking with others was a nice treat. Sitting by a campfire was also a nice treat. Today was a good day.

Artemis

 Artemis is the name of the Greek god of the moon and Artemis is also a science fiction book by Andy Weir who also wrote The Martian.  Like The Martian, Artemis has a boat load of science and chemistry involved in the story. This author has a way of making technical science understandable. This story is set on the moon in the year 2080. The name of the city is Artemis. The main character is Jazz (short for Jasmine) Bashara who has lived in Artemis since she and her father moved from Saudi Arabia when she was five years old. Now she is an adult and is estranged from her father who is a welder. She barely makes ends meet working as a delivery person with some smuggling on the side. The story is action packed full of intrigue, crime, conspiracy and murder. The story was good but sometimes I thought the dialogue was unrealistic. This novel was voted the best science fiction of 2017.

The Good Good Pig

 Sy Montgomery wrote The Good Good Pig; The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood about her pet pig. The pig was named after a music conductor who conducted the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for four years. The pig and it's owners live in rural New Hampshire. They got the pig from a pig farm because it was the runt of the litter and not expected to live. The pig did live and eventually grew to be 750 pounds. The author writes about getting food for the pig from neighbors and local restaurants. Sometimes the pig escaped the pen and wandered to town only to be brought back by the local police officer who kept apples in his car in case this happened. The author talks about how special the pig was but it seemed to me that this was an ordinary pig. Sometimes I got the feeling the author was using the pig to inform us about her other books and her extraordinary work with other animals and nature. I would have liked this book if the author wasn't so self-aggrandizing. 

Election Official

 Yesterday I served as an election official in the Morgan Park neighborhood in west Duluth. Morgan Park was named after J.P. Morgan. The town was developed U.S. Steel for the employees of the Duluth Works - a steel manufacturing plant. Morgan Park was a company town. Homeowners were expected to keep their homes looking nice and if they didn't comply, pay was deducted from their paychecks. The steel manufacturing ended in 1980. The homes are modest and well cared for. I don't think there are any restaurants in the neighborhood. My day started at six in the morning and we were able to leave at 8:45 p.m. We all had a long day. We were required to wear face masks and face shields. I could handle the face mask but the face shield was giving me a headache. I noticed all the other election officials quit wearing their face shields so I took mine off too. People were waiting outside the door beginning at 6:45 a.m. We had a rush of people at 7 but then things slowed down to some extent. In total we had almost 700 voters come in. Sixty people were registered. Some had to reregister because they had a name change or an address change but many were new voters. Most of the people who registered had a photo identification but about twenty of them didn't. They got people to vouch for them living in the area. One woman came in from a recovery treatment center. She left to get an employee at the treatment center to vouch for her and when she returned she brought 7 other people in treatment who wanted to vote with her. That woman was a leader. All but one person was able to find someone to vouch for them. One poor man who lived in assisted living was unable to return with someone to vouch for him. We felt terrible because he was obviously in a lot of pain, had difficulty walking with his cane, and breathed heavily as he struggled to get in and out of the building. Some people brought pieces of their mail to confirm they lived in the neighborhood. A utility bill was sufficient. One woman showed me her paycheck. I felt a little uncomfortable opening the envelope to look at her paycheck but she wanted to vote so I did. Every hour we changed positions. We had a greeter (offer hand sanitizer and a clean pen), registration table for registered voters, another registration table for unregistered voters, a ballot table, and a person to watch the voting machine and clean the voter desks and chairs between customers. My turn to be the greeter came at 2 p.m. and that was a perfect time to stand in the open door in the sunshine. If no one was approaching I sat on the picnic table outside the building to get some fresh air. The weather was awesome. As I stood outside I saw a large white pick up approach with 3 large flags on the back of the pick up. I wondered if any of those flags were political. I could only see the American flag. The men who came from that truck were polite and even thanked me for working here today. As they left they slowly drove by our building and I saw they indeed had a political flag between two American flags. Political flags and clothing and signs are not allowed with so many feet on the building so they should have removed that political flag before they came to the polling place but oh well, they were leaving now. The head judge has been at this precinct for more than 20 years and she said there has never been this large of a turn out ever before. We had to ask that more ballots be brought to our precinct because we would have ran out. Voter enthusiasm was very high. Some people brought in their children. Some brought in dogs. I was doing the paperwork to register a new voter when I felt a dog snout on my knee under the table. Everyone was polite and I was pleased to see the large turn out. We had a rush at lunch time and another rush between four and six in the evening. The last two hours were slower. Time was going by so very slowly. We got a call at the end of the evening saying we had to separate all ballots with write-in votes. We emptied the ballot box and proceeded to read almost 700 ballots for write in votes. I knew it was my duty to read these ballots but somehow it also felt wrong. I could not help myself from judging their decisions. I found three write in votes in my stack. Two names I didn't recognize were written in. The third one was for the soil and water conservation district (for which no one was running) and someone wrote in Donald J. Trump for that office. We carefully competed our official duties, stowed the supplies away and picked up our belongings. As we walked out into the warm dark evening, I was glad to be a part of the 2020 election. Will this year be a historical election?  Aren't all elections historical? 

Cook Before Sneaking A Taste

I made cookies today and opened a new bag of flour. On top I see this warning - COOK BEFORE SNEAKING A TASTE. FLOUR IS RAW. PLEASE COOK FULLY BEFORE ENJOYING.

I wonder who eats raw flour? I also wonder why consuming it is sneaking? I paid for it so it's not sneaking. If I was to sneak a snack, for sure it wouldn't be flour.

 

Hungry Heart

 I read Jennifer Weiner (it's pronounced Why-ner)'s book Hungry Heart. In a series of essays she tells about her family, her upbringing, her education, her career, her love life, her children, her successes and her failures. I had not actually heard of her before but she is a famous writer and one of her books was made into a movie (In Her Shoes).  Her first book was titled Good In Bed. As I read the pages I was suddenly glad there are no writers in my immediate family because she is painfully honest about hers. Jennifer is a complicated person. As loudly as she advocates that women should accept and love their own bodies, she goes into a dark place when she is criticized for hers. She is very sensitive yet she continues to put herself out there hoping to be a voice for women who can't or won't talk about these things.  Jennifer is definitely a feminist yet she devotes an entire, painful, chapter to the television show, The Bachelor which is not a feminist show at all. That chapter was the worst. Sometimes she is downright funny. Her essay on how male writers are taken more seriously than female writers was very good. She is definitely a dog lover and I can relate with that.  I liked the book except for the chapter about The Bachelor. I have never watched that show and I don't intend to.

The Pileateds Come For Suet

 This morning Mr. Pileated Woodpecker visited my suet. You might be able to see that he has a red mustache in the photo which marks him as male. An hour later Ms. Pileated Woodpecker came by too. The females don't have the red mustache. She didn't want her picture taken though. Most of the birds on the suet have been hungry black capped chickadees. The chickadees take such a small amount they hardly make a dent in the suet. Hairy woodpeckers have also come by but not as often as the chickadees.

The Bright Side Sanctuary For Animals

 Becky Mandelbaum wrote The Bright Side Sanctuary For Animals. The story is about Mona and Ariel Siskin, mother and daughter. They live in western Kansas at an animal sanctuary with dogs, cats, horses and pigs. This is a no-kill shelter which Mona runs. Mona puts all her strength and energy into caring for these animals and finding homes for them. Mona neglects herself, she neglects her house, and she neglects Ariel. When Ariel graduates from high school and earns a full scholarship to attend college on the eastern end of Kansas, Mona says no. Mona says Ariel should live at home and attend community college. This causes a rift so large mother and daughter do not talk to each other for six years. Ariel goes to college. One day Ariel sees that a vandal started a fire at the sanctuary. Two horses perished in the fire. In her head, Ariel thinks this might be her fault so she heads home. I don't want to give away the story of two hard-headed women meeting again after a six year separation but this made for a very interesting story.

Snow Buntings

 I walked to my local post office to drop off a letter to a relative. The air was cold and my hands were cold inside my gloves. My cheeks were red with the cold despite my coat, mittens and scarf. I was glad I had my wind pants on over my jeans. I was crossing the parking lot when I saw a small group of birds hopping around on the asphalt. Snow buntings! Seriously? In the parking lot? I have looked for snow buntings for years and only saw them twice. Both times I was in a vehicle moving down the highway. And here they are right by my feet! Snow buntings are the only songbird that nests as far north. Snow buntings are hardy little birds and it was a real treat for me to see one.

The Spectator Bird

 I read another of Wallace Stegner's novels. The Spectator Bird won the national book award for fiction in 1976. The story is about Joe and his wife Ruth who are around 70 and have retired to a home in northern California. Joe has arthritis and is a bit cranky and it seems that he and Ruth are a happy couple. On the surface Joe seems curmudgeonly but inside he is a deep thinker and a kind man. Joe gets the idea that he acts like a spectator in his own life instead of the major character. One day he gets a postcard from Astrid, a countess that he and Ruth met 20 years earlier when they traveled to Denmark. Joe and Ruth rented some rooms from Astrid and their lives became intertwined during the months they spent with her. Joe eventually brings out three books of a diary that he kept while they were in Denmark and he reads them to his wife before they go to sleep at night. As I read I got caught up in the story and sometimes the words made me laugh out loud. I very much enjoyed reading The Spectator Bird.

Bats

Today I attended a Zoom meeting of the local master naturalists. Our speaker is a senior at the U of M in Duluth studying environmental outdoor education. Her favorite animal is the bat. Her research project was at the Boulder Lake Management Area which has a nature center which is about 22 miles north of where I live. Using a device that recorded bat sounds and identified the species, she found all seven of the Minnesota bats staying in the bat houses at Boulder Lake. She also walked three paths at Boulder Lake to find other bats. She is designing a citizen science project for people who might help her with the research. A local boy scout group made 70 more bat houses so she could use some help in monitoring those within the Boulder Lake Management Area. I have done frog surveys and owl surveys and bird surveys and secretive marsh bird surveys but never a bat survey. This could be a fun activity to do after sunset on summer nights with another person. I don't think I want to do a bat survey in the dark alone. 

 

Extraordinary, Ordinary People

 I just finished reading Condoleezza Rice's autobiography Extraordinary, Ordinary People;  Memoir of Family. Condoleezza writes about her parents and grandparents growing up in Birmingham, Alabama where segregation existed.  The Governor, George Wallace, said "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever."  To cope the black families tried to stay separate. Rather than ride in the back of buses they walked or drove cars. Rather than use public toilets for blacks only they waited until they found a better one or went home. Her parents were college graduates. Her mother taught school and her father was a preacher. Later in life he went on to be a college administrator. Condoleezza grew up playing the piano at parties and church events. Eventually the family moved to Colorado for her father's job and that is where she went to high school. She also took ice skating lessons. Eventually she figured out she was not going to make a career of ice skating nor the piano. She wasn't sure which major to choose in college until she met Josef Korbel (who happened to be the father of Madeline Albright). He influenced her to go into political science and focus on Russia. Eventually she went to graduate school at Notre Dame and Stanford. Her parents sacrificed for her education. All their savings went to their daughter. She eventually became a tenured professor at Stanford and later the Provost of Stanford. I was hoping to read about her years at the White House but the book ends just as George W. Bush was elected. I enjoyed reading her book.