Honor

Thirty Umrigar is the author of Honor, a story about a journalist. Smita travels the world as a journalist. Her apartment is is New York. Smita was born in India but moved to the United States with her brother and her parents. When she was young and living in India, her family was targeted because of their Muslim faith. For that reason  she never wanted to cover stories in India. When her friend, a fellow journalist named Shannon calls her and asks for her help, she does go to India. Smita thought her friend wanted her physical help because of an injury. When she arrived she learned Shannon wanted her professional help in covering a story. Reluctantly Smita agrees to cover the story. The story involves a trial. Meena, a Hindu, is suing her brothers for killing her husband and nearly killing her as well. As Smita covers the story she processes her own story. I thought this was a great story about faith, discrimination, and how honor can mean one thing to one person and a completely different thing to another person.

  

Golden Eagle Puts On A Show

 Today was a very pleasant day at Hawk Ridge. The air was warm, the sky was sunny, and the winds were only 5 mph. We had visitors from Canada, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and New York. We all got a really good view of a low flying golden eagle today. Although the bird banders and counters will continue to work through the month of November, tomorrow is the last day that the store is open and the naturalists are working.

All He Ever Wanted

 Years ago I enjoyed The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve. This time I read All He Ever Wanted by the same author. In this novel Nicholas Van Tassel is a professor at a small college in New Hampshire. While dining at a hotel one evening, the hotel kitchen catches fire. The dining room diners dash outside into the cold winter night. Nicholas catches sight of a young woman. Nicholas is telling this story as an 64 year old man on a train ride to his sister's funeral. The woman he sees that night eventually becomes his wife, Etna, as well as the mother of his two children. Reading Nicholas' words we learn that he is a pompous, arrogant, stuffy, controlling jerk of a man who got all he ever wanted but couldn't hold onto it because of his personality. The story was well told. There are reasons Nicholas is alone on that train ride. He deserves to be alone on that train ride.

Historical Miniatures

August Strinberg is a Swedish author writer, playwright and painter. He wrote Historical Miniatures and it was published in 2006. The novel has chapters for various characters in history. All the characters were men and they included Plato, Socrates, King Herod, Julius Caesar, and King Henry VIII. The author wrote conversations into the chapters as well as arguments and celebrations. Some of the scenes were funny. Although I read the entire book I can't say I know more about historical figures than I did before I read it.

The Undertaker's Assistant

 The Undertaker's Assistant is a historical fiction novel by Amanda Skenandore. She wrote a story about Effie Jones. Effie was a slave in Louisiana. At age 7 she escaped her captors and made her way to a Union Army camp. A doctor in the camp took her in thinking she was a boy. Wanting to please this doctor, she learned all she could about anatomy. After the war he returned to his home in Indiana. Effie came to live with him and his wife. His occupation in Indiana was undertaker so Effie learned that trade as well. When she turned 18 she left Indiana and returned to Louisiana. She got a job as an undertaker's assistant. Her skill at embalming were helpful. The man she worked for was an alcoholic and he was not managing very well. She cleaned his shop, straightened up his accounts, and with her help his business began to thrive. He stopped drinking as much too. Effie wanted to find someone who knew her when she was young. The story is about how Effie faces loss and heartbreak but eventually finds her place in life. I thought the story was well written and definitely worth my time.

A Simple Favor

 Darcey Bell wrote the novel A Simple Favor. In this story a widowed mother of a five year old, Stephanie, meets the married working mom of her five year old's best friend, Emily. Stephanie is a mommy blogger. Emily commutes two hours to work in the high end fashion field in Manhattan. Their boys are friends and like to play together and have sleep overs at both houses. One day Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son after school saying she would come and pick him up by 9 p.m. She is asking for a simple favor. Nothing about these two women is simple. The story is narrated by Emily, Stephanie, and Sean who is married to Emily. All the  narrators are unreliable but Emily is the worst. Emily lies so much she doesn't even know what the truth is anymore.  I liked the two boys but I did not like any of the narrators. I guess unreliable narrators are a trick to use when writing mystery stories but I just found these characters to be repugnant. I thought the plot was convoluted too. This wasn't my favorite book to read.

Planting Pines

Today my master naturalist chapter had a meeting at the Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center which is north of Duluth. As I drove up there the tamarack trees were dressed in the golden fall splendor. Today was an Indian summer day with a high of 71.

After the meeting we did a service project at the Boulder Lake Bear Paw campground. Specifically we worked at the Superior campsite.

A disease called Spruce tip rot had killed a wide swath of spruce at this campsite making it look less than superior.

Those white patches are where we stapled paper to the top of the red and white pines so the deer wouldn't eat the terminal end of the tree. I planted probably 30 trees myself. We had a dozen people so we maybe planted 300 trees in short time. It would be fun to camp here because it's free camping and you could canoe or kayak  right up to your campsite.

 

 Today I volunteered at Hawk Ridge again. I got there after ten o'clock and stayed until four in the afternoon. At 10:30 we saw a guy with a trombone and 30 runners all wearing plaid shirts. Turns out this group is running an anti-Grandma's marathon. They are not against Grandma's marathon but they run in the opposite direction. I don't really get it because they aren't running on the same street but they all looked happy as they went Things got real busy between eleven and twelve. At 11:30 we got a call from the bird banders that they had a bird. Since I had only been down there once before a naturalist accompanied me. She showed me how to approach the banding station from the back. Once we are close we use the walkie talkie. Into the walkie talkie I said, "Volunteer here. Is this a good time to approach?" We were told to approach. I held the clipboard and wrote down the date, the species (SSHA stands for sharp shinned hawk), age (HY means hatch year), transporter (me), handler (name of the naturalist that will show the bird to the crowd and release it, time caught, and time released. The hawk has to be released within twenty seconds. We took the sharp shinned hawk back to the crowd. Lo and behold, another hawk had been caught and banded so I took the walkie talkie and the clipboard and hiked back to the banding station. There was an unusually long delay when I asked if I could approach. Finally I got the okay to come in. The bander said he would be right there. There in the nets was a red tailed hawk. Untangling that hawk was no easy task. When he got the hawk into a Folgers coffee can he was able to give me the details on the sharp shinned hawk (see top photo). I walked the hawk up the hill to the visitor area. I had my fingers at the end of the hawk's tail. At one point the hawk started moving around in the Pringle's can. I got scared and squealed a little but the hawk settled down for the rest of the trip. To people driving by I looked like a birder who likes to eat potato chips as she walked. Another naturalist went down to get the red tailed hawk but I got to watch it's release. All three birds were newly hatched. I looked at the list of birds banded this week and they were all hatched this year. Maybe newly hatched birds are more likely to be fooled into getting tangled in the mist nets. No more birds were banded before I left. I suspect they will band some owls tonight though. I had a fun day talked to the Hawk Ridge staff and the visitors. Today was a good day.

Mercury Pictures Presents

Anthony Marra wrote the historical fiction novel called Mercury Pictures Presents. The story revolves around Maria Lagana who was born in Rome. Her father took her to the picture show instead of church every Sunday. Twelve year old Maria made a mistake which led to her father being jailed. When they ran out of money, Maria's mother sought the help of her aunts in Los Angeles, California. The aunt sent money and Maria and her mother emigrated in 1940 away from Mussolini's country. After high school Maria got a job at Mercury Pictures. She worked her way up by being an excellent judge of character and a hard working leader. She was associate producer on one film. The story represents the times. Sexism abounded. Japanese were incarcerated. Italians were not allowed to travel more than five miles from their home. I really enjoyed the story about Maria Lagana. 

Hiking Class

 

This week my hiking class hiked over 3 miles near Amity Creek off Vermillion Road past the Park Hill Cemetery. I am not sure who owns this land but there are public trails to follow. We started off east of the road where the creek was. Here is a picture of the water in the creek looking as pretty as a Japanese garden. We hiked around a little lake and past a city gravel pit and back to Vermillion road. Then we hiked on the west side of Vermillion road up a steep ridge of forest. There were oaks and aspen and maples and poplar trees. For over an hour I saw no houses, no roads, no telephone wires. In other words I saw nothing but wilderness. Suddenly there was a house with solar panels. Turns out that house belongs to a woman hiking with us today. She has a nice spot. The weather was about fifty degrees. I had two shirts and a wool coat which is good for waiting for the hike to start but too hot once we got going. The leaves were very noisy underfoot but they smelled great. I enjoyed hiking behind someone who knew where she was going so I could relax and not worry about getting lost.

Lessons

Years ago I read Ian McEwan's book On Chesil Beach. This time I read Lessons. Both books are about older British gentleman. Lessons is about Roland Baines. Roland was living in Libya with his parents. His father is in the British Army and his mother worked at a YMCA in Tripoli. At age 11 his parents want him to get a proper education. His father wants him to be away from his mother because he thinks his wife babies their son. They drop him off at a boarding school. To Roland's surprise, the other boys his age are nice. The teachers are nice too with the exception of his private piano teacher who pinches him in the thigh when he makes the same mistake twice. At age 14 she seduces him and he goes along with it for a couple years. At age 16 she shows him train tickets for Scotland, a hotel reservation, and paper work for marriage. She insists he will marry her. At that point he recognizes her lunacy and high tails it out of there. Later in life he marries a woman from Germany. Weeks after the birth of their son, Lawrence, his wife abandons them and moves away. She sends postcards telling him not to look for her. Now Roland is in his. 70's and trying to make sense of his life. Did he miss some lessons along the way? The book. covers a sprawling amount of time. To mark the passage of time the author uses events such as the Chernobyl explosion,  the taking down of the wall in Germany, and the Enron scandal. I enjoyed the story. Basically Roland is a good person and a great father and a kind friend. 

 

Intimacies

 Intimacies is a novel written by Katie Kitamura. The story is about a woman who lived in New York to take care of her father until he died. Then her mother moved to Shanghai so she decided to leave New York and move to The Hague. She found work as an interpreter for the International Court of Justice which is the principal court for the United Nations. She quickly makes friends with Jana who runs an art gallery. She is chosen to interpret at a trial of an African leader who committed atrocious war crimes. Repeating the details of the horrible deaths and torture gets to her emotionally and she struggles to keep her voice professional. She meets a man named Adriaan at a party. They date and become lovers. Her job appointment was for one year. At the end of the year she is asked to take a permanent position at the court. She isn't sure she wants to stay. I thought the book was fascinating because when I went to the Netherlands we went to The Hague. We didn't visit the court but we did visit the museum and the town. So as I read about this woman taking the train and walking the streets I could imagine what that looked like. The day I was there snow fell at an angle because of the wind. I don't think I would do well as an interpreter in a court room but I enjoyed reading about it.

A Hawk In Hand!

I spent most of today volunteering at Hawk Ridge. The high temperature today was 41 and the winds were 18 mph. To top that off the sky drizzled down on us so I had to wear my rain coat over my parka. I was cold most of the day. I was not cold when I got invited (for the first time) to walk down to the banding station and retrieve a hatch year female red tailed hawk. I watched the bird banders lure in the raptors with starlings on a string. The banders would pull on those strings now and then like an angler jiggles a fishing pole. When the hawk was ready to go back up to the public area of Hawk Ridge she was put in an empty Folgers coffee can with the yellow feet and tail sticking out. I put the can in the brook of my left arm and put my gloved hands around the hawk's feet. Oh, the thrilling joy of holding a hawk. We left the banding station and walked the ten minute walk back to the public area. By the time I got back I was sweating with the exercise and the adrenaline. I handed the hawk off to Julia, one of the naturalists. Here is the hawk just after I removed the coffee can.

Here is the hawk right before she was released. I wondered how the hawk was mentally processing this adventure. Was it comparable to being abducted by aliens? With the unpleasant weather we had very few visitors today. 

 

On Rotation

On Rotation was written by Shirlene Obuobi, a physician and author. The story revolves around Angela Appaiha who is in medical school at a hospital in Chicago. Angela and her parents emigrated from Ghana, to England, and finally to Chicago. Angela is striving to be the perfect immigrant daughter but finds it hard when all she does is never enough for them. Lucky for Angela she has a tight group of friends to support her. The story is about Angela handling her career, her friends, her parents and her love life. I really enjoyed reading about her.

The House On Mango Street

 Sandra Cisneros is the author of the very short book called The House On Mango Street. The book is a series of short chapters or vignettes in the life of 12 year old Esperanza who lives in the Latino neighborhood in Chicago. She is playing in the streets with her friends or hanging out with her Aunt or going to a baptism with her family. I understand this book won the American book award and was turned into a play. Sometimes the chapters were joyous and other times the chapters were heart breaking. I liked this little book very much.

The Magnificent Lives Of Marjorie Post

I really enjoyed reading The Magnificent Lives Of Marjorie Post. Her story started when she was a child. Marjorie and her parents moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, because her father was ill. They sought the help of Dr. Kellogg who prescribed a vegetarian diet, no caffeine nor alcohol, physical therapy in a pool, and lots of fresh air. Marjorie and her parents lived in a boarding house while her father, C. W. Post, was treated. Her father's health continued to decline and he lost more weight. The woman who ran the boarding house was concerned. She served good, home made food including chicken and pork. She urged Marjorie's father to eat her food. Eventually he gave in and did eat her meals and that is when he started to feel better. The family settled in Battle Creek. Her Dad got the idea of roasting wheat and making a more palatable cereal than Kellogg's. His idea was a success. Then he got the idea of making a coffee substitute out of what. He called it Postum. Marjorie's father encouraged her to make good use of her mind and to think things through. She often had his voice in her head. Yet, sadly, she was not successful in marriage. She married four times. She married an emotionally abusive alcoholic, another alcoholic, a philanderer, and a homosexual. She did have three children that she loved and many great experiences including two winters in Moscow as the ambassador's wife. I was surprised to learn that she, with the help of several architects, designed Mar A Lago. Marjorie was a keen business woman and knew how to turn a profit. She enjoyed her riches with clothes and jewelry and travel but she also did philanthropic work like feeding the hungry, building hospitals, supporting colleges and supporting the ballet. She did have a marvelous life. I just wish she didn't say yes every time some man offered to marry her.

 

Ragtime

 In my class at Senior U, we are studying the works of E. L. Doctorow. We just finished up Ragtime which is said to be his best novel. We also watched the movie which went by the same name. The story comes in three parts. One story line is about a wealthy family in a nice home. People in the family include Grandfather, Father, Mother, Son, and Mother's brother. The second story line is about Coalhouse Walker who is a talented black piano player. Coalhouse has a girlfriend and a newborn son. The third story line is about a Jewish immigrant named Tateh and his beautiful daughter. World War One is brewing in Europe at this time. Model T's are running in the streets of New York. Harry Houdini is in town getting out of chains and locks. This is an epic novel and a blend of fact and fiction. Doctorow was not pleased with the film version. With a novel of these epic proportions, the Director chose to focus on the Coalhouse Walker story line. Doctorow would have preferred 15 hours of film. I suppose they could have done a series of 1 hour shows on television. I liked the book and the film.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

 Lionel Shriver is the author of We Need To Talk About Kevin. I assumed Lionel was a man's name but actually the author is a woman. The novel is epistolatory. In a series of letters Eva writes to her estranged husband, Franklin, Eva recounts their marriage and the births of their two children. Kevin is the eldest and his little sister appeared eight years later. From birth Kevin was a difficult child. Kevin was smart but uncooperative. Eva worried about his behavior but Franklin always shut her down and took Kevin's side. Kevin was difficult to love and had no friends. Eva wondered if Kevin was a psychopath. I don't want to spoil the ending but Eva was correct. The story was riveting. I understand this novel was made into a movie with Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly as Eva and Franklin. I enjoyed the story but I don't think I want to see the movie because I worry the crime scene will be upsetting to witness.

Saturday Night

Last night the moon was almost full and shining over Lake Superior as I stood at Hawk Ridge volunteering for an owl event. I helped check in the guests prior to the 8 p.m. presentation. After 8 I hiked up the rocks to the outdoor classroom where the naturalist spoke about the 12 species of Minnesota owls. As she held up the pictures of owls and a map of their range I held up the same picture for the audience to see. While she talked the owl banders were busy catching owls in mist nets. Two Northern Saw-whet owls were released during our presentation. Some other volunteers went down to the banding station to collect them and carry them up hill in little tubes. The naturalist gently took the owls out and held them in her hand so the audience could get a close up look at the super cute tiny owl. One of them clicked it's beak in anger. Normally a Northern saw-whet owl makes a beeping sound like a dump truck in reverse. I could have taken a picture but we weren't supposed to use our flash and I was afraid I would make a mistake with my phone. She used a black light to shine on the feathers. With the black light shining on the feathers, the first owl's feather were all pink which meant the feathers were new and this was a first year bird. The second owl had a uniform set of pink and non-pink feathers which meant it was an older owl. Before she let the owls go we extinguished the lamps that lit our outdoor classroom so the owl's eyes could adjust to the dark. Then she set the little owl free on the palm of her hand. The first owl took off immediately. The second owl stood on her hand for a full minute looking around before it flew away. By ten o'clock we had talked about all the owls and the class was over. We helped pack up the table, the equipment, and all the lamps. I was glad the temperature was in the 50's and the wind wasn't very strong. I had a very pleasant evening.

 

Hidden

Fern Micheals is a prolific writer but I don't think I have ever read any of her before I read Hidden. This was a satisfying book because the good guys win and the bad guys loose. The story involves a brother and sister who set up a furniture refurbishing shop/coffee house café in an arts building. They find a will in a drawer in an old table. The will is that of a wealthy man who decided to cut his son out of the will and leave all of his estate to non-profits for animals. The other side of the story is that of the man who was cut out of the will and his wife. He and his spouse have been secretly stealing from the father to pay off gambling debts. The author uses many points of view. I thought she included many unnecessary details and went too slowly especially in the beginning. On the other hand the good guys win!

Overheard At The YMCA Today

"Exercise is like banging your head against the wall over and over again. It hurts to do it but it feels so good when you stop." 

So Much Orange

Yesterday I went on a hike with 25 other people from Hartley Nature Center to here, the top of the hill at Bagley Nature Center. I see so much orange.

This is the lake at Bagley Nature Center.

Heading back to our cars at Hartley Nature Center I was shown a secret gnome dwelling.

I am not sure why they put the padlock on the outside of the gnome home.

 

The Only Woman In The Room

 Marie Benedict wrote The Only Woman In The Room. This is an historical fiction account of Hedwig Eva Marie Kiesler who was later known as Hedy Lamarr. Marie Benedict also wrote another book I read called The Other Einstein which was about Mitza Maric, an accomplished physicist, who later married Albert Einstein. Both of her books were good. Hedwig was born in Austria and was an only child. Her father was a banker and her mother was a concert pianist before she gave up performing to be a wife. Hedy enjoyed acting. She performed in some plays in Austria. At age 18 she acted in a movie called Ecstasy where she performed some nude scenes and her character acted out an orgasm on film. That movie was banned in Germany and the United States and she regretted agreeing to be in it. She was performing in a play in Austria where she played an Empress when she caught the attention of her first husband. He gave her 12 dozen long stemmed roses on the stage. When the ushers prevented that from happening again he had another 12 dozen roses sent to her dressing room every  night of the performance. Every day the roses were a different color. After two weeks he started sending 12 dozen roses to the house where she lived with her parents. She married him in part because he was an arms dealer who could protect Hedy and her parents from Hitler. After marriage she realized he was abusive and controlling. Both Mussolini and Hitler came to dine at her house and talk about arms. She eventually fled Austria to get away from her husband. She went to England and eventually to Hollywood where she was given Lamarr as a last name. During World War Two she wanted to do more to help the war effort. With the help of a musical composer, the two of them invented a device that would guide missiles remotely. They patented their invention and took it to the US Navy. The Navy told them their idea was not feasible because it was too big. Their device was as small as a wrist watch so they went to Washington to talk to the officials. After some discussion they were told their invention would  not be used because it was invented by a woman. Their invention could have saved lives in the Pacific. Later their invention was used and is still being used in cell phones and Wi-Fi systems today. The book ends while Hedy is still a movie star. Hedy was not a particularly happy person. Men liked her for the image she gave and not for the woman behind the image. The book about her was entertaining.

Fall Colors

The trees and shrubs in the area where I live are about 40%  of peak color. Every day gets a little more colorful.

I love the fall colors.

 

Olga Dies Dreaming

Xochitl Gonzales is the author of Olga Dies Dreaming. Olga lives in the Bronx and is a wedding planner for the rich and famous. Her brother, Prieto, lives in the house of their grandmother and is a popular congressman. All seems well in this Puerto Rican family but that is a façade. Family secrets are making them sick. Olga and Prieto's mother, Blanca, deserted the family almost thirty years ago to fight injustice in Puerto Rico. From afar she meddles in her New York family affairs and maliciously manipulates various family members until they turn on each other. When the hurricane strikes Puerto Rico the political situation, orchestrated by Blanca, comes to a head. I enjoyed reading this novel about family, the American dream, and political corruption.  

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

 The story of how Joy Davidman became the wife of C. S. Lewis is the basis for the historical fiction novel called Becoming Mrs. Lewis which was written by Patti Callahan. Joy grew up in the Bronx. She graduated from high school at age 15 and from college at age 19. By the time she was 20 she earned a Master's degree in English literature from Columbia University. She had an IQ over 150. She went on to write sonnets, poems, and several books. She married a man and had two sons with him. By the time her sons were old enough to go to school her husband had become abusive, had affairs with other women, was an alcoholic and was prone to sudden rages that scared her and the children. She decided to take her boys and move to England. She met C. S. Lewis and had been corresponding with him frequently. Naturally the author of the Narnia series fascinated little boys. Joy's sons loved C. S. Lewis more than their own father. I enjoyed reading the story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. I know most of the words in the book are from the imagination of the author but she did do her research. In 2015 a book of love poems written by Joy Davidman was published after being found in an attic. I found it very interesting to read about dinners in a pub with these two writers and others like Tokien.

Blustery Day

 Today I volunteered for six hours at Hawk Ridge. The temperature was 54 degrees and the wind was from the north. The wind was strong so the birds were flying. We just couldn't see most of them because the wind picked up so much humidity over Lake Superior that the low clouds hid most of the high flying birds from our sight. A bird bander was using a vertical mist net and a lure bird and he did manage to catch one female hatch-year sharp shinned hawk. The photo shows one of the naturalists showing the bird to the crowd before letting it go. Each bird that is banded is kept in captivity for twenty minutes maximum. I had a fun day talking to visitors and chatting with the naturalists who are young and full of energy. The sun broke through the clouds for approximately 90 seconds of my six hour day so I was happy to get home, throw a casserole in the oven and warm up with a glass of tea.