Hester

This story is a retelling of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Hester, written by Laura Lico Albanese, the story is told from the point of view of the woman wearing the scarlet letter. The story starts in Scotland. Isabelle marries a pharmacist. Unluckily for her, the pharmacist is a scoundrel and addicted to opium. When his debts pile up and all their belongings are taken he decides they should emigrate to America. On board the ship Isabelle and her husband save the captain's life by lancing an abdominal abscess. The captain is grateful and he notices Isabelle's fine sewing skills. She repairs one of his jackets. Once in Salem the captain helps the couple find a place to live. Isabelle starts embroidering gloves and selling them. Her husband takes all their money and boards another ship headed south leaving Isabelle with nothing. She continues to sew. Some of her customers pay her with food. In town she meets a brooding young man by the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne and they are drawn to each other. I loved reading the description of the town, the styles of clothes, and the society in Salem that judges people's worth on factors beyond their control..

The Nix

 The Nix is an epic novel that is 22 hours long on audiobook and was written by Nathan Hill.  The story starts out with Samuel Andreson Anderson, a college professor of literature who is burned out and coping with junk food and hours online playing a video game called Elfscape. Samuel was abandoned by his mouth when he was eight years old. Now a lawyer has called him asking for his assistance in defending his mother who is in trouble for attacking a political figure. As he tries to help his mother he searches for where she was all these years and basically wants to know why she abandoned him. Samuel interviews his father, his grandfather and other people who knew her. The media portrays her as a radical  leftist and a militant radical with a sordid past. All Samuel knew was that she lived in a small town in Iowa. Much of the story revolves around a protest demonstration in 1968 at the Democratic convention in Iowa. Some of the writing about Hubert Humphrey are hilarious. Samuel's maternal grandfather was born and raised in Norway. The Nix is the name of one of the magical house spirits that must be appeased or they will play tricks on you. One of my favorite characters is Laura Potsdam, one of Samuel's students who turned in a plagiarized term paper that she bought when she was in high school and is trying to use it again. Laura cheats on all her classes. Her thinking excuses all her actions. The interaction between Laura and Samuel is hilarious. This was a very enjoyable story. 

Mushrooms

I got 4 inches of rain on the weekend and another half inch today. The rain is making the mushrooms fruit up out of the soil into, well I was going to say the sun but it was cloudy and rainy again. These are probably aminita mushrooms which are most like poisonous to eat.

Once a week I head down to the Lake Walk to monitor 24 trees with nature's notebook for a local college professor.

 

One Two Three

 Laurie Frankel is the author of One Two Three: A Novel. This story is set in the small town of Bourne. Seventeen years earlier the town was poisoned by a chemical company that allowed toxic chemicals into the river. The town had been complaining for years but the company denied there were any problems. This company paid the testing laboratory to say everything was fine. Then the water turned an unnatural green. That is when the company shut down. Nora was pregnant when the water turned green. Her husband was one of the many people who died of cancer probably from the water. Nora and other towns people sought justice. A suit was filed against the company. Nora gave birth to three daughters. Mab, the eldest, Monday the middle and Mirabelle the youngest. Sometimes when talking to each other they call each other one, two or three. This is helpful because Mirabelle has cerebral palsy. She is unable to walk or speak so if she taps once that means she wants something from Mab. Since many people in the town were affected by the toxic water, many of them are in wheelchairs. All the sidewalks have ramps, the businesses are accessible and have electric door openers. Now the girls are 17 years old and in high school. I thought this was a great story because of the love between the sisters and the strong love Nora has for her children. The girls have established great relationships with the people in the town. Now the chemical company wants to come back and resume business. Nora is dead set against that. The girls support their mother. Another reason I liked the story is that it has a very satisfying ending.

Fifty Years Of Driving Each Other Nuts

 Today I traveled a couple of hours south to attend an event. Driving through northeastern Wisconsin in the rain the fall colors were muted at first by the rain but more noticeable as time went on. The colors are more vivid when some of the leaves are still green. My favorite trees had branches that were red at the tips followed by orange and then yellow yet still green by the trunk. The rain had stopped for the last hour of my drive. As I pulled into the driveway and parked the rain decided to come back and pour on my head. I tucked my plate of deviled eggs under my rain coat and headed to the party. I set my food down on the table and headed over to look at the pictures. This celebration was a booya but also a 50th wedding anniversary of my "closest to my age" cousin. There I see a picture of the bride with her 3 bridesmaids, my youngest sister as a junior bridesmaid and another cousin as the flower girl. Fifty years of marriage makes my cousin and her husband good role models. When she got married it was a time of change in society. Prior to her marriage most people got married between 18 and 20 years of age. After her marriage people waited longer to tie the knot. My cousin and her husband wore matching black t-shirts with squirrels and in large print were the words "50 Years Of Driving Each Other Nuts." Her younger brother and his wife got married 49 years ago. He was there on stage playing classic rock with his friends from high school. Their joy in making music was obvious on their faces. This is music that is hard to listen to without dancing. They had a great party.

Life Ceremony

 Life Ceremony is a book of 12 short stories written by Sayaka Murata and translated from Japanese into English. The stories are set in Japan. One of the stories was about foraging in Tokyo. Another story is about a girl who tries real hard to fit in. In elementary school she was a leader so her nickname was the president. In high school she made an error the first day so her nick name was pea brain. She had another nickname in college and another nickname at work. She spoke differently and acted differently in each situation. So now she is going to get married. She doesn't know which personality to use. A friend suggests she invent a fifth personality. The strangest story was life ceremony. In this unusual tale the process of death changes over time. At the current time the body of a dead person is processed. When people gather to mourn they are served food containing the flesh of the deceased. At the meal couples are supposed to pair off and as they leave their goal if to create a new life by having relations. Each story was interesting and gave me a glimpse into the Japanese culture.

The Rosie Project

Leave it to me to read a series of three books out of order. That is what I did. I read The Rosie Effect first which was the final book in the series. And just today I finished The Rosie Project which is the first book in the series. The narrator is Don Tillman, a geneticist and professor at a university in Melbourne, Australia. He is a socially awkward man who is looking for a wife. He comes up with the idea to find a wife by making a survey. Along the way he meets a woman named Rosie. According to his list, Rosie is not suitable wife material. She smokes. She is not good at math. Rosie is, however, much fun to hang out with. Don insists on helping Rosie determine who her father is. As a geneticist he uses the lab at the university to study the DNA of all the men Rosie suspects might be her father. The story is laugh out loud funny at some points. This was a very enjoyable book. Now I have to get my hands on the second book by Graeme Simsion.

The Boys

 Ron and Clint Howard are the authors of The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family. A forward is written by Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron's daughter. Both men take turns talking about their parents and from the sound of it they had great parents. No parents are perfect but some come close. Both of their parents wanted to be actors. The father was more successful than the mother but neither one could compare to their boys. Ron talked about playing Opie in the television show Mayberry. Clint talked about playing Mark Wedlow in the television show Gentle Ben. Ron talks lovingly about his wife who he met when he was 15. When Clint was 15 he was using alcohol and marijuana heavily. For a time his family didn't think he would survive his addictions. His parents had to kick him out of the house and he was homeless for a time. Now he is a sober man. My favorite part of the story was how their father coached them on the set as child actors. He took the time to explain the character's emotional state.

The Last House On The Street

 Diane Chamberlain is the author of The Last House On The Street. The story is told in the present time and also fifty years ago. The current story is told by Kayla. Kayla and her husband are architects. They built their dream home on Hockley Lane in North Carolina. Just before the house was finished Kayla's husband lost his life in a tragic accident inside the house. Kayla must be strong for her four year old daughter. Kayla's father lives in the same town. The older story is told by Ellie Hockley. When Ellie was in college for pharmacology she took the summer to work on a civil rights project. With other college students from the north Ellie encourages black voters to get registered. The Civil Rights Act was signed by President Johnson in August of that year. Ellie. While walking through the neighborhoods they have to hide if they see any pick up trucks with white drivers for their own safety. Faced with so much hatred and violence Ellie left town after that summer and didn't return for 50 years. She is back now to take care of her brother and mother. Ellie and Kayla meet as they live on the same block. Some odd older woman is trying to scare Kayla away from that house. The threatens Kayla's life. Another time she kidnaps Kayla's four year old daughter. The truth comes out gradually at the end of the book and this is quite the story to tell. The Civil Rights work is based on a real event. 

The Surgeon's Daughter

 The Surgeon's Daughter is a sequel to The Girl In His Shadow by Audrey Blake. I was glad I read the first before the second. The main character is Nora. The story is set in London in the 1800's. Nora's family died from diphtheria. The family doctor, Dr. Croft, takes Nora into his household. She grows up with a famous surgeon in a house where patients come to visit and body parts are surgically examined. Nora picks up science and medical training quickly. In this story, Nora is 18. With Dr. Croft's financial support she travels to Bologna, Italy to earn a medical degree. In Italy women are allowed to study medicine but not encouraged. In England women are not allowed to study medicine. Nora meets with bad attitudes from most of the male doctors. This book is a historical fiction book about the history of medical schools and training. When Doctor Magdalena Morenco comes to the hospital, Nora aligns with her. Together they perform two Cesarean sections. I enjoyed reading about Nora.

Struck By Genius

 Jason Padgett is the author of Struck By Genius: How A Brain Injury Made Me A Mathematical Marvel. This is his story to tell. Maureen Ann Seaberg is also the author of this book. She helped Jason tell his incredible story. As a child Jason didn't like math. As an adult he worked at his father's futon store and went out partying. One night after a karaoke session at a bar Jason was attacked from behind by two men. His friends were ahead of him. His male friend ran away. His female friend went back into the bar to get help. Later he went to the hospital. He had a severe traumatic brain injury. He coped by staying home more and isolating himself. He quit working. He quit leaving the house. Over time he began to notice that things looked different to him. Numbers suddenly acquired geometric shapes. Seeing shapes with numbers meant that he now had synesthesia. He saw crystals coming out of the water faucet. Looking up into the branches of trees he saw geometric shapes. Eventually he started to attend a local college to learn about geometry, physics and algebra. He understood the equations and the computations although he didn't have to vocabulary used by mathematicians. He was now a mathematical savant. He started drawing geometric shapes. He went back to work at the futon store. I enjoyed reading his story. At times he comes across as self aggrandizing but overall this was a good book.

Stone Mattress

 Margaret Atwood is the author of the 2014 book of short stories called Stone Mattress. This book has nine stories. The first three stories involve a group of authors that float in and out. The rest of the stories are stand alone tales. One story is about a girl in a family who has a genetic abnormality. Her elder sister wants to get married but having an abnormal sister is making that impossible. So the family agrees to have a fake funeral for the younger sister while she ends up having to spend the rest of her life in hiding. Decades later she is found and things do not go well for her. My favorite story of the book is the one called Stone Mattress. Never underestimate the power of revenge by elderly women. The final story is the book is at an assisted living in Canada that is being surrounded by protestors who think the resources should be directed at the young instead of the old. They surround the facility blocking the entrance of supplies and staff. This was a believable horror story of elder abuse and quite scary to read.

The Importance Of Being Earnest

Last night Offspring #2 and I took in a show at the theater. Here is the view of the Stone Arch Bridge from that platform inside the Guthrie Theater on the 4th level.

Here is a view of the Guthrie from the top of the hill/labyrinth next door at Gold Medal Park.

Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance Of Being Earnest. This silly show was entertaining. The actors were good and the plot was silly.

 

The Favor

 Adele Griffin is the author of A Favor, a contemporary novel set in New York City. Nora is working at a high end vintage dress shop. Nora is married, lives in a small apartment in New York City with her husband and dog. She and her husband have been undergoing fertility treatments for years with no luck so far. One day a customer comes in. Evelyn is a socialite and she buys so many expensive dresses that Nora is thrilled with her commission. Nora and Evelyn hit it off but their relationship isn't really equal. Evelyn will ask Nora for help dressing for an occasion and then pay Nora for her trouble. Evelyn is impulsive and she is used to getting her way. After a few months of friendship, Evelyn offers to be a surrogate mother to Nora's last frozen embryo. How the relationship evolves during the pregnancy is the bulk of the story. Not all families are formed in the same manner and it was interesting to read about surrogate mothers.

Botany At Minnesota Point

Today the native plant group gathered at Minnesota Point. We parked at the airport and walked to the shore of Lake Superior to talk about the plants and how the sand is swept here from the North Shore and the South Shore. We looked at the dune grass and the poison ivy. There is an abundance of poison ivy. Walking east we took a path through the dune grass. One section of dune grass was taller and denser that the first section. The second section was a restoration effort done more than twenty years ago when they incorporated dune grass seeds from a location in Michigan. Turns out the Michigan dune grass does very well here at park point but it is genetically different from the native species. Perhaps they made a mistake but based on the information they had at the time they did what they thought was best. Invasive baby's breath is moving in here. We saw many mounds of baby's breath. People at the Park Point Community Center are planning to dig it out. The area at the water's edge is not stable. Water, wind, and ice change the shapes of the dunes. Even sand dunes under the water are being reshaped every day. When the dune grass comes in it slows down the transfer of sand and makes the area slightly more stable. As we walked farther east juniper bushes mingled in the beach grass which makes the area more stable. Finally we hiked along into the red and white pine forest which makes up the  Minnesota Point Scientific and Natural Area. These trees are estimated to be between 120 and 200 years old.  Research with core sample and stump samples show that this area was intentionally burned about every ten years ending in 1854. There is talk of burning this forest again. There is a danger in burning poison ivy but I guess there are ways around the hazard of breathing poison ivy oils into your lungs. For two and a half hours we walked on Minnesota point talking about trees and plants and shrubs.

 

Gnome Moon

This morning I walked to the mailbox to mail a a birthday card to a nephew. On my street are ginormous maple trees that are crowded between the street and the sidewalk. The maple roots turn the concrete sidewalk sections in all directions making it very difficult to walk and impossible for strollers or wheelchairs. Somebody got creative and painted a gnome showing a half moon and I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. This gnome wasn't here the last time I walked to the mailbox.

 

Nightcrawling

 Leila Mottley is the author of Nightcrawling. This was a difficult novel to read. Set in Oakland the story is about a young high school drop out named Kiara. Kiara's father left years ago. Kiara's mother is in prison. Kiara's brother, Marcus, is older by five years but he quit his job years ago and is trying to make it as a rapper. Rent in their apartment is going up and Kiara is trying to earn money. People are not interested in hiring 17 year old Kiara with no work experience. Kiara is also caring for a neighbor boy whose mother has abandoned him. Kiara is an at-risk youth. One night she has a drunken interaction with a stranger that leads her into a job she never wanted. Eventually she becomes a witness is a scandal with the Oakland Police Department. At the end of the book, in the author notes, the author states she wrote the book based on an actual court case with the Oakland Police department taking advantage of the youth in their city. Kiara has a heart of gold and I enjoyed reading about  her. 

The Thread Collectors

The Thread Collectors is a historical fiction novel in 1863. The author is two people including Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richards. The story is about the Civil War. One woman, Stella, is a slave living near New Orleans. Her owner is a Confederate and when relaxed will tell Stella about where the Confederate troops are and what their plans are. When young black men want to leave and join the Union army, Stella will sew maps of safe passage for them to take along. As far as Stella knows her maps are working. In New York City a Jewish family is supportive of ending slavery. Lily joins other women in printing anti-slavery materials and rolling bandages while her husband is a musician in the Union Army set in Louisiana. Lily's husband and Stella's husband, also a musician, serve together during the war. When Lily's husband goes missing, Lily heads south to find him. She has heard of Stella's husband through letters from her husband. Stella ends up sewing a map to his location on a scrap of fabric. This powerful story of women risking everything for love was partly influenced by the author's own family history.

An Elderly Ladt Must Not Be Crossed

 A couple years ago I read a book by Helen Thursten called An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good. Now I read the sequel called An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed. The main character, Maud, still lives in Stockholm. She is planning a return trip to South Africa. During her travels she thinks back to events in her life that she had to resolve. Maud never forgets a slight. She will get revenge eventually but she can also be loving, generous and kind. Crime novels are not my favorite but I do enjoy the writing of this author. The book ends with a recipe for cinnamon cookies.

 

Depot

Today I visited the Duluth depot. Here is a picture of the grand hall. Three stories down is the train museum and the place to buy tickets for the scenic railroad trip.

They had a military museum. This flag has 20 states. The 20th state, Mississippi, was added in 1817.

They also had a section on immigrants. I watched a film about the immigration from Europe that was very interesting.

 

It Can't Happen Here

 I am a big fan of Sinclair Lewis' writing. On my honeymoon we toured his former home in Sauk Center. This time I read, for the first time, a book entitled It Can't Happen Here. Lewis wrote a dystopian novel set in the 1930's where a fascist president wins the election over FDR. The new president's name is Buzz Windrip and he promises to give each and every citizen five thousand dollars per year. Of course only he and his cronies benefit. Ordinary citizens do not get any money. Those who protest are sent to concentration camps. All the states are abolished and the country is divided into regions. Windrip eliminates the influence of Congress. He builds a militia separate from the armed forces and police. He takes away the rights of minorities and women. Another character in the story is Doremus Jessup and his family including a wife, a son, two daughters and a dog. Doremus runs the local newspaper. He writes columns about the rise of fascism and the dangers of this new president. He, with other supporters, end up secretly printing honest news and spreading it around. Any newspapers who do not support the president are closed. Doremus eventually ends up imprisoned in a concentration camp. This was a crazy story to read because democracy is fragile. Some say Lewis based Windrip on Huey Long, a politician who used long armed political tactics. Huey Long was assonated a month before this book was published. Lewis was married to Dorothy Thompson who was a political  newspaper columnist who wrote about Adolf Hitler and that might have influenced his writing. After the book was published it was made into a play. Several times the author played the part of Doremus Jessup on stage. This book took me more than six hours to read and some parts I had to slog through. Although it wasn't easy reading, I am glad I took the time to appreciate his writing.

My First Mississippi Kite

I enjoy being around people who get excited by seeing wildlife. Here a naturalist at Hawk Ridge is showing us a hatch year female sharp shinned hawk. Her yellow eyes looked at the naturalist in outrage. Soon she was let go and she flew south and west. Eighty per cent of these hatch year sharp shinned hawks won't live a full year. These birds have long tails and short powerful wings so they can fly through forests looking for song birds to eat. Several merlins flew by. I learned that the way to tell an American kestrel apart from a merlin is that a merlin will fly by faster than you can say the word merlin.

One of the male naturalists sewed this barred owl on a hat. On his own hat he sewed a broad winged hawk, a kestrel and a goshawk. This man has a talent.

At about 3:15 in the afternoon we were releasing another sharp shinned hawk when the counters interrupted us to point out a Mississippi kite. This is my first Mississippi kite ever. The crowd cheered as the kite flew over our heads on it's way south. Today was a good day for birding despite the heat. Birds flew by in waves every few minutes.

 

Beautiful Ruins

 Jess Walter is the author of Beautiful Ruins, a historical fiction novel that spans 50 years. The story starts out in a small coastal town in Italy in 1962. A young actress, filming in Rome with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Cleopatra, is sent to this small town to rest. Fifty years later the hotel keeper in that small town comes to find her living in Idaho. Much of the story is set in Hollywood in the motion picture industry. The characters are well developed and the descriptions of the scenery were wonderful. My favorite character was Pasquale, the hotel keeper in Italy.

Ten Red Headed Woodpeckers

The weather was hot and sunny at Hawk Ridge today. I met people from North Dakota and New Hampshire and Vermont today. The wind was from the south which isn't the best for migrating. By the time I left in the afternoon it was 91 degrees and humid.

The number of raptors seen was low. Incredibly they saw 10 red headed woodpeckers flying south. One red headed woodpecker seen would be amazing. Ten is incredible considering how few oak forests are north of here. They saw 2127 cedar waxwings, 157 common nighthawks and 154 rose breasted grossbeaks. We saw a broad winged hawk, red tailed hawk, eagles, kestrel and a merlin go by. The day felt like summer but the birds are telling us that fall is on the way.T

 

Chorus Of Mushrooms

 Hiromi Goto is the author of Chorus of Mushrooms. How often have you read a book detailing the experience of immigrants from Japan to Canada? I think this might be the first book about that. I consider this to be historical fiction but it also has some magic in it too due to the recitation of Japanese folklore. One of those Japanese folk stories was the weirdest folk story I have ever read in my life. A lone Japanese elderly lady comes to see environmental damage to the land below hers on the mountain. She cleans up the environmental damage in the most bizarre way. The story involves a Japanese Grandmother who stays with her family in Canada. Grandmother speaks only Japanese. Her granddaughter, Murasaki, also known as Muriel, does not speak Japanese yet their relationship is very close. Is it mental telepathy or can they read each others thoughts? I don't know but they are close. Grandmother is helpful to Muriel when her mother goes into a deep depression after Grandmother departs the family home. Somehow Grandmother tells Muriel to make her mother Japanese food. Muriel does what she is told and the Japanese food cures her mother. Muriel's parents own a mushroom farm and that is how they pay the bills. I listened to this book via audiobook. Various actors played the parts. Some of what was spoken was in Japanese and that was interesting to listen to although the only word I recognized was "arigato" which means thanks. I enjoyed the story except for the parts about the cold winter weather south of Calgary.