Intermezzo

 Sally Rooney is the author of Intermezzo. Set in Dublin, Ireland, the story follows two brothers in the year after their father's death. Peter is 30 and he is ten years older than his brother, Ivan. Peter is a lawyer and a college professor. He has a long term relationship with Sylvia who is like a sister to Ivan. He also has a college aged girlfriend who is all about having a good time. Ivan finished college and is now working as an IT consultant while keeping up with his chess games. Ivan is a competitive chess player. He meets an older woman at a community arts building where he gave a chess playing clinic. Peter is vocally critical of Ivan's relationship. He does not see how his friendship with a younger woman is exactly the same thing. The relationship between Peter and Ivan is very complicated. They cannot speak of their grief over their father's death. This is an interesting book with an abundance of dialog.

 

 

Seed Collection Day

Usually a group volunteers to collect seeds once a month. There was an event in early September that I missed because I was animal sitting two hound dogs and an elderly cat. But I made it today. We had two men, four women, and four children under 7 years of age. My goal today was to collect hairy gramma  and thimbleweed. Hairy gramma doesn't look like much. The grass and the seeds are just a few inches off the ground. After 90 minutes of picking hairy gramma I wished I had picked a taller plant. The grass is indistinguishable from the other grasses. What makes it different is the seeds. The two seeds in this picture are a little to the left of center. The bottom one is half way up. The top one is above it. They both look tan in color.

The seeds look like eyebrows. Isn't that cool?

With just a half hour left in our three hour tour of duty I got distracted by this grove on red pines.

Here is a shot of the red pines looking straight up into the sky. We had great weather today. The sky was overcast and the temperature was in the 60's.

On my way back to the meeting place I found some ground cherry husks. The cherries were gone but the seeds were still inside the husks.

 

Seed Collecting Machine

Today I went to the Nature Conservancy site at Weaver Dunes which is 20 miles from my place. I saw this contraption on a trailer attached to a truck. The contraption has large orange bristles that rotate like a sidewalk sweeper. I asked a nearby man what it was. He said it is a seed collector for seeds like big blue stem. The seeds are collected into a container in the back.

The sticker reads "Be Careful. This machine has no brain. Use your own." Golly, such sarcastic signage wouldn't work for the general public but prairie owners must be different.

 

The Paris Daughter

The Paris Daughter is an historical fiction book written by Kristin Harmel with an ending I did not see coming. Knowing the ending now I see there were a couple of slight clues along the way. This is a World War II story in Paris. Julianne works at a book shop with her husband and four children. Elise has a daughter the same age as Julianne's daughter. She is married to a successful artist and is also an artist herself. Her husband downplays her artistic accomplishments. Ruth is a widow with two young children. When the Nazi's start deporting Jewish people to concentration camps (with the assistance of French police) Ruth leaves her children with strangers and hides in the south of France. Elise's husband is a strident member of the French resistance. When he is taken he does not incriminate any of his political allies but suggests Elise is a part of the resistance when she wasn't. Elise knows she needs to leave town so she asks Julianne to take her daughter until she can return. The American forces were not always accurate when bombing German machine repair shops in Paris so many people are killed. Who was killed and who was not killed did not come out of hiding until Juliette, Elise, and Ruth meet together in 1960 in New York City. After reading this story and about the war in Ukraine, I count my blessings to have lived a peaceful life.

 

 

Orhan's Inheritance

When one group of citizens deports another group of citizens, is it right that the remaining group of citizens takes over the property of the group that has left? In Orhan's Inheritance, Aline Ohanesian writes about the Armenian genocide that took place in Turkey after World War One. Lucine lives with her family. She has brothers and parents and grandparents. Their job is dying wool for prayer rugs in beautiful patterns. Lucine is Armenian. In Turkey the Armenians are slightly wealthier than the Turks. Also, they practice Christianity while the Turks are Muslim. Lucine and Kemal are young friends. When Lucine and her family are deported to Syria Kemal promises to remember her. Kemal's family takes over Lucine's family property. When Kemal dies he leaves the family business or Orhan and he leaves the family property to Seda. Orhan decides to go to Los Angeles and learn about Seda who is now 90 years old and living in an Armenian nursing home. What Orhan learns from the reticent Seda upturns all he knew about his heritage. This is a great novel about love, loss, and family secrets.

 

  

Doc

 Mary Doria Russell is the author of Doc. This is a story about the famous western gambler/dentist known as Doc Holiday. He is 24 years old and had to move to Dodge City because he had tuberculosis. The dryer air out west would help him live longer than if he stayed in Atlanta. Doc was a dentist and a good dentist too. He couldn't earn enough as a dentist to make ends meet so he became a Faro dealer too. He was friends with all the Earp brothers. When cattle came to Dodge City turmoil happened. Cowhands now had money to spend at the bars and the whore houses full of young Irish women.  Unlike all the other men in town Doc is cultured. He reads philosophy. He can play the piano. He can discuss art and authors. Because of his disease he is thin and he coughs frequently. Drinking whiskey calms the cough. The story of Doc Holiday and his friendship with Wyatt Earp is fascinating to read.

 

 

Word Mix Up

When I was a kid my Aunt Annie was my playmate. We were going to build a fort. We decided to use some fruit boxes that were piled next to my Grandpa's garage. The problem was that one of the boxes held a bee's nest. We were swarmed with bees. As I ran away from the bees I still carried the box in my hand resulting in many painful stings. Back at my own house my Mom and Grandma discussed what to do to relieve the pain. As a kid I sometimes got words mixed up. I started screaming that I didn't want vinegar on me.

This is what I thought vinegar was. Vinegar and manure are not the same thing at all. I know that now.

One day my family was having breakfast in the wood paneled dining room. I asked for more bacon. I was told there wasn't any bacon. I could see bacon on a plate at the other end of the table.

Bacon and toast are not the same thing. I know that all.

Moral of the story? Be careful when picking up fruit boxes that have been sitting outside.

 

Happy Fall

 

Ransomware

Today I attended a talk at the Winona Historical Building about ransomware. The talk was given by the Winona County Recorder. Ransomware is when another entity steals data and programs from a place and holds them for ransom. In January of this year, cyber criminals stole data from Winona County and held it for ransom. In this case it was $128,000.00. That is a boat load of money for a county that is barely making it and was looking to increase taxes by double digits. Insurance paid $50,000.00. The county recorder gave a good talk but could not give us all the details because there is still an open case with the FBI. The biggest suspect is Iran. This cyber attack held up data for property records, employee data, and payroll.  The attack on Winona County was the largest ransom ware attack in the state of Minnesota.  The second largest attack was on Washington County which makes sense because they have a lot more money. When asked why the attackers chose such a money poor county he mentioned an issue with Fastenal. Fastenal is a large employer here in Winona. They have a building on Second Street which is unique. This is a five story building. Corporate executives are on the first and second floor. Hourly workers are on the fourth and fifth floors which have beautiful views of the Mississippi River and the cliffs of Wisconsin. Fastenal appealed the tax rate on their building which is their right to do. The county searched throughout the state for a similar building and could not find anything equivalent. Next they searched the nation for a similar building. Fastenal threatened to go to court. County officials and Fastenal talked about it and decided to come to an agreement without going to court. All the searches for buildings equivalent to Fastenal might have triggered the ransomware. He told us to expect many more ransom ware attacks in the future. A near by town had a smaller ransom ware attack. The city council decided to pay the ransom minus ten per cent. As a result they lost all that money and all their data. Experts say it is best to pay the full amount. He couldn't tell us how the ransom was paid but I suspect bitcoin. The recorder had other things to say about the county. Birth rates are down. Death rates are up. They were told to expect more marriages during the pandemic. Instead the divorce rates skyrocketed. Although the talk was interesting and informative, I now have more things to worry about.

The Orphan's Tale

Pam Jennoff is the author of the historical fiction novel called The Orphan's Tale. The story is about the friendship of two women during World War Two in Germany. Noa was 16 when her parent's threw her out of the house for being pregnant. A Nazi officer had made false promises to her. She is taken to a Nazi home for pregnant women. Her child would be given to the Reich. Her son had dark hair and dark eyes. He was deemed unsuitable for the Reich. Noa was expelled from the home. She got a job at a train station. She slept in the attic above the train station. One day she heard noises from a train car. The train car was full of babies being sent to a prison camp. The babies were cold, dirty, and hungry. Noa decides to save one of the babies. She takes him with her through the woods in the winter. When she is overcome by the cold, a fellow named Peter finds her. Peter works as a clown at a circus that over winters near these woods. When Noa awakens she claims the baby is her brother and she ran away from an abusive father. She offers to cook and clean to support herself and the baby until she can recover. The circus owner says he doesn't need a cook nor a cleaner. He needs an aerialist. He needs a trapeze artist. Noa trains with the other trapeze artist, Astrid. Astrid came to the circus looking for help. She grew up at a nearby circus. She left the circus when she married a Nazi officer and moved to Berlin. Soon the Nazi's insisted that all officers must abandon their wives if the wives were Jewish. The friendship between Astrid and Noa provides the bulk of this lovely story. This book had a long epilogue (35 minutes long) which wrapped up all the loose ends neatly. 

 

 

The Book Of Unknown Americans

Christina Henriquez is the author of The Book Of Unknown Americans. The story takes place in a housing development in Delaware. Immigrants from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuala and Panama live there. Some come because a large mushroom farm that employs immigrants is nearby. One set of couples come from Mexico with their daughter Maribel. Maribel fell from a tall ladder while visiting her father at work one day and has a head injury. Her parents bring her to Delaware to offer the best of special education for head injuries. Mayor, a 17 year old boy who came from Panama with his parents and older brother, sees something in Mirabel that others don't notice. Their burgeoning love story is lovely. 

 

 

Remains Of The Day

Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of Remains Of The Day. This novel is historical fiction about a butler in an English estate during World War One. Stevens is the butler. He is the son of a butler. He was very professional. He had a lot of esteem for his employer at the estate. After his employer dies, an American takes over the estate. The American employer offers Stevens the chance for a holiday. He encourages Stevens to take his car and enjoy a road trip. While on his adventure Stevens travels the countryside and thinks about his former employer. With the advantage of hindsight his esteem for his former employer decreases. Along with that, his pride in his work as a butler also diminishes.  His desire to please his employer overrode his development of his own personality and beliefs.  Despite the entire book taking place in a butler's mind, this was a very interesting book.

 

  

Tell My Horse

 Nora Zeale Hurston is the author of the travelogue called Tell My House: Voodoo And Life In Haiti And Jamaica. This book details her travels in two countries. She explores the country side, the food, and the culture. She writes about the folk tales and the saying. She explores religious concepts in both countries. We learn about zombies, poison, and Voodoo ceremonies. I found the book to be interesting in that it is so different than other travel books I have read.

 

 

Free Things To Do

Minnesota Institute of Arts

Como Conservatory

This week I am pet sitting in Minneapolis. With time on my hands I looked for things to do besides walking around the neighborhood or visiting the library. There is so much available in this area. 

 

 

Orbital

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

 

 

The Favorites

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

 

 

Happy Labor Day

 

Blue Sisters

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

 

 

Skylark

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

 

  

Unfriendly Pollinators

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

 

  

Birds of The Southern Island Of New Zealand

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

 

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

  

Bee Season

Bee Season, written by Myla Goldberg, is a novel about the unraveling of a Jewish family. We learn about the family mostly through the eyes of Eliza, the youngest child. She has an older brother, Aaron, with whom she used to pal around with but doesn't anymore. Her father is a rabbi who used to spend time playing guitar with Aaron in his office in the evenings. Once Eliza wins the school spelling bee and the school district spelling bee, the father spends his evening helping her study spelling. Aaron feels left out and starts looking for spiritual fulfillment outside of the synagogue. Their mother, a lawyer, works long hours and is disengaged from the family. This is an interesting story about a couple of people who maybe should have gotten their heads on straight before having children.  

 

 

Hello Beautiful

Hello Beautiful is a highly acclaimed family novel published in 2023 by Ann Napolitano. The story starts out with William who grew up on the east coast. He was an only child and lonely. His parents gave him no attention. They didn't go to his school conferences. They didn't attend his basketball games. Once he left for college in Chicago that was the end of his relationship with them. In college he met a lively, assertive girl named Julia. Julia said she would attend his basketball game. She comes to the game bringing her three sisters, Sylvia, Emmeline, and Cecelia. The sisters are a tight family. William's life is forever changed. His life is not a straight trajectory. He has changes and adjustments but he is happy to be part of a family. 

 

 

Beautiful Boy

 David Sheff is the author of Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction. His son, Nic, became addicted to methamphetamine. Starting in high school he started to steal from his family to buy drugs. The author feels responsible for his son's mistakes. He goes to therapy. He goes to Al-Anon groups every week. When Nic is in rehab the author attends family therapy sessions. The author finds that his life and state of mind is taken over with worry for his son. He is told the three C's. He didn't cause this addiction problem. He can't control it. He can't cure it. The tale is heart breaking but worth reading. 

 

 

The Doll House

 The Barbizon is a famous building in New York that, starting in the 1920's, housed females. The building had a rooftop terrace. The basement had a swimming pool. Second floor held a cafeteria. Now it is mostly condos with a few apartments. Both men and women can reside there. This is where Fiona Davis decided to write her novel called The Doll House. The story starts out in 1952. Each floor has a different employer. One floor is for a secretarial school. One floor is for a modeling agency. One floor is for musicians. When Darby arrives from rural Ohio, she is assigned a room with the models even though she is headed for secretarial school. The models convince her to go to a theater show. They leave her with one of the young men that they know is a predatory jerkwad. She comes back upset with her clothes torn and her knees bloodied.  One of the maids in the Barbizon helps her out. Esme is Puerto Rican. Esme explains to Darby how the pecking order works in this complex. They become friends and confidants. Darby adjusts to life in New York City. She is not enjoying secretarial school. Secretarial school was her mother's idea. Esme talks her into attending a jazz club where she moonlights as a hat check girl. Esme even talks Darby to perform with her on stage as a back up singer. This is one story line in the book. The other story line is in modern times. A journalist, Rose, lives in the Barbizon with her fiancee. Rose hears stories about the old days in this historic hotel so she goes digging for information. This fascinating story is told, chapter by chapter, one timeline at a time.

 

 

All The Colors Of The Dark

Chris Witacker is the author of All The Colors In The Dark. This is a literary crime drama set mostly in a small town in Missouri. Patch and Saint are the main characters. Patch is a teen aged boy with only one eye. He is also an artist. Saint lives next door with her grandmother and raises bees. One weekend morning Patch saves a girl named Misty from being abducted by an older man. Misty is the teen aged daughter of the wealthiest family in town. What follows from that is a series of child abductions. Circumstances completely change the trajectories of Patch's and Saint's lives. The story starts in 1975 and spans decades. This book had 261 chapters. Some were very short. I thought the characters were well portrayed.

 

  

Regal Fritillary

 On Friday 7 of us gathered at the Weaver Dunes Nature Conservancy location to collect wild flower seeds. We had to drive to another spot. The four women rode in the conservancy's Ford F150. Dang, it is hard for me to get into the back seat of a Ford F150 but I managed. I collected thimble weed seeds in a milk jug attached to my carabiner. When we were coming close to the end of our 3 hour shift the seeds were close to the top of the milk jug. Every time I opened the jug to put more seeds in the prairie wind would take an equal amount out. I saw half a dozen regal fritillary butterflies. These orange and black butterflies are scarce and threatened but they are plentiful on this prairie.

 

 

The Twenty-Ninth Day

Alex Messenger is the author of The Twenty-Ninth Day. This is a coming of age story about a 17 year old young man. Alex is an adventurous who embarks on a canoe trip with 5 other young men through the Canadian wilderness. They take three canoes and three bear barrels of food. They paddle through rivers with harrowing rapids and large lakes. The scenery was gorgeous. Along they way they catch trout and grayling and fry them up for meals. Some of the meals sounded delicious. On the 29th day of their adventure, while alone exploring an ancient indigenous site, Alex is attacked by a grizzly. He has a severe puncture wound to his right groin. He has scratches on his back, his ear. Two of the tips of his toes are missing. Over the next six days his friends take care of him. They have a first aid kit with limited supplies. They have a satellite phone where they get medical advice. This book was riveting and exciting to read.

 

  

Paper Girl

Beth Macy is the author of Paper Girl: A Memoir Of Home And Family In A Fractured America. Beth grew up in Urbana, Ohio. She was the youngest of five children. Her father was an alcoholic. Her mother worked hard to support the family. Beth had a job delivering newspapers in the early morning. She did well in school. She got a degree in journalism with the help of a Pell grant. She married and had two kids and lived on the east coast. Starting in 2020 she returned to Urbana to help care for her ailing mother. She noticed the town had changed. The town no longer had a newspaper. The was no cohesiveness. Social supports were falling away. High school graduation rates had plummeted. More and more parents resorted to home schooling or religious charter schools. Some of the town members got deep into QAnon and conspiracy theories. Former friends couldn't talk to each other anymore because of the political divide. The author tells the story by interviewing a couple of high school students who are struggling with homelessness and family addictions. I thought it was a very interesting story.

 

  

My Lobotomy

My Lobotomy is a biography written by Howard Dully with the assistance of a journalist. Howard grew up in California. His mother died of cancer when he was six years old. For a time his father and brother lived with other family members. Later his father married a woman named Lou who also had a son. Howard was a normal boy. He was big for his age. For unknown reasons Lou took a deep dislike to him and everything he did. He was punished more strictly. He was denied things his brothers got. His father was working four jobs and was never home much. She kept taking Howard to psychiatrists and they kept telling her nothing was wrong. Then she found Dr. Walter Freeman. Dr. Freeman thought he was being helpful but he wasn't. After four electro shock treatments Dr. Freeman lobotimized Howard. He inserted ice picks into his eyes until they were two and a half inches into his brain and then he twirled them. Lou thought he would be a vegetable but he wasn't. He recovered. Lou said if Howard's father didn't get rid of him she would get a divorce. Howard's father had him enter an institution for handicapped children. Howard's grandmother wanted to adopt him but his father wouldn't allow it. By the time he turned twenty and was released from the institution he had no diploma, no job skills, and didn't know how to write a check. He was homeless for a time. Then he started stealing from pawn shops by writing bad checks. He spent his twenties in and out of jail. He spent his 30's as an alcoholic. When he was forty he met Barbara and started to put his life together. When Howard turned 50 a pair of journalists were planning to do a radio show on NPR about Dr. Freeman. Howard helped with the interviews. He got to read the deceased doctor's notes about him and the other patients he lobotomized. He was eventually thrown out of all hospitals and the medical profession. This was a very interesting book to read.

 

 

My Year Of Rest And Relaxation

Ottessa Moshfegh is the author of the 2018 novel called My Year Of Rest And Relaxation. This is a darkly comedic novel about a young, beautiful, wealthy college graduate who wants to take time off work to rest. She can use her trust funds to pay her expenses. Both of her parents have recently passed away. She lives in Manhattan in a building with a doorman. She quits her job at an art gallery. She finds a psychiatrist with unusual methods. This psychiatrist throws drugs at her willy nilly. She gets ambien, vicodin, Xanas, Risperidol, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, and sleeping pills. One of them has a side effect where she leaves the building and goes shopping so she is careful about that one. The only glitch is that her college friend, Reva, keeps coming to visit. Reva is jealous of her wealth and beauty. Her visits are sometimes pleasant and other times annoying. I think it's crazy that a young woman in the prime of her life wants to sleep her life away to reset her life. One summer day Reva calls again and her call is not answered. Soon after that 9/11 happens. Reva is at work at the World Trade Centers and she looses her life.

 

  

The Sparrow

The Sparrow is a novel published in 2019 by Mary Doria Russell. This is a long (8 hours to read) book set partly in Puerto Rico, Italy, and another planet in the solar system. The main character is a Puerto Rican Jesuit priest named Emilio. He is living in Puerto Rico supporting a church and the impoverished children around the church. He invited his friends to join him. Anne and George are married. She is a physician. He is an engineer. Another friend, Jimmy, lives in the area. Jimmy is an astronomer. One night Jimmy hears signals from another planet. Research starts. These four people plus another female scientists and three Jesuit priests embark on an adventure to that distant planet. Despite the fact that there are so many Jesuit priests in the novel I wouldn't call it a religious novel. Spiritual yes but not religious. This was a very interesting novel to read.

 

 

Time Of The Lotus Bloom

Now is the season for the blooming of American lotus. The flowers near shore stand higher above the water line than the flowers in deeper water. Lake Winona has 4 patches of lotus blossoms now. This is the largest aquatic wildflower in the state. I have seen them before when paddling the Mississippi in Cottage Grove near Lion's Park. Water lily leaves have a notch while lotus do not have a notch. If you splash water on the leaves the water beads up and rolls off like a windshield that has been Rain X'd. The waterproof leaves inspired scientists to develop Gore Tex. I think lotus are beautiful.

 

One More Thing

B.J. Novak is the author of One More Thing: Stories And Other Stories. If you ever watched the television comedy series The Office, you probably know who B.J. Novak is. He also does stand up comedy. This book is a series of short stories. Some are a paragraph long. Others are 50 pages long. After finishing the book I highly suspect that if the author wasn't a television star I doubt this book would have been worth publishing. 

 

 

 

 

All In Her Head

I recently finished a medical history book by Dr. Elizabeth Comen called All In Her Head: The Truth And Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies And Why It Matters Today. From the beginning of medical history in ancient Greece and Rome, this physician details how women has been discounted by physicians over the years. Some people think women have flawed versions of the ideal male body. This thinking is pervasive throughout society. She explores eleven organ systems and lays out the details which can be enraging at times. After finishing it I feel informed and angry.

 

 

Songs Of Willow Frost

Jamie Ford is the author of Songs Of Willow Frost. Years ago I read his other book called Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet and absolutely loved it. I loved this book too. The story is about William Eng who is living in an orphanage in Seattle, Washington during the depression. When he was a young boy his mother's  limp body was carried out of their apartment. He was told she was gone forever. Once a year all the boys in the orphanage celebrate their birthday. He and the other boys are taken downtown to see a movie. He sees an actress called Willow Frost and he is sure she is his mother. With a friend he runs away from the orphanage to find her. His mother has a complicated history that the film industry does not want known. 

 

 

Homeschooled

Stefan Merrill Block is the author of Homeschooled: A Memoir. Stefan is the younger son in a family with two boys. His Dad worked as a counselor in a mental health clinic. His mother was a stay at home Mom although later she tutored other kids in math. Stefan's Mom encouraged him to be homeschooled. She didn't want him to grow up. She said she didn't want him to be damaged by the school environment. He reluctantly went along with it. They were living in Texas. Together they spent time swimming in the pool in the backyard or shopping at a mall. After five years of this he pushed to go back to school for high school. The adjustment was hard. He didn't know how to take tests. He didn't give up. He asked teachers for help. Eventually he caught up and did well in school. The author writes about his mother's manipulation of him honestly but he presents her with respect and affection.

 

 

 

 

August(us)

 Augustus was a chubby lad;
Fat ruddy checks Augustus had;
And every body saw with joy
The plump and hearty healthy boy.
He ate and drank as he was told,
And never let his soup get cold.
But one day, one cold winter’s day,
He scream’d out — “Take the soup away!
O take the nasty soup away!
I won’t have any soup to-day!”

 

Next day, now look, the picture shows
How lank and lean Augustus grows!
Yet, though he feels so weak and ill,
The naughty fellow cries out still —
“Not any soup for me, I say:
O take the nasty soup away!
I won’t have any soup to-day.”

 

 The third day comes; Oh what a sin!
To make himself so pale and thin.
Yet, when the soup is put on table,
He screams, as loud as he is able, —
“Not any soup for me, I say:
O take the nasty soup away!
I won’t have any soup to-day.”

 

Look at him, now the fourth day’s come!
He scarcely weighs a sugar-plum;
He’s like a little bit of thread,
And on the fifth day, he was — dead!

 

When I was in elementary school I was assigned to memorize a poem. I chose this poem out of a book of poems that my parents owned. They had a set of ten children books. The poem was written by Heinrich Hoffman 

Some Bright Nowhere

 Ann Packer is the author of the family fiction novel called Some Bright Nowhere. This is a story about a couple named Claire and Elliot. They lived in Connecticut and raised two children. Now Claire is riddled with cancer and Elliot is her loving caregiver. As she enters the last months of her life, she has a request that breaks Elliot's heart. After forty years of marriage, how can Claire ask such a thing is she really loves her husband? Are her friends really her friends or just major interferers in an otherwise happy marriage? The story is told mostly by Elliot who is the only likeable person in the book.

 

 

The Paris Novel

Ruth Reichl is the author of The Paris Novel. The main character in this historical fiction novel is Stella. Stella lives in New York City during the 1980's. She grew up without a father. Her mother was generally absent during her life. Her mother cared more for herself and her reputation than she did about Stella. Stella got a job in a publishing house as an editor. When her mother dies Stella inherits an envelope with some money, a plane ticket, and a note that tells her to go to Paris. Stella goes to Paris. She lives there with her old habits of living frugally and thoughtfully. She walks into a thrift shop. The owner of the thrift shop insists she buy a beautiful dress. Stella decides to make an impulsive decision which ultimately changes her life. Now Stella takes chances. She indulges in delicious meals. She meets people who knew her mother and her mother's ways. She finds her purpose in Paris. I enjoyed reading her descriptions of various Paris neighborhoods and museums since I went to Paris this year. I also enjoyed the meals and wine Stella enjoyed once her life opened up to appreciating food and wine.

 

 

The Wish

I listened to the audiobook called The Wish which was written by Heather Morris. The story is about a 15 year old girl names Jessie who has terminal cancer. She has a dying wish. She was always a big video gamer. She wants a video game that features her favorite spots, her family, and herself so that her friends and family can interact with her virtually once she is gone. The Make A Wish foundation contacts a gaming company. The best virtual reality game inventor is 29 year old Alex. Alex is an introvert and a little damaged. He grew up in the foster care system. He is lonely. Alex and Jessie don't hit it off right away. What Jessie wants is very ambitious and Alex isn't sure he can deliver. This nice story is all about relationships and emotions.

 

 

June Grass

I know it's July but today I picked seeds of June grass at the Nature Conservancy site of Weaver Dunes. I picked two half gallon empty milk jugs of June grass.

I was so glad the sky was overcast because we were very warm. By the time we finished at 1 p.m. the temperature was 85 degrees. We had a nice breeze. An Eastern towhee sang for us while we worked.

Our group included a dozen people. Some from Winona, some from Rochester, and some from Minneapolis. This is blazing star. We could have picked hoary puccoon seeds but those are hard to find without the flowers.

We found white and purple prairie clover.

These are partridge peas. I had a good day out on the prairie today!