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!

 

All In Her Head

I read a book written by Elizabeth Comen. She works as a breast oncologist. Her book is called All In Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies And Why It Matters Today. This is a book that every woman should read although it will make you angry and frustrated. The author will go through eleven body systems and explain how women have been examined, judged, ignored, shamed, and gas lit. Women continue to be mistreated until this day. The mistreatment of women is woven into our culture and even enlightened female doctors will engage in the practice. In between the history of medicine the author includes snippets of experiences with her own patients which I found very interesting. 

 

 

The Jackal's Mistress

Chris Bohjalian is the author of the historical fiction novel called The Jackal's Mistress. During the civil war a commander of the Union Army was badly injured in a battle in Virginia. He had one leg amputated and lost three fingers. He was still alive but very weak when the Army had to pull out. Knowing he would die if moved, they left him in a bedroom on the second floor of a house. They left him with a flask of water, some pain pills, and some hardtack. After a week or so all of his provisions were gone. He yelled for help through the open window. A black woman heard him. She went home and told her husband and their employer, a young woman named Libby, about it. They decided to bring him to their house and nurse him back to health. There was one other person in the house. She was the niece of the young woman. Once the commander got well enough to speak the niece would talk to him. She, being a southener and having lost her father to the northern troops, did not like the commander so she called him a jackal. The commander taught college in Vermont so he was an interesting person to talk to. His presence put the entire family at risk. Libby's reasoning was that if her husband was in the same situation in the north, she would want the northern family to save him. The civil war was a violent time but not everyone involved took violent actions. 

 

 

All The Broken Places

All The Broken Places is a fiction novel written by John Boyne. The story starts out in London. In a second floor apartment lives a 91 year old woman named Gretel. She lives in a luxury apartment. She is friends with the woman across the hall. When the downstairs apartment gets new tenants Gretel is anxious about compatibility. A young woman with her 8 year old son, Henry, moves in. Later her arrogant film director husband moves in too. Gretel does not get along with the husband downstairs because he is abusive. He searches into Gretel's past. He finds out about her father who was a Nazi commander during world war two. The book is actually a sequel to The Boy In Striped Pajamas. Gretel was the boy in striped pajamas older sister. The abusive man downstairs threatens to expose Gretel's past if she exposes his domestic violence. This very entertaining book explores the complex personality of Gretel and the long lasting effects of culpability. 

 

 

May We Be Forgiven

This sad and comical novel takes place in one year. Beginning on Thanksgiving and ending on Thanksgiving, May We Be Forgiven is a tale about a family implosion. The author is A.M. Homes. The story is about two brothers and their families. George is the older, more charismatic, more successful brother with a forceful temper. Harry is younger. He teaches college and is writing a book about Richard Milhouse Nixon. He is a big Nixon fan. On Thanksgiving George murders his wife. This leaves Harry with the job of raising two teenagers, taking care of a dog and a cat, and living in George's home. Harry also has to take care of George's legal defense, his psychiatric treatment, and the care of their parents. By the next Thanksgiving, after many trials and tribulations, small mistakes and big mistakes, the family joins together again on Thanksgiving. They reunite as a family of choice instead of a family of blood. They are scarred, healed, and healthier now. I loved the story. My only complaint was the number of paragraphs describing sexual relations. What I mean to say there was too much sex.

 

  

What Happened To Security Questions

Last week my laptop fizzled out. I could not turn it on. So I bought another laptop. To sign in to my email I needed the password. I could not remember the password. I had it sent to my other email. I couldn't remember that password either. I tried and tried. I ended up contacting Yahoo mail. I answered all their questions. I sent a picture of the front and back of my driving license. I still could not get in. The woman suggested I wait 24 hours and try again. I tried again tonight and I got into both my emails. What happened to the security questions I answered? What street did you grow up on? What was the name of your first pet. In which hospital were you born? Why did we decide not to use security questions anymore. Anyway, I think I solved my problem. I forwarded one of my email passwords to my phone email so I should be good from here on out. What a hassle! 

Mansion Beach

Mansion Beach is a fiction novel set in current times on Block Island, Rhode Island. A young woman from Minnesota, her name is Nicola, goes there to work at a seal sanctuary. Her cousin from Minnesota, more like a brother than a cousin, David, lives during the summer on Block Island. His wife, Taylor, is wealthy. Taylor's family has a small cottage that they are letting Nicola stay at no charge. Nicola doesn't have much and gets around the island on her bicycle. Next door to Nicola's cabin lives Julianne George. She is a wealthy owner of a high tech fashion start-up. Her goal, in moving to Block Island, is a nefarious one. Nicola and Julianne become close friends. The book is basically about friendship; friendship between cousins and neighbors. 

 

 

Moths

 Today I attended a lecture about moths in Minnesota. Moths outnumber butterflies by a margin of 10 to 1 but butterflies get most of the attention. Most, but not all, moths fly only at night. Light can affect their travels. Like a moth to a flame, moths are attracted to out door lights that look yellow or orange. They are not attracted to the white light of a LED bulb. Male moths have fanned out antennae that are larger than the female antennae. That is because the males can smell or sense a female moth from seven miles away. The female moth's antennae are smaller and not fanned out. Females don't go looking for males. Instead, they just wait for the males to arrive. Female moths can carry one hundred eggs. When  laying eggs the female will lay all her eggs in one spot. After hatching from an egg, they will eat and grow. Moths will shed their exoskeleton 6 or 7 times until they are ready to form a cocoon. They eat so much as caterpillars that once they shed their cocoon they don't eat anymore. Moths don't have mouth parts. Moths live as moths for about a week. They live as caterpillars for two and a half months. Here in Winona County, in an effort to eradicate the spongy moth infestation, planes have been spraying pheromones that disrupt the males from finding the females. This pheromone affects all moths and butterflies and not just the spongy moth. So is it a good idea to spray the confusing pheromone? If we let spongy moths proliferate and there are no leaves on trees for the native moths to eat, well, that wouldn't be good either. Our speaker is an amateur entomologist and nature photographer. He spoke about three species of moths. One is the green luna moth which is my favorite because it is so pretty and green. I once saw one in the hull of a boat in the morning. The aluminum boat was pulled up on the shore of Rush Lake near New York Mills. Another moth he talked about is the crecopia moth which is beautiful with red spots. This last May I spotted a crecopia moth cocoon on a branch at the arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus in Saint Peter. The last moth he talked about is the polyphemus moth which is yellow in color. In closing he advised us not to rake up all our leaves in the fall. The crecopia moth will attach it's cocoon to a branch. The luna moth and the polyphemus moths attach their cocoons to leaves. If you rake and bag all your leaves you are harming the moth population. Now I feel bad about all those leaves I mulched with my mower and set in my compost piles.

 

 

Son Of Nobody

 Yann Martel is the author of  The Life of Pi which is a book I really loved. This time I borrowed an audio book called Son Of Nobody. I was disappointed. I couldn't even finish it. The story is about the Trojan War. One side of the story is told by a goat herder's son at the time of the war. The other is told by a scholar in current times as he reads manuscripts about the war. After listening to stories from The Iliad and The Odyssey for 5 hours, listening to people getting killed with swards and javelins, I just couldn't take it anymore.

 

 

The Patience Stone

Never in my life have I read a book like The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi (translated into English by Polly McLean. The story takes place during a week in Afghanistan. A woman is in her quarters with her husband who is in a coma and has a bullet in his brain.  He is part of the Taliban. She has sent her two daughters to her aunt's house in a safer part of the city. Every night there are gun shots and tanks traveling by. The woman takes care of her husband. She puts eye drops in his eyes so they don't dry out. She mixes a concoction of sugar, salt, and water and feeds her husband through a tube going down his nose. She washes his body and keeps him clean. She goes out only just before curfew to see her daughters. During this week she is finally able to talk freely to her husband. He cannot respond to her thoughts. Her husband, when he was around, mistreated her. During their ten years of marriage they have only been together for three. He was away at war for the other seven years. This is a short but extremely powerful book.

 

 

Happy 4th of July

I remember the 4th of July in 1976. I was living in Saint Cloud, going to school, and working at the Saint Cloud Manor home. The home was located just a short walk through the woods to the prison. This prison had high thick walls and is the largest wall after the great wall of China. One of my patients in this home was 104 years old. As I took care of her I asked if she remembered the Centennial in 1876. She nodded that she did remember it but she was unable to say much more about it. She was a nice lady and I was happy to work with her. Later that night the fireworks were set off. One lady with a German accent cried out from  her bed saying, "The bombs! The bombs!" I tried to comfort her. I tried to explain fireworks but she wasn't having any of it. She was so scared. The 4th of July isn't to everyone's taste.

 

  

Patient, Female

A few years ago I read a book by Julie Schumacher called Dear Committee Members. I thought the book was creative and hilarious while poking fun at college academics. This time I read Patient, Female. This book was good too. I like that it was published by Milkweed Press. The author is employed at the University of Minnesota in the creative writing department. She lives in Saint Paul. This book was a series of short stories about women. Some of the women were having good times and others were having bad times. The thirteen stories were very entertaining.

 

 

Wait For Me

 Amy Jo Burns is the author of Wait For Me, a fictional novel about the music scene in Nashville, Tennessee. The main character is Elle Harlow. Elle grew up in Appalachia. Her family was poor. Her brother died young because they could not afford a doctor. Her father went off to serve in Vietnam and Elle kept life together for herself and her mother. She was mentored by Merry, a silent local woman who healed other people with herbs. Elle was gifted a mandolin by Merry. Elle wrote songs from the area. She went to Nashville she gets an audition with a music producer. Arlo Watson is the music producer. He is the type of guy who is after money more than helping people or recognizing true talent. Elle spends a year or two in Nashville before disappearing for a decade. Arlo thinks he can decide what is in the future for Elle. Elle proves him wrong. The author modeled Arlo and his agency after the RCA studio in Nashville. The book contains many of the lyrics and chords. I enjoyed reading about Elle. The author has a writing style where conversations don't go the way they normally do in real life. One character might say something or ask a question and the response from the other person is usually proclaiming something significant about the personality of the first speaker. Once in awhile this would be okay but it was so used so frequently it got annoying. 

 

 

Silver Sparrow

 The first sentence in the historical fiction book called The Silver Sparrow reads as follows, "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist." The author is Tayari Jones and the story is set in middle class Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980's. The story is told at first by his daughter, Dana. Dana knows her father is a bigamist. She knows about his legal family. The second half of the story is told by Chaurise. Chaurise doesn't know about Dana. The father goes to great lengths to keep his second family a secret. If Chaurise and Dana want to participate in a summer science camp, Dana must drop out and Chaurise gets to go. If both daughters want to work at a local amusement park and in totally different sections of the park, Dana must withdraw her application. Why Dana's mother agreed to this situation is never explained and I can't imagine why someone would go along with James' bigamy. Of course there is a dramatic scene when the truth finally comes out. In my opinion, the bigamist doesn't suffer as much as he should have.

 

 

Benediction

 Kent Haruf is the author of the fiction book called Benediction. This is the third book he has written about the town in Colorado called Holt. I know I have read one of his other books about Holt but it was so long ago I can't remember anything about it. In this story the owner of the hardware store in town is dying from cancer. His wife and daughter are taking care of him with the help of a hospice nurse. The dying man is no longer on speaking terms with his son, Frank. Frank left town when he graduated from high school and has never returned. A friendly grandmother lives next door to the dying man. She is raising her granddaughter after her mother died. People in this town help each other with meals and friendly chats. This is a lovely story about families and friends.

 

 

The Patriots

 The Patriots is a l o n g book written by Sana Krasikov. This historical fiction novel is a tale about a mother and a son. Florence grew up in New York City. She attends Brooklyn College during the great depression. Capitalism doesn't seem to be working and, to Florence, socialism seems like a better idea. She lands a plum assignment in Moscow translating American press stories into Russian. Later we learn about her son, Julian, and her grandson, Lenny. Lenny is named after Florence's husband who was killed in prison. Ironically Lenny is now living in Moscow and has no plans to return to New York. The story is bleak and long. Florence is idealistic to the end. Because of his upbringing Julian is not idealistic. He was brought up in an orphanage during the seven years his mother was imprisoned after the death of his father. Still, I am glad I spend 9.5 hours reading this book.

 

 

Circus

The other day I went to the Learning Club at the city historical building. The topic was a circus that started in Wisconsin. At one point the state of Wisconsin had over 100 active circuses. The lady who did the research on the Orton circus decided to do so because of a trip she took to Durand, Wisconsin. Inside the Corral Bar And Riverside Grill is a private event room called the Orton room. Inside the Orton room is a lithograph advertising a circus performance. The advertising is 9 feet tall and 55 feet wide. She told us all about the Orton family circus. The circus consisted of a professional clown, a ring-leader, the Orton parents and their seven children. Over the years changes were made. Circuses were combined. Entertainers came and went. She told a very interesting story.

 

 

The Girl With The Louding Voice

 Abi Dare is the author of The Girl With The Louding Voice. Set in Nigeria, the story is about Adunni, a 14 year old girl who grew up in poverty. Her mother made a promise that Adunni would go to school. Her mother died when she was 13. Her father sold her to an older man who already had two wives. Her worth? Four goats, some chickens, two bags of rice and a television set. Adunni has had a tough life but her struggle to get an education continues. She knows English but is not fluent. I listened to an audio book of this story and I recommend it because I think it would be easier to hear it than read it. For example, Adunni uses off and on as verbs. Instead of saying, "He turned on the light," or "She flipped off the light," Adunni says, "He oned the light," or "She offed the light." This story, set in a third world country, reminded me of a female version of Le Miserabe. Great story.

 

 

Happy Longest Day of Sunlight Of The Year

 

Steamboat Days

Today is the end of a five day celebration here in Winona called steamboat days. There was a carnival a few blocks away on 2nd Street. Here on 3rd Street was a classic car show. Musicians performed at Levee Park. Food trucks were available. Princesses were elected.

This afternoon a parade was held on Broadway. I brought a chair and watched the performance. Here are the Clydesdale horses. My favorite are the marching bands. I saw high school bands from all over SE Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Richfield and Montevideo high school bands came too. Parades get a little crazy. Tiny children run into the street for tootsie rolls and starbursts while giant machines with big wheels go by. There was a pumpkin thrower from a rural Wisconsin town. Instead of pumpkins they loaded the explosive device with 2 inch plastic balls. The kids enjoyed catching the balls. Another refuse hauler had a t-shirt bazooka that threw blue company logo t-shirts into the crowd. I don't know why some of these events are so popular.

 

Whistler

 Whistler is Ann Patchett's newest novel. The story is about Daphne. Daphne and her husband are visiting the Museum Of Modern Art in New York City. An older, white haired man seems to be following them. The man turns out to be Daphne's stepfather who was married to her mother for a year when Daphne was nine years old. Daphne and her stepfather were involved in a car accident one winter night when she was nine. After the accident Daphne's mother divorced her step-father and she never saw him again. Daphne and her step-father were quite close. Her mother never explained why she divorced him. Once they met again at the art museum, nothing could keep them apart. Sometimes family fiction is the best.

 

 

Bad Move

Linwood Barclay is the author of Bad Move. This mystery/comedy fiction novel is about a guy name Zach Walker. Zach is very concerned about safety. Prior to his wife and two teenaged children moving to the suburbs, they lived in the city. Lately their neighborhood had taken a turn for the worse with drug users and prostitutes frequenting the area. He decided to move to a new subdivision in the suburbs. His wife worked for a local newspaper. He worked from home. The two kids attended high school. Zach has a problem with his wife leaving her keys in the vehicle or hanging from the front door lock. Zach has a problem with his two kids leaving their backpacks at the top of the stairs which is a serious tripping hazard. Zach is a nagger about safety. Sometimes he makes bad moves. When he found his wife's keys in the car he decided to move the car around the corner and out of sight leading her to believe the car was stolen. She did not appreciate his safety lesson. Zach makes a series of bad moves like this when an actual crime occurs in his neighborhood. Two people are murdered and thanks to his bad moves he is implicated in one of the murders. This is a somewhat humorous story about a paranoid freak of an anxious and unlikable character. 

 

 

The Lost Story Of Eva Fuentes

I read a book set in Cuba. The Lost Story Of Eva Fuentes was written by Chanel Cleeton. The story is told by three women in three timelines. Eva's story is told in 1900 before Castro came to power. With other Cuban teachers, they traveled to Massachusetts to study at Harvard for the summer. She writes a book while she is there. Pilar's story is told in Havana in 1966. Pilar is a librarian trying to save books from being destroyed by the government. Any books critical of the government are banned. People who leave Cuba are not allowed to take their belongings with them. Pilar hides books for families and arranges for them to get their books back in the United States. Margo's story is that she is working for people who have lost art or rare books. Her job is to track down their belongings. Her job in searching for Eva's book puts her in danger. The writing was beautiful and the history was richly detailed.

 

 

Weaver Dunes

Today I volunteered to collect seeds at Weaver Dunes Scientific and Nature Area which is run by the Nature Conservancy. The location is near the town of Kellogg. I was the first  person to arrive. On the driveway I spotted this mature Blandings turtle. I stopped the car and approached the turtle. I waited a few minutes. I talked to it. I explained the danger of waiting in the road. I touched it with my foot. The turtle wouldn't move. Another car approached. A man got out. Together we went to see the turtle which had decided at that point to move off the road. We followed the trail of it's tail and found it waiting in the tall grass on the way to a pond. The female Blandings turtle are sexually mature at age 14 so seeing one this size was very satisfying. This is turtle nesting time.

This is a hairy puccoon.

Our goal was to collect porcupine grass. I put a bungee cord around some belt loops and ran the handle of a milk jug through the cord. I think I gather a little more than half a cup of seed. Porcupine grass has sharp seeds. Seriously sharp seeds. You could remove a splinter from your skin with one of these seeds. One seed even punctured the plastic of the milk jug. The seed tips are heavy and have a long attachment called an awn. We removed the awns so the seeds wouldn't get all twisted together.

The prairie was very pretty. I have never seen so much healthy and lush poison ivy in my life. I washed my clothes and took a shower when I got home. This delicate beauty was all over the hills. This is called a larkspur which is in the delphinium family.

Besides our leader from the Nature Conservancy, four other men made up our group.

This is called goat's rue.

Our leader said they found a new species of milkweed on an east facing hill. She spent an hour looking for it. Last week it was knee high and had a flower bud on it. She found it but most of the plant had been eaten. This is a clasping milkweed. The leaves attach to the stem in a different way that other milkweed.

I always thought of this as goat's beard but the actual name is salsafy. Salsafy sounds much like satisfy. Salsafy is how you feel after you eat a tasty taco.

Our three hours were almost up when we found this fawn lying next to the roadway. I thought one older man in our group would really enjoy seeing this fawn since he seemed to love nature so much. I point out the fawn and wait for his reaction. He pretends to shoot it with a gun. You can never tell with some people.

 

Martha's Vineyard Beach And Book Club

 If you like historical fiction I think you would like Martha's Vineyard Beach And Book Club written by Martha Hall Kelly. The author has family ties to Martha's Vineyard as her grandparents had a grocery store on the island. The story is about two sisters who lived on the island year round. They weren't as wealthy as the summer visitors. They lived with their grandmother on a farm near the end and high point of the island. Their brother also lived with them. Before he went off to fight in Normandy in World War Two their brother planted a crop of potatoes that should ripen before other potatoes guaranteeing them a high price at harvest time. One of the sisters, Briar, was unconventional. She wore men's clothing. She spotted German submarines offshore and reported their presence so often no one believed her. The other sister, Cadence, loved to read. With a group of friends they started a book club on the beach. A mysterious man washes ashore and is taken in by Cadence, Briar and the grandmother. A enemy spy is on the island but Cadence and Briar have a hard time figuring out who it is. The title of the book and the picture on the cover would lead you to believe that this is a romance book but that is false. This is historical fiction at it's finest.

 

 

Taft

Ann Patchett is the author of Taft, a fiction novel set in Memphis, Tennessee. John manages a bar in Memphis. Before that he was a drummer in a jazz band. He chose to take a steady job in an effort to convince his girlfriend that he can be a responsible parent and should be able to see his son more often. One of John's new employees is a young girl named Fay Taft. Fay and her brother Carl become regulars in John's life. John tries to figure out what kind of life Fay and Carl's father provided for them. His obsession with the Taft father takes over his own life and concerns. Like other Patchett novels, the story is about a regular person living a regular life.

 

 

Prudence

 David Treuer wrote the historical fiction novel called Prudence. Set in northern Minnesota in the early 1940's, some guys come back from college to the family resort before heading off to World War II. Across the river is a German POW camp. One of the prisoners escapes the camp and the young, macho college boys take off into the woods with rifles to find him. They don't find the prisoner but someone else gets shot. The violence of that day lasted for decades. This book is a poignant saga of a tale about race, relationships, and forgiveness.

 

 

Talk Before Sleep

Elizabeth Berg is the author of the novel called Talk Before Sleep. This novel isn't for everyone but I liked it. The story is about a pair of women friends. One of the friends is married with a young child. The other in divorced and living with terminal cancer. The book is sad, of course, given the plot but also humorous.  This is a great story to take your mind off your troubles.  

 

 

A Rare Event

Offspring #2 and I like to play scrabble. I lose 96% of the games but this time I won by a mere 4 points. Even though they got a bingo (ringtones/shrimgtones) I won anyway. They get a bingo nearly every game. I have never gotten a bingo yet although I have come close. Anyway, it feels good to win.

 

The Moonlight Runner

 I learned a lot of facts about the relationship between Ireland and England by reading The Moonlight Runner written by Karen Robards. This historical fiction novel starts out in Ireland in 1918. The Great War and the Spanish flu have taken a toll on Ireland. Rynn Carmichael is a nurse working with wounded veterans at a country estate in Ireland. Some locals are fighting British rule. The Brits aren't having any of it. Every time the Irish try to enforce their right to be a separate country the British react with punitive measures. I knew India and Kenya struggled to be free of British rule but I never knew the Irish had it this bad. The Irish tried to be reasonable but being reasonable didn't work. Previous to this book I had thought of Winston Churchill as a mostly likeable character. I did not knew he called in a mercenary militia called the "Black and Tans" to inflict pain and suffering on Irish people who ended up having zero civil rights. Only when the Irish leaders took the facts to other countries who stood up the the Brits did they finally agree to negotiate. I will have to look for more historical fiction novels written by this talented author.