The Forgotten Garden

It was unanimous, everybody in my book club liked The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  I liked it too; didn't love it but I liked it.  Kate Morton is THE author in Australia - known and loved by all.  I had never heard of her before and that is quite an honor for a 36 year old woman.  But the people in Australia, in my humble opinion, treasure literature more than we do in this country.  When I was traveling there I saw privately owned book stores on almost every other block of the major cities.  This story goes back and forth between England and Australia; the 1800's and current times.  Kate Morton loved fairy tales as a child and she incorporates them into this story as well with orphans, walled gardens, secrets, hidden treasures, and family legacies.  The first couple of chapters were hard because I couldn't keep all the characters straight but after I got through that, it was clear sailing.

A Feeling Of Community

Since the home invasion on Friday night, I've been talking more to my neighbors.  Some of them were interviewed by the police officer and came to talk to me.  Some of them weren't informed so I wanted to tell them what happened to me so they would be aware that our neighborhood is not the kind where we should leave our doors unlocked.  I found out a few things in my neighborhood discussions. One is that a surprising number of my neighbors are home during the day.  And many of them were outside on Friday.  They didn't see or hear anything suspicious with one exception. I found out that a couple boys were hanging around on the street near my house collecting money for the Anoka High School football team.  The boys were not wearing Anoka clothes and did not have any official team documents - only a plain white envelope.  One neighbor gave them $10.  This is suspicious because they weren't wearing team colors, didn't have any documents, and this isn't football season.  In May a student wouldn't even know if they were on the football team yet.  The neighbor who gave them money is planning on talking to the police about what she observed. Another thing I learned is that my neighbors care about me and are looking out for me. That feeling of community alone is worth $100.  The guy next door is going to add a cross bar to the service door of his garage.  He plans to weld a couple hooks and put a 2x4 board across the door.  He offered to build one for me as well.  I took him up on his offer and said I would give him some free range eggs in exchange.  I really feel better now.

Frog and Toad Survey #1

Four of us went on the frog and toad survey last night.  Three of us were experienced and was one a newcomer to the skill of listening in the dark, out in the middle of no where, for frogs and toads.  We heard frogs and toads at every stop.  We heard 3 species of frogs - spring peepers, chorus frogs, and one lonely wood frog.  The weather was cold but lucky for us the wind died down as the sun set and the many stars came out.  A sliver of a moon set in the middle of our survey.  At some stops the frogs would talk quite a bit and as the 5 minute listening session went on, they would become quieter or even silent.  The frogs weren't as loud as they sometimes are either.   The chorus frog sounds like a finger running up the teeth of a comb.  Because of the cold, the time between each tooth of the comb got longer and longer.  Sometimes the chorus frog would even stop before the end of the comb.  Too cold to continue I guess.   We heard barred owls at 3 of our stops.  At the 6th stop the air reeked of skunk when we got out of the car.  I tried breathing through my mouth instead of my nose and that helped or else I just got used to the stench.  We were immediately distracted from the nasty smell by the howling of a loon that sounded wolfish at first.  Three loons started calling loudly and using a variety of vocalizations.  It was crazy.  This was a very heated loon discussion that went on and on for a full 3 minutes.  By the 8th stop most of the clouds had cleared out and the sky was loaded with so many more stars than I can usually see.   So we heard frogs which was great. We also heard loons, owls and geese.  And not a single mosquito bothered us.  The roads were fairly decent. We drove through a couple soft spots but we found no frost boils.  We really missed our usual frog listening expert but we brought her photo along so she could be with us in spirit. 

My Only Witnesses

The only witnesses to my home invasion that I know of are chicken; chicken as in poultry and chicken as in lacking nerve.  My chickens are so chicken they probably wouldn't tell me what the intruder looked like if they could.  They got a good long look at him though as he broke in right by the coop.  I've changed my mind about the camera.  At first I was offended that the intruder didn't take my camera, my binoculars, my television, and some other things that could be pawned.  Now I think he came in, saw my jewelry (all costume jewelry), saw that I had no X-Box, no iPad, no blue ray player, felt sorry for me, grabbed the cash and left.  I was wondering why he chose this house.  I live in a neighborhood with some very fancy houses and mine is not one of them.  I do, however, have something very valuable and that is a private back yard.  I think that is why my house was chosen.

How Long Have You Had That Twenty Dollar Bill?

I was going to put my game camera on my deck to capture shots of the pileated woodpecker who visits every day.  Now I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really wish I had done that.  When I came home from work I noticed the door to the between the inside of the garage and the house was left open slightly.  Scolding myself mentally for heating the outdoors, I brought the groceries inside.  When I went back outside to let the chickens roam I noticed a piece of wood on the floor by the service door of the garage.  I picked it up wondering where this little piece of wood, painted white on one side had come from.  It looked like it had broken off violently as the edge was very splintered. I looked up to the rafters wondering if a piece of wood trim stored up there had fallen down.  But falling would not tear up a piece of wood like this.  This piece of wood looked like a giant beaver had ripped it.  Then I saw a longer triangular shaped piece of wood, also with white trim, on the floor.  My door frame is white.  My service door, shut and locked, had been forced open splintering the wood.  Realization dawned on my from the knees on up to the brain.  Someone had broken into my house.  Crap!  I let the chickens out and went back into the house to call 911.  The operator asked if anyone was in the house now.  Crap!  Would have been a good idea for me to think of that sooner.  I wish I was better at emergencies like this.  I told her no one appeared to be in the house. She asked if I saw anything missing.  What do I think of?  My Suzuki. I run out to the garage.  No, the motorcycle is still there.  The television is still there.  My camera is lying on the kitchen counter.  I tell her I don't think anything is missing. She said a police officer would come out soon to take a report.  I call my neighbor because one of them is home most of the day.  They are sympathetic but heard nothing.  I remember I had four or five twenty dollar bills lying on my nightstand.  Those were gone.  One of my dresser drawers was pulled out and spread out on the bed.  The bedding was turned up so someone could easily see under the bed.  Obviously the intruder (or intruders) were in my bedroom.  Several drawers were open and some items were lying on the floor.  The police officer came by and took my report.  He took pictures of the broken door and the dresser.  He dusted the dresser for prints but was unable to find any because of the surface.  He looked for foot prints but the chickens leave such a mess by that back door with wood chips, spilled food, and dirt that no foot prints could be found.  The door must have been pushed in with a shoulder rather than a foot.  There are no footprints on the door and no evidence of a crowbar being used.  He said service doors are usually where homes are broken into.  He said new homes are now being built without service doors unless the homeowners request them just for security reasons.  A deadbolt is only as good as the wood it is attached to.  And the wood my deadbolt was attached to wasn't that good.  In fact you can see where one piece of wood was glued to another - and that is where it gave way.  He said in Ramsey they've had good luck solving these crimes because the electronics or jewelry are pawned.  In my case I don't think anything was pawned.  We can't go around asking people, "Do you have any twenty dollar bills?  How long have  you had it? Where did you get it?" He walked with me through the rest of the house.  He was surprised that the television wasn't taken.  He was very surprised to see the guitars and amplifiers were not taken.  He gave me some advice on getting the service door repaired and made more secure.  He said he would question the neighbors to see if they saw anything.  I asked him what age he thought the perpetrator was.  He guessed my criminal was in their 20's, probably a male.  Well, if they came looking for expensive jewelry, they came to the wrong house.  I check my jewelry stand in the bathroom.  Nothing appears to be missing.  I don't have an Ipad or a Wii.  I check for my laptop -still there.  The office doubted the criminal would return.  I told the officer that I had been planning to put a game camera on my deck to capture pictures of the woodpeckers.  I asked him wouldn't that be cool if I had done that and we could have seen a picture of the intruder.  He agreed that would have been awesome.  (Run and check if the game camera is still here - yes it is).  Whew!  Right now I am more stunned by this home invasion than angry.  And I'm a little insulted that they didn't steal my camera which was lying out on the kitchen counter. 

Peaches For Father Francis

I really wasn't sure I was going to like Peaches for Father Francis by Joanne Harris.  The title didn't grab me. The cover didn't grab me.  What grabbed me is that it is a sequel to Chocolat.  I've never read Chocolat but I loved the movie.  So when in the book the character Vianne Rocher (played in the movie by Juliette Binoche) is wondering whether to go back to Paris and her lover, Roux, the red haired gypsy, I'm thinking, "Girl!  Get back to Paris.  Roux is Johnny Depp.  How is this even a question?"  Vianne doesn't hurry back to Johnny Depp Roux but stays in the small town to help settle a cultural crisis, increase tolerance, and charm people with her chocolates and her winning personality.  The story is complex, modern and very interesting.  I loved every single minute of this book.  As it turns out, this book is the third of a series.  I've seen the movie of the first book and read the third book.  Now I think I will go back and read the first two books because I am in love with Vianne Rocher and Johnny Depp Roux and quite a few of the other characters as well.

The Office

Tonight marks the last episode of "The Office."  Surely you've seen the comedy "mockumentary" on television?  I've enjoyed the show since it opened seven years ago.  I am going to miss my characters such as Meredith, Creed, Kevin, Pam, Toby, Jim, Andy, Angela, Stanley, Dwight and Phyllis.  The show was enjoyable while I watched it but at other times as well.  I can't think of any other show that has been discussed at work as much as "The Office."  And when things happen at work that are ungodly similar to situations on "The Office," it gives me great comic relief to share that moment with a reference to the show.  Other good shows are coming but I will miss this one.