Fruit Of The Drunken Tree

 This story is set in Bogota, Columbia during the 1990's. At that time Pablo Escobar was a drug lord who kidnapped people and held them for ransom. In this story, two sisters named Chula and Cassandra, live with their parents. The mother hires a girl from a poor area of town. Her name is Petrona. In their yard is a tree that bears flowers and fruit. The girls are warned not to handle the flowers nor the fruit as they are poisonous. As the family adjusts to the escalating violence in the streets of Bogota they have to make a choice between sacrifice and betrayal. Some chapters of the book are violent. The author, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, was a child in Columbia in the 1990's. She says Fruit Of The Drunken Tree is based on the events of her life. The story is captivating and told in alternating chapters by Chula and Petrona.

Southern Terminus

 

Today I hiked the Superior Hiking Trail with a friend. We park on Goat Mountain Road (which took an inordinately long amount of time to find. From there we hiked east toward Wisconsin to the end of the trail. We hiked 1.9 miles to the end and back to our car. The other car was parked at Jay Cooke State Park near the swinging bridge.

We made pretty good time. Much of the hike was easy but not all.

This is the southern terminus. A person could continue hiking into Wisconsin.

The trail goes down into the Red River Valley and there is a campsite here as well. Hiking with a friend was awesome. Talking together makes the time go faster and we had a great time. This was her first hike on the trail. Having two cars meant we didn't have to hike back on the longer section of 5.9 miles which was an unaccustomed and totally welcome luxury. This hike today means I have completed the entire hiking trail from the southern terminus to Tettegouche State Park. Today I (we) added 7.8 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking trail 159.2. I have 172.9 left to go.

The Motion Of A Body Through Space

 After I finished reading The Motion Of A Body Through Space I noticed the author's name was Lionel Shiver. I thought for sure the author was a woman. I looked Lionel Shriver up on google and it turns out she is a woman named Margaret who changed her name to Lionel because she didn't like Margaret.  In this story a married couple are going through a transition. Remington, age 62, is fired from  his job at the Department of Transportation. He decides to take up running a marathon to give a focus and take up his time. Serenada, Remington's wife, is still working as a voice over artist and reader of audio books, is giving up her casual habit of running ten miles a day because her knees have no cartilage left. Her doctor says she needs two knee replacements because of overuse. While Serenada is adjusting to less exercising, Remington is adjusting to any exercising. This leads to marital conflict. Serenada and Remington do love each other but once Remington completes his marathon and decides to do a triathalon, Serenada reaches her limit. She does not want to be the one on the sidelines cheering while her husband gets the glory. Their verbal sparring is intense. Remington and Seranada keep repeating the same complaints about each other which, I guess, is what married people tend to do. I liked the book but I think the marital discord went on far too long. I did enjoy the through explanation of our society's views about exercise. Some sections were very entertaining.

What Can A Body Do?

Sara Hendren published What Can A Body Do? How We Meet The Built World in August of 2020. She is an artist, design researcher, writer, and a professor of engineering at Olin College of Engineering. Each chapter explores a different ability. In the first chapter her engineering class is challenged by the needs of an Australian professor and world renowned speaker of short statue. The speaker asked the class to build a lectern for her height that would be sturdy enough to hold her computer yet lightweight and portable enough to take on a plane. She was tired of standing on chairs and being made to fit into lecterns built for normal sized people. She wanted one to fit her body. The students were able to meet her needs. The whole idea of this book is to look at people of differing ability and design adaptations built for them instead of building adaptations that bring them closer to a person without disabilities. In another chapter she looks at building design at Gallaudet College. Doors to the building open automatically so conversations don't have to stop as one enters or leaves the building. Sight lines are increased so a person on the second floor can see a friend coming and reach out to them. She travels back to 1972 when some students at Berkeley insisted on curb cuts so they could access buildings at school. The idea of making curb cuts was questioned by one official as necessary because few people in wheelchairs were seen on campus. In 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed and curb cuts are mandatory and they are used. In another chapter she visited a facility in the Netherlands for people with memory issues. The facility is built like a small city with restaurants and stores and theaters. People from the nearby town also come to use the theater and restaurants and stores. I enjoyed this book because it helped me to view differing abilities in a different and more positive light.

Garden Scenes

 

I rented a community garden space a little more than a mile from my house. The spot next to mine is empty and covered in black plastic to prevent weeds. One of my pumpkin vines left my garden and went into the empty space. I got a good sized pumpkin there.

I also have a pumpkin in my space. In total I think I have three pumpkins this year.

After twenty years of planting sunflowers only to have the deer chomp off their heads when they are 18 inches high and leaving me with a row of sticks, I finally grew a pumpkin to the flowering stage. Aren't sunflowers the happiest of all flowers? Today I left with an arm load of kale and three tomatoes. 

Leskinen Creek Campsite

Today I hiked from the community center in Finland, MN southbound to the bog where I left off yesterday because of a broken board walk.

After a .3 miles spur from the parking lot and a short distance I crossed the east branch of the Baptism River.

From there it was a steep ascent to the top of a ridge. Look, a coral mushroom. I passed the Leskinen Creek campsite. Hikers are advised not to camp there overnight because a local bear has figured out how to get into the bear bags. Smarter than the average bear I guess. 

On my way back down from that ridge I encountered a boggy area where lady slippers grow. This area has a path of logs sawed in half and covered with chicken wire so they're not slippery. The logs were old and some teetered side to side. I walked carefully and I was glad I had my walking stick.

After 3 miles I came to Park Hill road which was my destination yesterday but I didn't make it.

I kept walking down hill. The weather was partly cloudy with a temperature in the 70's and low humidity. Perfect weather for a walk in the woods.

Wow. Just imagine how huge and thick the glacier was that left this glacial erratic in this particular spot. That rock is the size of a two story cabin!

This boardwalk section looks brand new.

I am back on the boardwalk at Sawmill Bog. I don't see any moose around. Today I added 4.6 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 151.4. I have 180.7 left to go.

 

Section 13

Today I hiked north bound from the trail head on Little Marais road. I planned to walk 4.4 miles to Park Hill road so that when I did the rest of the section from the north I would have less to do.

Across the wide valley of the Saw Mill Creek I can see the bald knob of rock known as Saw Mill Dome. 

I don't know why this section is section 13. The other sections haven't been numbered. No one was at this campsite today at 11 a.m. but it is supposed to be a popular spot for people who do rock climbing around here.

I descended the hill from Section 13 to the valley floor. Some of the board walks here are a little sketchy. One section, over a small stream, was broken in the middle. I assume it broke with someone on it. I hope they weren't hurt. I look forward to walking across a 300 foot boardwalk over a bog because it is reportedly prime moose habitat.

Here is the beginning of the bog. After this I will hike only 1.4 miles more and then turn around.

I don't see any moose yet.

Um, this boardwalk is broken.

Am I supposed to balance on that birch? There is no way to get across here without getting my feet wet. And the board walk is so tilted to the left I don't feel safe to sit down and remove my shoes. I guess I will turn around here. Today I added only 3 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 146.8. I have 185.3 left to go.