Largest And Oldest Oak

Today I met a kind friend in Coon Rapids for lunch. (The minestrone soup at Olive Garden is to die for). Afterwards I went for a walk on the Brooklyn Park side of the Coon Rapids dam. This oak tree is near the visitor center.

This is the largest and oldest tree in the park, the tree is more than 350 years old! I am glad no other oaks are near it which would put it at risk for oak wilt.

 

The Summer Before The War

 I went for another historical fiction book this time. The Summer Before The War was written by Helen Simonson who grew up in England but now lives in the United States. This is about the summer before World War One. The year is 1914. Beatrice Nash arrives in the town of Rye hoping to get a job teaching Latin. Her father has passed away and she needs to start making money. She is met at the station by Hugh who takes her to his Aunt Agatha's house where she is to spend her first night. Agatha has put her reputation on the line by advocating for the hiring of a female teacher. Hugh has been tutoring 3 boys in Latin for the summer and now Beatrice can take over that job. Beatrice does take the job. Then war breaks out in Belgium. People in the town take in Belgium refugees. Beatrice now lives in a small room at another house but she takes in the Professor's daughter anyway. The Professor's daughter has nightmares that wake up the entire household. Hugh, his cousin, one of the Latin learning boys and another man from Rye go to the front lines in France. One dies on the boat coming back, another dies a week after returning to England, one is severely injured and Hugh has minor injuries. The entire town is full of a wonderful set of characters. Beatrice has made the right choice in coming to Rye.

Truly Madly Guilty

 I am a big fan of the Australian author Liane Moriarty and I did enjoy Truly Madly Guilty. This book is about the friendship of Erica and Clementine. Clementine's mother was the one to encourage her to be friends with Erica is a type A personality. She is organized. She is an accountant. Clementine is less organized. She is a cellist up for a big audition. Both women are married but only Clementine has two daughters. Erica is dealing with infertility. One day both couples and the girls are invited to a barbeque at Erica's neighbor's house. These neighbors are loud and boisterous people. An accident happens. One of the girls is found face down in the fountain. The friendship between Erica and Clementine is tested. I guess my only complaint about this book is that it was a bit long. Otherwise I liked it.

I Cheerfully Refuse

 Leif Enger's book, I Cheerfully Refuse, was published in 2024. This book takes place in or around Lake Superior in the not too distant future. Rainy is a bass musician married to Lark. He has been working on fixing up a sailboat in his shed. Terrible things happen and he ends up escaping by sailing out of town during a storm. He sails around stopping to buy gasoline and food. Along the way he meets some crazy people some of whom are helpful and some are not. He also meets a nine year old girl named Sol. She is staying with an abusive man so Rainy trades his bass for the girl. They said off together. Rainy has never been a parent and he feels odd with this girl on his sailboat but he gradually gets the hang of it. He starts teaching her how to read. Some say this book is about a dystopian world. Maybe it is. People are taking a medicine called Willow in order to end their life. The book is also about climate change and that is why Rainy finds several dead bodies floating in the lake. I thought it was well written.

Clan Of The Cave Bear

 Clan Of The Cave Bear is a book set in prehistoric times and written by Jean M. Auel. This author must have spent time hanging out with paleontologists. The main character is Ayel. As a five year old she has lost her family after an earthquake. She doesn't know how to hunt or which plants are good to eat. She drinks water from the river. One day she stumbles upon a lion protecting his children. The lion attacks her so Ayla hides in a small cave. The lion scratches her leg which become infected. After a day she leaves the cave. The lion family has moved on because they are disturbed by her smell. Eventually she falls unconscious on the ground because she is ill and starving to death. That is when the clan of the cave bear people find her. They are searching for a new cave to live in after the earthquake. The medicine woman wants to keep this child who they consider ugly because of her blond hair, blue eyes and the shape of her face.  The clan are Neanderthals. Reluctantly the medicine woman is allowed to take her in. Ayla survives, learns the language and the culture of the clan, and finds love with her new mother. The magician in the group is deformed. He is missing an arm and on that side his leg is weak. He is missing an eye. He teaches Ayla words and math and comes to love her. Ayla reaches for him and hugs him and this is the first time anyone has done that to him. The son of the leader of the clan comes to despise Ayla. His hatred grows no matter what she does. I found this to be an interesting story about ancient medicines and foods, love and family.

Happy Labor Day

 

Two Nature Walks

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Today I went on two walks today because the weather was so beautiful. First I went to Bass Ponds trail in Bloomington which is part of the Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Walking along the paths next to the bass ponds I came across my favorite prairie grass which is side oats gramma (see picture below). I love the name side oats gramma. And I like how descriptive it is.

After lunch I went to Wood Lake Nature Center. The nature center was closed but the trails were open. In Wood Lake I stood on a y shaped dock, looked into the water, and saw some painted turtle action going on. I saw 2 six inch sized painted turtles going around in circles. One turtle was pulling the other. It has it's mouth on the other turtles right front paw. The puller turtle had it's head under water and was swimming in circles. The pullee turtle had it's head above water probably wondering what the heck was going on and how long is this going to last? As I left they were still circling. Later I came upon this white tailed deer that must be used to people walking the paths.