Homer And Langley

 E. L. Doctorow is the author of Homer and Langley, a fiction novel set on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park in New York City. His novel is based on two brothers, Homer and Langley Collyer. The author changed the birth order, which brother played the piano, and had them live thirty years longer than they actually lived. The Collyer brothers were famous for being reclusive hoarders. In the story Homer is a intuitive piano player. He went blind at an early age but managed to navigate the streets using his good hearing. He taught piano. He even played piano at the movie theater before movies could talk. One of his students sat by his side on the piano bench and would whisper information to him such as "a man rides a horse down a city street" or "the lovers embrace and kiss" or "three policemen chase the robbers across a park." Langley went to World War One and came back with poor lungs due to exposure to mustard gas. Langley came back changed. He started hoarding newspapers because he planned to write a newspaper that would cover all situations. He brought a Model T car into the dining room in order to create electricity. One by one the house keepers, butler, and cook, servants they had from their parents, left their employ. Although they had money in the bank, they refused to pay their electric bill, phone bill, water bill and mortgage. The author imagined what life was like for these two eccentric brothers who lived. All of it is speculation. I loved the story. I loved that he gave Homer and Langley some good times, moments of excitement, and great memories.

Limnology Office

 

I have always been curious about the Limnology building in east Duluth on London Road next to the Lester River. Limnology, in case you don't know, is the study of lakes. Today I got to go in the building for a volunteer orientation for Hawk Ridge. Several people at Hawk Ridge have their offices upstairs at this building. The bottom is an open conference room with a couple bathrooms. The building has lots of windows but most don't open. We got fresh air by leaving all the doors open. Hawk Ridge started in 1972 which is 50 years ago and also the year I graduated from high school.

Almond

I enjoy reading books from other countries. I really enjoyed reading Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung. This novel is about a young boy named Yunjae who grows up with his mother and grandmother. He needs careful parenting because he was born with a condition called alexithymia. He does not feel emotions such as fear or anger. His mother and grandmother are not fazed by his condition and they help him navigate the world. His mother has a used book shop and she teaches him when to smile, when to say "thank you", and when to back away. On his 16th birthday a random act of violence leaves him alone in the world. As he copes with his loss, a boy named Gon arrives at his school and starts to bully him. Gon is mystified by Yunjae's apparent lack of fear. They have something in common. Gon feels too much emotion. Yunjae feels too little emotion. They strike up an odd friendship. I thought this is a delightful story and I really liked reading about life in Korea.

Overdue

I have mixed feelings about Amanda Oliver's non-fiction book titled Overdue: Reckoning With The Public Library. I liked the insight I got from her nine months of experience working at a public library in a run down section of Washington, D.C. Working there could be scary and she claims she got PTSD from her job. I enjoyed the facts about public libraries in our country. I enjoyed reading about the services libraries provide to people like who who come and check out books and to people who are houseless and need a warm space with free Wi-Fi and public bathrooms. What I didn't like is the pages spent on personal rants against cancel culture and the dangers of social media. I didn't see how those things related to public libraries. Several chapters were off the topic of public libraries.

 

Blue Darner Bog And Fen

Today I met a group of natural plant enthusiasts at Stone Lake boat landing. We were going to the Blue Darner Bog to gather plants for the U of M/Duluth herbarium. The Blue Darner Bog is part of the Sax-Zim bog.

 

The bog is a quarter of a mile from the boat landing. We were walking on the bog. As I was walking my mud boots sunk six inches into the bog with my left foot and four inches deep on my right foot. My boot was suctioned down hard. I tried to lift my foot and felt my foot leave my boot. I put my foot back in and tried the other foot. A man behind me saw my troubles. He moved around me, hung onto a black spruce, and offered me a hand. With his help I was able to free myself and put my boots back on. I walked more carefully after that. 

Here we are out on the fen on the edge of East Stone Lake.

One of the 40 specimens we took was cotton grass.

I found a cranberry but it wasn't ripe. One side was red and the other side was white.

Here is a tiny little sundew, a carnivorous plant.

We walked back to the boat landing and prepared our specimens too be dried. Each sample was tucked under two layers of newspapers, blotting paper, and stiff cardboard. The newspapers were labelled with the name  of the plant, the date, the name of the person who collected it and the number. Our first number was 2022-01.

We filled three of these plant presses. After a month or so of drying we can mount the specimens on paper, add a label, and put them in the herbarium collection at the University. I had four hours of fun in the bog but it is nice to wear tennis shoes and to walk on solid ground again.

 

The Colours

 Juliet Bates is the author of The Colours, a novel set in Ireland. The story is told from two perspectives. One is from Ellen who is 12 when her father dies and she is shipped off to a Catholic orphanage for girls. She had hoped to stay with her older brother, Henry, but the local priest insists she go to the orphanage to learn how to behave. The other perspective is from a boy named Jack. Ellen is Jack's single mother. In Ireland, at this time, being different, being a single mother  is frowned on. Ellen is a person who is not typical. She doesn't go to church. She sees colors in a different way. Each person in her life is represented by a color. Jack, for instance, is blue. Her coworker at the house where she cares for Mrs. Tibbs is the color of stewed prunes. Color is important to Jack as he starts out painting landscapes during the war, moves on to architectural drawings, then water colors and eventually ends up teaching drawing at the University. The story of Jack and Ellen is told slowly and carefully in this very enjoyable novel.

Piping Plover Project

This afternoon the master naturalists met at the end of Wisconsin point to learn about the piping plover project. This is a joint project with the Wisconsin DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife department. These agencies hired the St. Louis River Alliance to monitor the site. Every day between May 1st and June 15th, staff monitor the area with binoculars and scopes to survey birds. Piping plovers have not nested here (nor on Minnesota point) since 1983. This year they saw one piping plover but it didn't stay. The St. Louis River Alliance also does stewardship work so that the area looks more like one of the Apostle Islands where piping plovers do nest. They planted dune grasses. They burn big piles of driftwood. They cut down trees so that a merlin doesn't sit there because a merlin would attack a piping plover. The area is surrounded by a tall fence like you would see around a prison. You can see some of the fence on the left side of the photo. I enjoy going in places where normally I would not be allowed in.

They also hauled in some small rocks. Plovers build their nests out of white or whitish colored inch long stones. To court a female, a male piping plover will kick a stone and start building a nest. He might build two nests. If the female is willing she will choose one of his nests. If a nest is observed to have two eggs the staff will cover it with a five square feet fence with fencing over the top to keep out birds of prey. The plovers are small enough to walk right through the fence when they need to. After learning all this we helped weed the dune grass and the rock beds. I picked a large trash bag full of weeds. With seven of us working we made a big difference in a short amount of time.