GoodReads

 I have an account with Goodreads with which I keep track of my reading. I also use it to list books in my library as well. I also follow several people who are much more avid readers, faster readers, and readers who can write better reviews of books they have read. I usually do not write reviews there because of intimidation; my writing just can't compare to theirs.

But I have decided to begin using GoodReads to write my reviews and forget about using my blog. I know that will limit me as to what I will write about, but at least I will be able to potentially get some feedback on my reading/reviews/writing.

I wrote my really first review this morning on GR about the last book I just finished.

It's about the Pan Am Seaplanes, called Clippers, and how the company tried to save all of them at the beginning of WW2 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The book is actually the story of one of them specifically, the Pacific Clipper.

During the war, these aircraft worked for/under the Army Air Transport Command. My father was in the Army Air Corps during the war and his Army unit was in the ATC. Though he didn't fly this type of airplane - he flew new and repaired B17's and B24's to Brazil and North Africa and returned with damaged ones - he did fly a very similar route from North America to Brazil to Africa. It was exciting to read about the Clipper's journey coming west.

Thanksgiving 2020

Thanksgiving 2020. We'll be home this year. In some ways, it's not much different from past years. For the past several years Lisa has often worked on Thanksgiving, or the day before and/or after which makes long trips difficult or impossible. All three daughters are distant. And they don't come here.

Because of COVID, this year Lisa is not working extra. She will have one client on Friday and another on Sunday. The one on Friday should be okay; the couple is spending it home away from their children and grandchildren. The Sunday client is a different situation.

Sunday's client is a man in his 90's, alone, but ten children and some grandchildren will be coming for holiday dinner. Fortunately, Lisa won't have to be there until Sunday, but still, that's a lot of people to have around him. She's not fond of going to his home after only three days, but there's not much she can do. I don't like it either.

Other than COVID, however, it is a rather normal turkey day. I began the day, as usual, taking my insulin, having coffee, and watching the news until it got light outside. Then I went for my walk.

I have tried to either run or walk on Thanksgiving morning since 1978. I began running in January of that year. I never ran in those "turkey trot" races; I just ran by myself. Once I stopped running and switched to walking I kept up the practice of going out every Thanksgiving Thursday. Even when my exercise routine was almost nonexistent. I exercised every Thanksgiving morning. No matter what the weather, I went out. Today was sunny and about 55 degrees. I have gone out in rainstorms, snowstorms, below zero weather. No matter what, I went out.

42 years so far. Not bad for a streak. 

Sledding in PA

 Remember a few days ago I promised to write about this?

Well, it's a Yankee Jumper. I don't know how popular they were everywhere, but growing up in SW Pennsylvania we all had them. They were cheap and easy to make. My father made one for me and then another for my brother. Our grandparents - Pop's parents - lived in the country about 30 minutes away, and every Sunday we'd go for dinner. In the winter when it had snowed, all of the cousins (about a dozen then) would meet on the top of the hill leading down the lane to their home and use our sleds or jumpers. 

Some Jumpers had a metal strip for a runner. I don't remember one, but it probably was there. It would be much harder to "ski" without it. I call it skiing because that is how you guided it and stopped it. You leaned to the right or left to guide it, all the while holding on to handles on the side of the seat. To stop it, you did what skiers did, turning the runner and leaning inward digging into the snow. 

Cheaper than a sled and faster too!

 

The Five Senses: Smell

 I have written about the senses before. I am sure I wrote about the internal argument I was having with myself about whether if I had to lose the sense of sight or hearing, which one would it be. I don't believe I never resolved it back then. Now? Well, you'll just have to wait because today I want to talk about another of the senses. That is the sense of smell.

In this day of COVID, the senses of taste and smell are very important. One early symptom is the loss of one or both. I remember reading somewhere that the sense of smell brings back a memory before any of the other senses. I can't prove it, but I believe it.

This morning it was a crisp 41 degrees outside and sunny. The smell of logs burning in a fireplace was in the air. I have lived in 14 different homes, but only two had fireplaces. Immediately, I thought of both of them. I could see them very clearly in my mind.

But the one smell above all that takes me back to a vivid memory is the smell of diesel on a cold morning. I am taken back in a second to a motor pool in West Germany during the late 1960s when I had a tank company. I could see the line of M60A1's as I walked the line and talked with the crews. (The photo below is one of M60A3's at Grafenwoehr, a training center we regularly visited.)

Some were working on the engines while others were doing track maintenance. We tried to schedule maintenance in the afternoon when it was warmer, but sometimes it was impossible and we had to work in the morning cold. I would have the mess sergeant ensure we had hot coffee in urns available for the men (I can't remember any soldier who didn't drink coffee back then, but I am sure there were a few). I really miss the Army when I remember those days.

Another smell is the aroma of Lipton's Noodle Soup, again in the cold of the morning. It takes me back to a particular street on Ft. Leavenworth post, in Kansas. I would run down that street in the early mornings on the weekends, someone would always be cooking the soup. You don't know how many times I almost stopped and asked for some!

BTW, If you go to my February 29, 2012 post, you will see how we kept warm back then!

A Final Selection

 A look back at my earlier posts this month (3rd, 12th) show I was deep into deciding what book to offer for discussion in 2021 for the B&B book club. I had worked down to three, then the list went back up to 15. So I began to work on it again. I even sent the list out to some friends asking for their suggestions. The book I finally came up with wasn't on the initial two lists but a late entry.

"Dreamers of the Day" by Mary Doria Russell is a story that begins in America during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, but quickly moves to Egypt and the early 1920s. As typical with all of Russell's novels, it was very heavily researched, occupied with exciting characters - some real, some fictional, all amid very descriptive locations.

Mary Doria Russell is one of my very favorite authors. I have read four of her about nine novels. She wrote two about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp which were very long and exciting. Her first book, The Sparrow, is sort of sci-fi, but very good. it's about a failed space mission to another planet to establish a colony which ultimately fails. The sole survivor is an Italian (or is he Spanish?) Jesuit priest. The story switched between the present where he is trying to tell what happened between being tortured by the Church, and the mission on the planet. As you can probably tell, I liked the book. She wrote a sequel but I haven't read it.

I hope by introducing Russell to the club that others will read her. She is one of the best fiction authors I have read. Oh, did I forget to mention that she has a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology?

One last thing - I couldn't get my font to change back to the normal font so I just left it. The title was fine, but everything else is screwed up. We'll see next time.

Books, Books, Books

 It's raining cats and dogs and books in my study today. I am trying to get next year's books for the B&B assigned to months. I've sent the emails out; now just waiting to hear back. The first is taken care of because one of the members stepped up and volunteered to do two this year and I asked she would do the first one. She said yes. Takes a load off right there.

I've also been working on the new book club, The Mysterious Book Club for now, gathering members and an initial book list. Typical me, I've already changed my list twice. But it's not all my fault. A couple of people chose a book or two on my list. I figure I have more variety in my library than they do, so I just deleted from my list and went hunting again.

Back to the B&B club - I still haven't chosen my selection yet. Don't know whether to go with fiction or nonfiction. Maybe I'll select a fiction for this club that won't fit in the other. Thinking out loud now. 

In other news, COVID is continuing to be the pandemic the scientists and medical experts feared. The country will have 250,000 deaths in a few days. Still, not as deadly as the Spanish Flu of 1918, but then people have very short memories. And they don't like to study history. One of the things that we learned from the 1918 flu 1) wear a mask, 2) avoid crowds, and 3) wash your hands frequently. Sound familiar? People today believe it is their right to decide whether to wear a mask. Yes, until it affects others' health.

Sorry, I made a rule not to get into politics on this blog. But it is difficult at times. That's why I spend so little time on Facebook. I'll leave you with a picture today and talk about it next time.

A Mysterious Book Club

I'm starting a new book club. I've been thinking about this for quite some time. My current book club, Books & Brews, which I manage for the Lexington Library, covers basically everything but mysteries. Trying to choose my selection for this coming year I have two mysteries among the candidates. I would love to have them presented to the group, but I have some serious hesitations.

I have three other people so far: two from the B&B club who expressed an interesting one person from the Stonewall Jackson House (SJH) who loves Charles Todd as much as I do. Right now, I have sent out emails to three other people - all from the SJH - to see if I can a couple more. I only want about eight and I have four already.

It will be interesting to see what kind of mysteries will be chosen. I'll keep you posted.

Reading Matters (n.)

I've been off on my reading for the past couple of weeks. I am catching up slowly. You can see from the photo at the left what I am currently attempting. We'll see how it goes. The one fiction book, The Woman in White, is a longish read and will probably take another one to two months. That's okay because it is easy to stop at various points without losing the train of the story. The "book club" book is rather depressing; it's about the writer's mother and how she fighting, or rather living with, the cancer in her body. It does talk about books that they read. Or more precisely, books they have read in his youth.

On another reading front, we finished the year in our book club and are now selecting books and the monthly reading order. I haven't chosen my book yet; my list is down to 15 candidates. It was only 14 yesterday, but I passed one of bookcase and a book just called out to me, saying, "Add me, add me...', so I did. I sent out an email to the other members to help me choose and have heard back from a couple. Ultimately, though, I know I will have to decide. I set a deadline of November 30th.

Before we broke the meeting I brought up the idea of starting a mystery book club. I said that it did not necessarily have to meet monthly, but may every other; or possibly quarterly. So far I have three others who are interested. I would like to keep it smallish - say 6 to 8 members. We'll see.

 

A Borrowed Post

🙏    This post is actually borrowed from my brother and his blog (https://apercussionistsnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/11/an-unwanted-post.html). 

This week I received an email from a cousin informing me that her older brother, David, had died. I have been trying to think of what to write about it this week. My brother Jerry has already done it. I can't do better than what he has said. With heartfelt thanks to him, here it is:

I was planning to update my gourd rattle project today when I received a message from my brother this morning. One of our cousins passed away last night from Covid-19. 

During the summers Dave and 2 his sisters would stay at our house for 2 weeks. Afterward Pop would take us all back to Ohio and my brother and I would spend 2 weeks at their house. They were always fun times, raiding my aunt's garden eating all the veggies, looking for water moccasins near the creek (I don't think they live in Ohio but it was fun to look for them). Dave was the person who taught my brother and me how to ride a bike. His wife has also tested positive for the virus. It was inevitable that the pandemic would become personal.

May you rest in peace Dave.🙏

Election and Reading

 Today is finally here. We will be eating dinner - pizza and wine - in front of the TV tonight and will watch the returns as long as we can before finally going to sleep. Neither of us has anywhere to go tomorrow so no need to get early. And of course, there's the pandemic.

I've been spending most of my time this past week and a half attempting to choose a book for my book club that I will lead during one meeting. I began my hunt thinking I would need to choose two, but another person stepped forward and volunteered to do a second book this year. Her books are often a little out there, almost always about a foreign country, or at least an immigrant recent to this country. But I must say they are usually something I would not normally read.

I have it whittled down to three books - I think. The one in the lead is fiction - can I say science fiction - about Albert Einstein in 1905, the year he publishes his famous paper on time. He works in a Swiss post office and he has these dreams, 30 of them, one a night over a period of two and a half months. Each dream has time doing something different - speeding up, going slower, repeating itself, traveling back in time, and giving three different endings to things - just to name a few. I've read it before and enjoyed it. Maybe it will be this year's Flatland. The name of this book is Einstein's Dreams.

The second book is a novel about an older woman living in Seattle, or maybe Portland, who grew up in Russia during the siege of Leningrad in WW2. She was a young woman who was a guide in the famous museum (Hermitage?) giving tours. They had to take the pictures out of the frames for protection and store them. But the frames were hung back up on the walls and the guides were required to memorize everything about the pictures and give tours as if they were still hung. This story is juxtaposed against present-day Seattle where she lives and her granddaughter is getting married. This is complicated with the fact that the woman is suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's and has difficulty remembering things; but she can still remember vividly her tours of the WW2 museum, what she had to recite, and working as a plane spotter on top of the museum at night. Again, I've read it before. The title is The Madonnas of Leningrad.

The last book is a mystery from a series. It is my favorite mystery series and is about a Scotland Yard inspector who is a shell-shocked veteran of the Great War. He carries around with him in his mind, his Scots Sergeant who he had to kill for refusing a direct order. I won't go into the details here, but it a lot more interesting than how I am describing it. This particular story is actually a prequel, 14th in the series which currently stands as 22. Its title is A Fine Summer's Day, and as you might guess is just before the war in 1914. All of the others take place beginning in June 1919 and time-wise progress about 1-2 months each. I think we are at about 1921, but I forget which month. 

I'm half-heartedly thinking of also recommending a nonfiction book I read earlier this year. Written in 2012, Spillover is about viruses and how they spread. By taking and discussing several of last over the past 30 some years, the author gets us ready for the COVID by specifically identifying it. The book was written in 2012!

In addition to that, I am reading four books presently: The End of Your Life Book Club, a memoir; Good-Bye to All That, an autobiography by Robert Graves; On Conan Doyle, a small literary romp about Sir Arthur and his writings; and The Woman in White, a thriller mystery as they called them back then in 1860 when it was written by Wilie Collins. He also wrote The Moonstone in 1868 which I read last year. It was one of the best books I have ever read.

Oh, and I am still watching about two episodes of M*A*S*H daily. By next Monday  Colonel Potter arrives; except for whatever reason, the network, MeTV, is showing the episode where Henry Blake leaves and dies.

Now I have to read before I take a nap before I start to watch the election results. I'll talk about my doctor's visit to the sleep clinic yesterday at another time.