They Built It - Will We Come?

We humans are creatures of music, and creatures of storytelling.  Our relationships to people, to places, to our world, to our fellow humans, can be marvelous, hurtful, or both at the same time.

This is a story about relationships.

In May of 1995, my spouse, my then young son and I flew to Iowa from our upstate New York home to attend the wedding of a cousin.  The lilacs were in bloom and it was a beautiful spring.

Iowa and I have a complex relationship, but that's a story for another day.  Returning to today's story...

During the visit, another cousin (the bride's younger brother) offered to take us to the Field of Dreams move site in Dyersville, Iowa.

Back in 1995, Field of Dreams wasn't quite the same as it is now.  But how did it come into existence?

In 1989, a movie set was built on parts of two farms a few miles outside Dyersville, a small city (population then around 4,000)  in eastern Iowa for a movie called Field of Dreams. My son wasn't that interested in baseball but I wanted, very much, to see the Field of Dreams.

After all, dreams (or visions) can come true.  The plot of the movie is simple, in a way.  A farmer hears a voice coming out of his cornfield whispering "if you build it, he will come" and has a vision. The rest of the movie basically has to do with the vision, the farmer's complex relationship with his father, and finally, what happens when the protagonist builds the field.  I plan to see the movie again in the near future.

One of the two farm families, the Lansings, decided not to plow the set over after the movie was filmed.  The other farm family did plow their land over.  The Lansings made a good decision.  By 1995, the field was a tourist attraction. 

On that day in May, we took a two lane road (what some call "blue highways") from where the bride lived, to Dyersville. 

We walked the grounds. We could have played catch on the field, and maybe this would have been a better story if we had.   But that wasn't my son's thing.   We didn't play catch, but we soaked in that special plot of land.  Neither I or my spouse remember going into the house.  Did I take pictures?  Maybe.  I don't have them available to me -they would have been film, and I didn't own a computer at the time.

But I do have this.   I bought this t-shirt.  I still have it. 

Afterwards, we visited the Ertl toy factory located in town, enjoyed seeing all the toys (many of them based on farm equipment, and bought my son a Thomas the Tank Engine toy.Earlier Ertl toys can be collectable but I don't believe any of them are made in the U.S. any more.  I hope I'm wrong.  

Ertl collection, Tioga County Museum, Owego, New York (taken by AM)

Over the years, many made that pilgrimage to eastern Iowa.  Eventually, a decision was made to build another ball field, this one a genuine major league dimensioned field, and play a major league game there. It was supposed to be played in 2020, but the pandemic moved it to this year.  I had wanted to try to go to the 2020 game and lost track of it.  I wasn't there for the game on Thursday physically, but I was, in spirit.

On August 12, the Chicago White Sox played the New York Yankees at that adjacent field  built in late 2019, based in part on the old Comiskey Park in Chicago where the White Sox played for many years. This time it was a real life 'if they built it' that never would have been possible without the original story and movie.

And yes, there will be a 2022 Field of Dreams game, possibly with the Chicago Cubs as one of the teams.

I'm thinking of making plans.  My relationship to Iowa is complex, also.  It will take some thinking and planning.

We'll see.

Peace And Love Skies and River 2021 #SkywatchFriday

I wish I had some gorgeous sunsets to show you.  There may have been some recently, but my mind (and camera) have been elsewhere.

Although, I did get a so-so sunset the other day, my heart (and feet) have been along the Susquehanna River.

Its moods fascinate me.  This picture was at the start of a very warm, humid day.  At least the river levels are down, and the water is no longer brown as it was in July.

At our community garden, the sunflowers are blooming.

Back to the river.  Afternoon clouds along the river.

In nature, a bouquet of Queen Anne's Lace and goldenrod awaited my camera.

The closest I've come to a sunset recently.  Not my best one, but it was peaceful.

Speaking of peace and love, I posted a picture Wednesday of a hill and asked my readers to guess where it was.  It's a place where music history was made in 1969.

These pictures were taken in June of this year.

Here's your answer.  The 52nd anniversary of the Woodstock Music Festival will be August 15-18.  I hope you will join me for some highlights of my visit to the site of Woodstock, in the town of Bethel, New York (about 40 miles from Woodstock, NY, a story in itself), starting on August 16.

Joining today with Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

The Message Tree #ThursdayTreeLove

 Peace, love, and a red maple tree.  A Witness Tree.

What is a witness tree?  

Let me tell you a quick historical story about a concert weekend held in upstate New York, in the United States, in August of 1969, that became famous in a lot of the world.  I hope my non-U.S. readers enjoy this post.

52 long years ago, the world of rock and roll changed forever on the grounds of a dairy farm in Swan Lake, in the town of Bethel, New York, owned by one Max Yasgur. 

No one could have dreamed of what happened on the weekend of August 15-18, 1969, when some 450,000 people (way more than expected) gathered to listen to a rock concert.  Overcrowding, drugs, mud.  Also, incredible acts of generosity, patience, and love. And yes, music.   This concert, and the happenings during it, have gone down in history for so many reasons.

Sadly, Max Yasgur died in 1973, at the age of 53, from a heart attack, in Florida.   

I have blogged about Woodstock before, and have told a couple of its stories.  Today, my topic for Thursday Tree Love is a tree that witnessed Woodstock and, in a way, participated in it.

During the four days when unimaginable crowds descended on this small dairy farm in a rural town in Sullivan County, New York, people got lost.  They got separated from people they came to the concert with, or they tried to find people they had met and then lost.  So what did they do? There were no cell phones back then.

 They wrote notes and posted them on a red maple tree.   I suspect the rocks with messages came later.

Photos taken June, 2021

The tree is now known as the Message Tree, and is still on the grounds, although it is old and ailing.  However, it is being cloned and will live on as new trees through its cloned cells.  That's the hope, anyway.  Strangely, I never took a picture of the top part of the tree.

Here are my plans to commemorate Woodstock this year: I plan to have music of  the 1960's (mainly artists who played at Woodstock) on Monday, then another Woodstock story, an eyewitness (sort of) story, Tuesday.   If life doesn't intervene, that is.

 I hope you will join me.

Joining with Parul at Happiness and Food and other tree loving bloggers for #ThursdayTreeLove.

Historic Blackberry Lilies and a Hill #WordlessWednesday

My blackberry lilies have a short season, and it's almost over.  They probably won't last until Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, August 15, where I will be showing my readers what is blooming in my yards.

I have several blackberry lily plants. Why are they historic?  Because they were purchased at Monticello, the home of one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson.  We purchased both a plant and seeds at their gift shop when we visited several years ago. These lilies grow, naturalized, on the Monticello property and it is believed they are descendants of plants grown from seed obtained by Jefferson in 1807.

In August, the flowers bloom for a day each.  After the flower dies, it twists around on the young seed pod.

In the fall, the seed pods burst, and the seeds look just like clusters of blackberries. I have a small bouquet of the seeds from last year in my home office.

I love these lilies.

Do you have any historic plants? 

I am going to leave you all with one last thought.  Here's a picture of a hill.  History was made on this hill 51  52 years ago next week. (Did I mention that I'm not good at math?  It's 52 not 51.)  Anyone have a guess what it might be?  If you want to learn more about this hill, come back to my blog daily and see what I just might be posting.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for #WordlessWednesday.

Pleasing the People with Surprise Patriotic Fruit Salad

Enough times, I'm pleasantly surprised by my readers.  A post is a hit.  People love the music I like to post on Mondays, it seems.

Like yesterday's music post, which was on surfing songs of the 1960's. 

My readers enjoyed the theme so much, and I thank them for stopping by.

Sometimes, I put something out there on my blog and it just clicks.  I hope this food post will click with you, too.

A few days ago, I was shopping at a local farm store, and I found this bargain what I thought was what we Americans call a cantaloupe.  Couldn't beat the $1 price.  Cantaloupes next to it were more expensive.  This looked OK and smelled OK.  I bought it.

Except it wasn't a cantaloupe. When I opened it up, the color was all wrong for a cantaloupe/muskmelon.  Green/white flesh greeted me, not the usual orange.  But with netting on the outside, it looked like a cantaloupe.  But it was oval, come to think of it, not round. 

Hmmm.  I'm now thinking it is an Ananas melon.  It doesn't smell to me like pineapple (ananas is pineapple in French, Danish and Dutch, among other languages), but my nose isn't the best.  What I did know is that I've never had a melon like this before.

Oh, was it good.

Anyway, I ate on it for a few days and then it was time to make a fruit salad.  We had blueberries from our last picking of the season (August 5) and fresh strawberries that were just starting to freeze.  They had to be used right away.

So this is what my spouse put together. Just cut up fruit.  No orange juice (disagrees with me) or other fruit juice. No sugar.  No cream (I have never liked mixing cream with fresh fruit.)  Just a pure mix of cut up melon, cut up starting to freeze strawberries, and fresh blueberries.

With apologies to my non-United States readers, I'm calling this Patriotic Fruit Salad (that melon flesch does look more white than green.).  Three cheers for the red, whitish and blue fruit.

Three more cheers for a new food find. I wish you were here to share it with me.

I wonder, now that our local cantaloupes are in season, if I'll see this again.  

One can hope.

 

Surfin' Songs #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday, and that means Music!  Welcome to another edition of Music Moves Me, brought to you by these fine bloggers:

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her co-hosts are: Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, and me. 

Each month we have a guest conductor. Today, we welcome - ME!

My theme for today is"You Pick".  I hope you like music of the 60's because...

I've been thinking of the surf and beach songs of the 60's.  Perhaps I am trying to move back to a time in my life (growing up) when things seemed so innocent (although, of course, they were not).

I'd like to Walk, Don't Run, back to those times, with the Ventures, starting in 1960.  I found, in researching, that the Ventures were actually covering something originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954, then Chet Atkins in 1956.  The Ventures released their hit in the spring of 1960, and updated it in 1964.  This is the 1960 version.  The song has since been recorded by various artists.

 

From 1963, Surfin' Bird by the Trashmen is one of my spouse's favorite songs.  I discovered this was not quite a cover (more like a mash-up) of two songs by a doo-wop group called the Rivingtons': Papa Oom Maw Maw and The Bird is the Word, as better told here.  As a result of publicity, the Trashmen had to share writing credits with the Rivingtons.

Since I want to give the Rivingtons some credit, too, here is "The Bird is the Word".

The Beach Boys, and Surfin' USA, from 1963.  This song also had a disputed authorship and Brian Wilson ended up sharing credits with Chuck Berry.

Pipeline by The Chantays', from 1962, on the Lawrence Welk show.  This is one of my favorite all time instrumentals.  I do have many favorite all time instrumentals....

Still another from 1963 - Surf City by Jan & Dean.  I was writing this post outside, and this song got the house finches chirping.

One last song for your Monday.  Back to the Beach Boys, and Surfer Girl.

Next week is the anniversary of Woodstock and I will try to work it into the theme (the theme I picked) about picking a playlist from one decade.  Stay tuned!

Same time, same place, next week, right?  Join me then.

Container Gardening and Fall Gardening

We have limited room to garden because our small back yard is fairly shady.  We try to grow things in a couple of Earth Boxes but with only limited success.   The vast majority of our gardening is in two community garden beds - one in ground (spouse) and one raised bed (mine, due to my back issues) which spouse ends up doing most of the maintenance on while I work part time.

I have written about our home container gardening in the past and wanted to give you a quick tour of that, including a not too successful raised bed on the side of our house.  I also wanted to answer a question put by one of my regular readers (thank you!) asking what we plant for fall in our gardens.

Turns out I took enough pictures for two (or maybe more) posts.

Parsley.  We have to keep this elevated because of groundhog problems at our house. We tried planting from seed this year, but the seedlings all died.  This year, all the plants seem to be bolting.   No idea why. (And yes, in case you were wondering, we also have sage, rosemary and thyme in our sunny front yard.  The rosemary must be overwintered indoors.

Beets (left) and basil (right).  Basil is looking a bit worn in the pot.  We bought a flat of small basil seedlings and didn't dare separate them, so the whole thing went in the large pot.  

 

Our raised bed has to compete with a maple for water but we've found kale will grow in it.  We had romaine lettuce in here, too, until the groundhog found it.  The rest of what is growing in here are onions (for green onions). It wasn't meant as a fall crop but it's going to become one.  Someone at our community garden gave away excess onion bulb starts he had purchased, and we were one of the beneficiaries.  (Thank you!) By the way, the two pink things in the box are plastic pink flamingos hiding from the camera.  Please don't judge.

Here are the two Earth Boxes.  One has carrots growing, and we hope we get a crop.  The other box has kale planted in it (not yet germinated) as a fall crop.  We had tried planting fall peas in it but only one seed germinated. I suspect we didn't plant it deep enough for summer planting.

Last but not least for today, two ornamental strawberry plants in a large hanging basket.  Yes, I do get an occasional (and small, and tart) strawberry, if I beat the birds to them.  You can see one - a small pop of red - in the lower right.

No ginger this year.  We gave up on it a while back.

Other fall crops we hope to get to harvest?  A planting of beans (a gamble crop) is in where our main crop onions were harvested in the garden. And we are still thinking on the others.  Unfortunately, our garden opened late for unavoidable reasons, and so we are already pushing our first frost date (which, last year, was in September but is normally in October).

Snapshots of The Last Week in the Garden

Pictures taken here and there the end of July and beginning of August.

Our sunflowers are now blooming, to the delight of bees.

In our raised bed community garden bed, a bee works eggplant flowers...

 ..and, thanks to them, an eggplant grows.

A Green Envy zinnia unfolds.

A white zinnia hosts an insect.

Orange cherry tomatoes continue to ripen.  This plant in our raised bed is taller than we are. 

We've already (not shown) harvested one green cabbage.  Our zucchini and yellow summer squash plants are nearly done.

Some of our onions (our most reliable crop) cure in the sun and harvesting them makes room in our garden for a fall crop.   

We've been having some deer problems at our community garden, though. We've only gotten a fraction of the beans we should have gotten. The person in the raised bed next to mine has lost some cabbage, with about half of the head eaten, That gardener also lost bean plants.

We are entering another very warm (can't call it "hot" with what other parts of the country have experienced) spell.  But fall is definitely coming.  We see the sun setting earlier each day, the crickets get louder, and the mosquitos more hungry.

Still, I don't want summer (and our garden) to end.

Not yet.

Garlic and Onion Skies #SkywatchFriday

Local onion and garlic farmers have been harvesting their crop.   Back on July 30, I took these pictures at a farm and store about 30 miles (48 km) from us, in the Southern Tier of New York State.

Outside the farm store, the crop for sale on display.

Inside, the garlic is laid out to dry (most of this isn't the bulb, the part you see in your supermarket).

Garlic on display.

As we went home with our purchases.

A nice rural scene, even with the power line.

Want more skies?  Visit Yogi and the other skywatching bloggers who participate at #SkywatchFriday.

Can You Have Too Many Flowers?

A coolish spell we've been having in the Southern Tier of New York State is ending - after today it is back to the heat.

I think my flowers have been grateful for the cool spell.  Here are some of them from the last three days.

Why did I take these pictures?  For yesterday, the work day had just ended, and I had been in a four hour webinar (ugh!) all afternoon.  The sunlight felt (and looked) so good.

Do I post too many flower posts?  I hope not. 

I'm starting with a nasturtium.  Somehow, we only ended up with two nasturtium plants this year.  One of them was a variety new to me, Orchid Flame, but it is actually an heirloom, dating from before 1897.  They are a trailing variety, but right now the only plant is still in the mounding stage. 

Tall phlox. The year we planted this I thought it would die from some kind of flight.  But it powered through and gets better every year.

Hibiscus.  This was a tribute plant.  My aunt, who passed away in August of 2003, loved hibiscus.  I always think of her when this plant starts to bloom.  The last two years, we've had an unknown insect dining on the leaves and, despite organic sprays, the leaves aren't looking too good.

Dahlia. We bought this at Aldi, a discount grocery, a couple of years back.  It's done great.

Finally, almost the last of our large yellow day lilies. They have such a wonderful scent.  

I have more, but I'll save those pictures for another day.

To answer my own question - no, you can't have too many flowers.

In a couple of months, I will miss my flowers so much.

Hummingbird Moth #WordlessWednesday

Years ago, when I lived in Arkansas, I saw what looked like a hummingbird feeding from some of my flowers.  But I was told by someone it wasn't a hummingbird - it was a moth.

I've seen hummingbird moths a handful of times since, including earlier this month.

In the first picture, the moth is blurred.  If you look in the center of the photo and then slightly to the right, between two pinkish red flowers you will see two clear wings, and a blurry body.

This capture is better.  Still not great, but the moth was not cooperating.  The moth is lower than center, still kind-of in the lower center.  I tried to figure out how to insert an arrow into the blog, but it would involve html programming, which I do not know. 

What I think this moth is (after some research) is a "hummingbird clearwing" and, if you are curious, here is more about this moth.  

Like hummingbirds, they feed on nectar but are smaller than hummingbirds.  Like hummingbirds, they also fly during the day.

What an exciting find.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Double Plus Good Blueberry Pie

We've been blueberry picking three times this season, and are hoping for a fourth time.  This has not been the smoothest season for the local blueberry farmers, though, because of all our rain.  Last time we picked, the farmer told us about some of their difficulties, including having to close fields in the middle of the picking day.

I love having the fresh berries so much, though, and we can (and do) always freeze the excess for the winter.

What follows is one of my favorite ways of eating blueberries - blueberry pie, using a slightly changed recipe provided by the U Pick farmer.  It makes the best blueberry pie I've ever had, and I blogged about it last year.  This year, I made some changes, so here is my Better Than Last Year Double Plus Good Blueberry Pie.

There seem to be a lot of similar recipes online (in fact I found a recipe identical to what the farm provided in an online church cookbook) so I feel OK in posting this farm's recipe for all to enjoy.

Crust

1 refrigerated piecrust (because I'm lazy), baked in a 9 inch glass pie pan.  Last year I tried to make a low calorie graham cracker crust.  This year, I abandoned that thought. 

Filling:

4 cups fresh blueberries (divide into 2 parts, 2 cups each) (apparently you can use frozen but I haven't done it myself, so I don't know if it will work with frozen.)

3/4 cup sugar.  I tried 1/2 cup last year, but later berries tend to be tart.

2 1/2 tbsp potato starch or 3 tbsp cornstarch.  We had leftover potato starch in the house from a holiday earlier in the year, so used that.

A pinch of salt

1 tbsp lime juice (because that's what we have - the original called for lemon juice)

1/4 cup cold water

1 tbsp butter (we used whipped butter).  Last year I used 1 tsp light butter-like spread (because that's what I had) but I think the butter works better.

Method

Combine sugar, cornstarch or potato starch, water, salt until well blended.  Add 2 cups blueberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the blueberry mixture thickens. If you use potato starch, please keep in mind that it will thicken very quickly.  You need to pay careful attention.

Then, add the butter and lemon or lime juice.  Let cool.

When cooled, place the reserved 2 cups of blueberries into the pie crust.  

Then top with the cooked mixture.

Serve. (A little squished in this picture getting it out of the pie pan, but it tasted so good!)

I changed the name to "Double Plus Good Blueberry Pie" because it is that good.  I'm not surprised this recipe is picked up by church cookbooks.  Sometimes you find the best recipes in those collections.

If you are a pie eater, what is your favorite pie?

Friendship is Everything #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday, and it's time for music!

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her co-hosts are: Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, and me. 

Each month we have a guest conductor. Today, we welcome - ME!

My theme for today is in honor of National Friendship Day - songs about friendship, or mentioning friends in the title. 

One reason I picked this theme is because, the older we get, a fact of life is that our list of friends tends to shrink, with health issues and even death.  At the same time, friends become more important than ever, especially in these times of pandemic.  So let's treasure each of the friends we have in our lives.  And now, let's start the music!

Let's start with one of the greatest rock singers of all time - Freddy Mercury and Queen, and 1986's "Friends Will Be Friends".  Yes, friends will be friends, right to the end.

I want to thank all my online and "in real life" friends with Andrew Gold and 1978's "Thank You For Being A Friend".

"In My Life" is such a beautiful Beatles song.  "Some are dead and some are living...in my life I've loved them all..." 

It's time to lighten the mood a bit.  The next two songs may surprise you if you know my musical likes, but I like them both. 

This next song was popular when my son was in late elementary school and I must have heard it a zillion times.  Let's make it a zillion and one, with Vitamin C and "Graduation (Friends Forever)".

 And, although I generally don't like pop that much, I love this Spice Girls song - Wannabe and its line "Friendship never ends".

One last song.  Several weeks ago, I included James Taylor's covers of "You've Got a Friend" in a blog post about 1971.  It's now time for the original - Carole King and "You've Got a Friend". 

And that, dear friends, is a wrap!  But before you go, I hope you have time to enjoy my post from yesterday, a tribute to Dusty Hill of ZZ Top.

Join me again next week, same time, same place.

A Tribute to Dusty Hill

Dusty Hill, the bass player for ZZ Top for over 50 years, died in his sleep July 27 at the age of 72.

I have to admit here (please hold your boos) that ZZ Top was not my favorite band.  In a way, that may have been because of their success.  After a time, some of their songs became (to me) overplayed.  I can't put my finger on why I never became a big fan of theirs.  My loss.

That doesn't diminish the talent of that group, or of Dusty Hill.  Especially if you are Texan (and I did live in Texas for a big eight and a half months or so, back in the mid 1970's - does that make me a Texan? Probably not), at least one ZZ Top may be on your playlist.

I am concentrating on songs where Dusty Hill was the lead singer (the first two).  These are all live performances.

 The hit "Tush".

The sound isn't the best on this, but it had such power, I wanted to include it. Dusty Hill singing on the classic "Jailhouse Rock."  This blew me away!

Finally, I couldn't resist John Fogerty performing with ZZ Top (Dusty Hill mentioned in the video). I'm a big John Fogerty/CCR fan, and, by the end of this set, I was also a ZZ Top fan.

Rest in peace, Dusty Hill.

I will have my normal "Music Moves Me" post tomorrow.  The theme will be Friendship - songs about friendship, or with "friends" in the title.  Please join me again then.

Adult Summer Reading Log 2021

Each year our four local libraries sponsor child, teen, and adult reading challenges.  I've only participated a handful of times. I decided to participate this summer though, partially thanks to the ability to take out e-books from the New York [City] public library.  That ability was granted to all New York State residents during the pandemic, and is (so far) continuing.

Only one of the local libraries permitted you to list books you didn't take out from their library.  I know, their rules, like it or go somewhere else.  There may be good reasons to require people to take books out from their library (funding for the library, I'm thinking, would be a primary reason).  "So be it".

I just finished my fourth book. There's no minimum, which is nice, because it end by August 19.  Here are my four, with a little (or a lot) about each (NOT to be considered a book review).

TRIGGER ALERTS - the first book I mention includes scenes of murder, rape, and other horrors of war and its aftermath.  The third book's topic is a pandemic.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker.  This is a retelling of Homer's The Iliad from the point of view of a female character, Briseis, a Trojan queen taken captive and enslaved when the Greeks take her city and sack it.   I don't read much historical fiction but this intrigued me because I have never read The Iliad.  I had to study The Odyssey, a kind of sequel, multiple times, but never The Iliad, and I have no idea why.  Could I enjoy Ms. Barker's book without any Iliad background?

YES! (although I had to look things up from time to time).

Now, I want to read The Iliad but it's going to have to wait for winter.  As for this book - I have mixed feelings about it. On the whole, it was well written. However, the British slang threw me out of the story more than once (minor quibble - certainly the soldiers couldn't speak in Greek for the English audience!) .  Also, I wondered why, if this was a book telling the story from the point of view of a woman who never had a chance to tell her story, Ms. Barker spent enough time writing from the point of view of one of the major male characters, Achilles.  So it's a book about a silenced woman partially written from the point of view of a man?

I understand Barker isn't done telling the story of Briseis, which I look forward to when the next book in the series is published.

Four Stars.  I recommend it.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan.  I enjoy dystopian literature and (some) zombie literature.  I love a good zombie apocalypse, and looked forward to a good read.  It disappointed me. Stilted writing and one of the weirdest love triangles I've ever run across in dystopian young adult literature, just for starters.   I won't be seeking out the sequels.

The End of Men by Christa Sweeney-Baird.  What I loved about this book is that it was written not long before before the COVID-19 pandemic.  So, one could compare and contrast the reactions to the pandemic in the book (a virus that kills only males, and kills most of them) to what happened "in real 2020 and beyond life". The book is presented to us as written by an (initially) unknown author some years after the pandemic struck.

Ms. Sweeney-Baird did an excellent job anticipating how people would behave, even though the pandemics were totally different.  The book is written from the points of view of several women, and one man (Spoiler Alert - the man survives). One of the characters, at the end, is revealed as the author of the book, someone who interviewed the rest of the people whose stories were told in order to help the author to heal.    The book also ponders many questions, from "what if a pandemic kills loved ones of almost everyone alive?" to "how do we handle a labor force in a world where much of the population dies over a matter of months?", to the obvious "how do we keep the human race going?"

I give it five stars.  Highly recommended.

Finally, a non-fiction book Zero Fail, The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service" by Carol Leonnig.  For the benefit of my non-American readers, the United States' Secret Service is tasked with many duties, the most important of which is the 24 hour day protection of the President and Vice-President of the United States and his/her family.  Carol Leonnig, an investigative journalist with over 20 years experience, has written a well documented (and scary) book of triumphs and failures taking place mainly from the Kennedy administration to right after the end of the Trump administration.  

It can be a bit hard to follow at times, and it took me part of the summer to wade through it (because I was only allowed to take it out for two weeks, and then I returned to a holds list), but it was well worth it. You learn a lot about our various Presidents - perhaps, in a few cases, too much for comfort.

I give it five stars.  Highly recommended.

As I approach my 70th year on this planet, I get more and more impatient over books that seem to be wasting my time.  Three out of four of these books delivered.

Now, perhaps in the next week, I'll start The Forest of Vanishing Stars, which I need to read and write a book review for on Goodreads after winning it in a contest.

Read any good books recently?

Gloomy July Skies #SkywatchFriday

On the last Thursday of July, 2021, the forecast was rain.  Again.  It's official - even before today, we had a record rainy July.

The day started out gloomy.  And then (surprise) it rained.  Hey, rain, can't you go somewhere you are needed?

After the rain stopped, spouse and I took a walk.  It was still trying to be gloomy.  There are benches overlooking the river, but no one was taking advantage of them.

As we walked, sun rays tried to break out of the clouds.  You can barely see them in the lower middle, just above the gloomy trees.

An actual patch of blue!  But it didn't last long.

Finally, I had to take a puddle picture.

Hoping for better pictures next time.

Also, hoping all of my readers and their families are staying safe from the heat, the storms, and the pandemic.

Joining Yogi and other sky loving bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.