June Reading List

Six books read in June - four from my stash of old books and two downloaded to my iPad, the first from Bridges through the library.

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh was one of the books through Bridges. This is a new author for me and this was her debut book. I really like psychological thrillers and this one had a twist I never saw coming. Mackintosh was a twelve-year police force veteran. I believe that shows in her writing. She goes on my list of favorite authors.

These are the four books of mine. They are stacked in order of size, just the opposite of the order in which I read them.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow is the book son Douglas sent me for Mother's Day. I don't know where he heard of it nor why he decided his Mom would like it, but like it I did - loved it in fact. Everything about this book is lush, the story, the descriptions, the paper it is printed on, even the cover feels like suede.
Here are a few lines of the book: "Well. Now at least you can look clear-eyed into your own future, and choose: stay safe and sane at home --
Or run away with me toward the glimmering, mad horizon Dance through this eternal green orchard, where ten thousand worlds hang ripe and red for the plucking; wander with me between the trees, tending them, clearing away the weeds, letting in the air.
Opening the doors."
I'm looking forward to reading Ms. Harrow's next book, The Once And Future Witches.

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller - who doesn't remember the sensation this book became? Besides being on the NYT bestseller list for more than 160 weeks, it also brought Oprah to Winterset to telecast her show live from the Cedar Bridge, as well as untold thousands of tourists wanting to see the bridges for themselves.
I first became a fan of Waller's through his essays, the first of which was published in the DM Register and covered his canoe trip down the Shell Rock River from it's source near Albert Lea, MN to its end where it flows into the Cedar River near Waller's home in Cedar Falls. His essays were pure prose; magic - to use the word he used a lot.
I owned most of Waller's books at one time, they are probably in one of the other boxes of books in the garage. None of his later novels achieved the success of Bridges, but they were good.
His first wife, Georgia, was a ceramic artist. When we lived in West Des Moines, there was an annual juried art show on Fifth Street. Georgia was one of the artists displaying and selling her pottery. I became quite starstruck when I saw Robert sitting in her booth. I dithered for awhile about going home and getting my books and asking him to autograph them, finally deciding to leave the man alone - it was Georgia's day, not his. (I also remember realizing he was wearing foundation makeup which I found somewhat disconcerting.)
In 1995 the movie version of Waller's book came out, which I really liked, aided perhaps because it starred two of my favorites, Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. There had been a big search in Madison County to discover the perfect location for Francesca's farm house. When the location was finally chosen and a picture published of the house, I was surprised to realize it was a house I had once coveted. Back in the day when I was looking for a place to rent in the country, I saw this empty deserted farmstead, but when I asked about it, I was told it had been empty for some time and that the owners "would never rent it to anyone". I guess a movie production company had never made an offer before. 😏
Waller's book was a huge mainstream success, though not quite as critically acclaimed. I know when I bought and read the book in the early 90's, I was as captivated as millions of others. Rereading it with a more literary, less emotional, point of view, it does not hold up as classic literature.

Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson is a book that does hold up as a classic. I've read it at least twice and blogged about it more than once. My friend Ellen gave me this book three or four years ago. It's near impossible to be grateful for Covid-19, but the closing of my library has *made* me do what I always planned to do - revisit my own 'stash'.
Just as with 'Bridges', I reread Ramona with more of a literary eye. Oh, my goodness, what an astounding author Helen Hunt Jackson was. I have tried reading 19th Century novels before and found them too archaic*. I am so happy to have finally reread this novel. At times I found it hard to believe the book was first published in 1884. (This version was printed in 1970.) It is really relevant to the inequality issues and disenfranchisement marches of today. That has to be the definition of a timeless novel. Not to mention Jackson's prose, the artisic mastery of her painting of pictures with words. If I could time travel, Helen Hunt Jackson is a woman I would love to become acquainted with.

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher is a novel set in the years leading up to and during WWII. The main character joins the WRNS (Women's Royal Navy Service) after the RAF pilot she was in love with is killed in the Battle of Britain over Dover and the English Channel. Pilcher, then Rosamunde Scott, served with the WRNS from 1943 to 1946. I'm sure she drew upon her own experiences while writing this book which is nearly 1,000 pages in length. Pilcher really brings her characters to life. I felt like I knew each and every one as well as their environs. Often when a book is well populated it is hard to keep all the names straight, not so in Pilcher's books.
I used to attend a book club at the library in my home town. One of the librarians facilitated the monthly meetings. We generally just reported what we were reading and why we did or didn't like the book. I remember the coordinator saying she couldn't stand books with "all those descriptions". She "just wanted the story". For me so much the pleasure of reading is the prose of description. Like this passage: "There were foxgloves too, in profusion, and pale-pink mallow, and tangles of wild honeysuckle, all the way up the lane, and the dark granite of rock wore velvety patches of saffron-colored lichen." Can't you just picture that lane?
Coming Home won the Romantic Novel of the Year award in 1995. It was her longest novel and is described as her most autobiographical novel. Our library has reopened and I think I'm going there to load up on enough books to get me through July including Pilcher's Shell Seekers. Really hot weather is almost as good as really cold when it comes to reading.

Sarah and the Dragons by Michael R. Stern is the book I ordered online and had delivered to my iPad. Michael is an author I am friends with on Facebook. I began seeing his FB posts because he is an author friend of my author brother, Les Lynam. I had previously read Mr. Stern's book Reflections On A Generous Generation. And just as I had an erroneous preconception about that book, I did the same for this one. I thought it was a picture book for young readers. And while it is listed as a science fiction and fantasy book for children and there are many wonderful illustrations by Mary Ryan Reeves, it is a book for all ages.
When Sarah is lost during a storm, two friendly dragons rescue her and bring her safely home. Trevor and Sebastian become her friends and she goes to visit their home on Dragon Island where she learns a lesson about how to treat others who are different from us. "Kindness is important."
Dragons are meant to be magic and there is magic in this story. And a whole lot of magic in Mr. Stern's pen.

It felt good to be back to the library today for the first time since March. Six books came home with me, so you know how I'll be spending these hot, humid days of July. 😎

(*Specifically an old book my Grandma Bessie gave me many years ago.)

Cool Morning Walk

Overnight lows in the 50's made it a crisp morning to walk. I parked on the East side of Lake McKinley toward the north entrance and walked across the pedestrian bridge to access the start of the new portion of the trail.

This is the first time I've walked the trail on the west side of the lake except for a short distance on the south end of it. I had the path all to myself this morning.

I thought it was interesting that ants had chosen to make their nests in the seams of the walk. I wonder why?

I couldn't identify this tree.

So I took a close up of its leaves. So far, my best guess is a Siouxland Poplar, a 'cotton-less cottonwood' introduced by South Dakota State University.

Bindweed and limestone.....

......and lone bindweed and cattails. Bindweed is a member of the morning glory family.

Birdsfoot trefoil and white Dutch clover at the west side of the pedestrian bridge. I see people fishing at this spot, but I think the net has more to do with holding the soil and seedlings in place after the new bridge was completed.

Bloom where you are planted. A lone sweet white clover plant coming up through the blacktop.
It's funny that when I started out the morning felt cool, but when I got back I was quite warm. Guess a little exercise is not only good for you, it can heat you up. 😎

Summer Morning, Father's Day Walk

I see puffy white clouds and think 'summer'. And in addition to being Father's Day, the latest date it can possibly be, it is also the first full day of Summer. (The solstice slipped in yesterday at 4:43 p.m.)

As usual, I was up before dawn, so I walked out to the street to get a better sunrise picture from a different perspective - looking toward downtown.

Last night's forecast had mentioned the possibility of morning rain, so we had already decided on an early morning Father's Day walk on the Green Valley Lake/Park trails and headed out there at 6:30 a.m. Ready. Set. Go. 6:45 a.m.

Bud, headed across the causeway. We don't even try to walk together - he walks faster and farther; I walk slower and stop to take photos.

I cut off onto the one remaining gravel path where I came upon this poor, dead, mole. If an owl killed it, why didn't it carry the mole off to eat?

Stump and thistle. I hated digging thistles out of the pasture when I was younger, but I really admire their purple flowers.

Milkweed is such an important plant for Monarch Butterflies. I was happy to see them in several locations and actually smelled their fragrance before I saw their flowers.

Elderberries are flowering, too. I like their fragrance even more than the Milkweeds.

Close up of the Elder flowers.

And looking back across the lake at the same Elderberry bush.

Timothy grass in bloom alongside wild oats.

For some reason when I see this plant, one which I associate with my youth, I have trouble remembering what Mom called it. This morning 'bull nettle' came to mind and that is what I thought it was.
A search tells me this is 'horse nettle', but if I read further, another name for it is, bull nettle. So, there.

Perfect timing, Bud's coming back across the causeway, ready to slow down for his cool down. We can walk together back to the car.

Back to where we started from.

Ready to get into the car and leave, I spotted this Kingbird. It really was a beautiful morning for a Father's Day, Welcome Summer, walk.

Walking on the Wild Side

This morning I took a walk on the wild west side of Lake McKinley. This is the newest section of  the paved pathway.

Vandals or lovers (or both) managed to leave their mark while the cement was still wet.
I wonder if AM and VP are still a couple?

If it weren't for the new homes nearby, you might think you were out in the countryside.

Looking across the lake to the old Girl Scout cabin...

...and trying to photograph the sun sparkles on the water.

The geese took to the water when a car came along. A few minutes later they were back on the road. I could barely hear one of the parents whisper/honking a warning to the youngsters that there were still dangers around. Be aware!

Walking back across the dam, the bright virescent green of the sumac flowers caught my eye.

As did the lavendar blossoms on the crown vetch. Sometimes I wonder if I am walking for exercise of if I am just taking a nature walk. I guess it is really both. I know I walk a lot faster if I don't take my camera along, but it isn't nearly as much fun.

Walking In The Neighborhood

So far this week I have just walked out the door and done a circuit of my own neighborhood. Yesterday morning it was really early, this morning it was three hours later. Wow, what a difference in the temps.

The only picture I took was of this 1929 Model A Ford Station Wagon. It was setting in a yard along Highway 34 with a For Sale sign on it. I'll bet something like this would command a pretty hefty price.

So I will share some photos of my planters.

This is one my grandson Brock made. It is weathering nicely, I think. The Portulaca seems to like it here.

And here. Mom always called these flowers Moss Rose. I see that another name for them, one I hadn't heard before, is Sun Rose. That might explain why they do so well in sunny spots.

I even put Portulaca in the old mailbox this year instead of the herbs I usually plant there. I don't know why I put it in so many pots this year. Maybe some sixth sense told me it is going to be a hot, dry, summer?

One more picture to share just because tomorrow will be great-granddaughter Lily's 8th birthday - her and little brother Maverick illustrating you don't have to have expensive toys to have fun.

Stay cool.

A Shaggy Dog Story

Sixty-one years ago today (also a Flag Day on a Sunday), I took my little brother to the picture show. He was five, I was 15. It was a show we could both enjoy:

Him because it was a funny, cute little movie about a boy who turns into an Old English Sheepdog and me because Tim Considine was in it. I had a crush on Tim from when he played Marty on the Disney TV serial Spin and Marty.
I would have said the movie was in color, not black and white, so I must be remembering the 1976 sequel, The Shaggy D.A. - a movie I most likely took my own children to see.

Another kind of drama had occurred just four days earlier:
"Leslie upset the utility cupboard on him today. Really made a mess." He was 'climbing' the shelves trying to reach something towards the top when it tipped over on him. I know Mom and I were both fearful about standing the cupboard back up - how much blood would we see? How badly was he injured?
"Didn't hurt him." I recorded in my diary. But I know it scared him.

I know Les has many memories of his childhood. He may or may not remember me taking him to see The Shaggy Dog, but I'll bet he remembers tipping over the utility cupboard! Even now, sixty-one years later. 😘

A Perfect, Rare Day In June

James Russell Lowell had it right when he penned: "And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days."

Another perfect morning for a walk. I think this is the most roses we've seen in the twelve years we've lived here. There have been some years when there weren't any blooms.

I always love to see Catalpa trees blooming. This one is near where
I left my car at Taylor Park to walk what I think of as the hospital trail because it connects the McKinley Park trails out to the hospital - and beyond. It is possible to go all the way out to Green Valley Park/Lake.

I couldn't help but notice this committee of turkey vultures in the distance. I suspect they were looking for morsels created by the hay mower.

When I see it somewhere else, I always wonder if this is the same heron that comes to our pond. He was stalking along one of the ponds built along Hurley Creek to improve the water quality flowing into Lake McKinley.

Adams Street bridge from the north; blue water, blue skies, a perfect, rare day in June.

Walking In Graceland

Sixth day of walking each morning, I think I'm firmly in the habit. After Sunday's walk I was anticipating achey knees and hips and I had them! What surprised me though were the shin splints. But I kept going and was rewarded when the pains went away by day four.

When I was up at McKinley Park taking some pictures earlier this Spring, a guy asked me if I remembered the "big sundial" and where in the park it used to be. I told him I did not, but that there was a big sundial out at Graceland Cemetery; is it possible they moved it out there? He didn't know and I can find nothing about it online.

When I first saw a bird sitting on this statue, it was so perfectly still I began to think it was part of the stone carving. Then it flew and I recognized a Mourning Dove. Appropriate?

A different statue, Hope, a different bird, Robin.

"Hope is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all"
    (Emily Dickinson)

Benches near the pond offer a serene setting for some meditation. It was a lovely, quiet morning to be back at Graceland, but already I could feel the day heating up.

On the way home I was coming up on a white commercial van with Covergirl written on the back doors. It was obviously a work vehicle. Why would it be advertising Covergirl cosmetics? Or did it have some other Covergirl association. Then I got close enough to see it read Convergint (Convergint Technologies). Maybe it is time to schedule that yearly eye exam!