State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

I really, really wanted to love this book as I loved her earlier book, Bel Canto.  But I couldn’t.  It has the same feeling of the suspension of time in a confined place and it explores the characters and their reaction to the restrictions and a plasticity of time as in Bel Canto.  But I couldn’t get past the implausibility of the story.  It just wouldn’t have happened, at least not that way.  The writing is vividly descriptive—you are in the dense green jungle, the anaconda leaves you breathless, the martins and rapps and martinets are exquisite.  Most of characters are complex and evolve as the story unfolds; others remain excruciatingly one dimensional.  I just don’t believe research pharmacologists working for a large pharmaceutical company set off so completely unprepared into the Amazon and the repetition of first one, followed by another, and another, is just so implausible as to spoil what would otherwise have been a really good book.

Rod's Back!!

I have loved Rod Dreher and his family ever since I read his book, Crunchy Cons.  (If you haven't read it, you are missing a delightful, thoughtful book.)  Rod had a blog crunchycons.com for a good while, then blogged at belief.net for a bit, and finally blogged briefly at Big Questions Online which abruptly and inexplicably ended about a year ago.  It was like Rod fell off the face of the earth. How could I find out about Julie's garden and chickens? the children's schooling vs. homeschooling? and most of all how was his beloved sister who was stricken with cancer doing?  I was actually hurt that he just dumped the blog so abruptly; all I could think was that his employer must have given him the choice of his blog or his job. Every couple of months I would google Rod Dreher but nothing new ever came up...until today!!  He is now blogging at The American Conservative.  Now the fact that he is at TAC should tell you that we don't always see eye to eye on things political but that's OK because I don't always agree with me either. So the good news is that Rod is back.  But the sad news is that his sister died yesterday and he is with his family planning her funeral.  Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Do It Anyway

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough 

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Morrison

I have been thinking quite a bit about Morrison who blogs at All

Doors Considered.  She is 60 and her husband is 55.  They are the poster people for what is happening in this The Long Recession.  They are probably better off than most their age because they have savings, no debt, a paid for house, and most of all they are better off than most because Morrison is paying attention.  But because she is paying attention, she is worried, very concerned.  Employment is the key and the fact is there just isn’t enough.  Add in age discrimination and she has good reason to be worried.  Currently her husband has a job but he was injured on the job and who knows how long the job will last.  Morrison is smart, she has found health insurance for them at the lowest cost but with a high deductible and she has found prescription drugs at rock bottom prices. But then again, one bad accident, one serious illness, what happens then??  

There are days when Morrison is down, she’s worried with good reason.  The rules of the game have been changed.  In fact, she thought she was playing one game and all of a sudden, she finds it’s not just new rules—it’s a whole different game.  Then there are days when she is happy to be alive and well, happy to cook good inexpensive food, enjoying the beauty of upstate New York.  Morrison is a fighter though.  She may be down but you can bet those mental wheels are cranking out ways to cope, ways to get a handle on the situation, ways to get and give joy in life.  Here’s to Morrison and all the other Morrisons who are struggling and living through The Long Recession.

9/11 Overdose

It was a terrible thing.  It is over. I have had enough of the 24/7 9/11.

Ready to evacuate

OK, the active fires are one county away so I have the house and car titles, the insurance papers, checkbooks, and credit cards packed in the van. The cats are inside and the carriers are ready; cat food and litter in the van. All our pictures are on a portable hard drive in the safety deposit box at the bank. Suitcases with clothes and shoes, quilts and pillows are ready to move. Portable radio and batteries, camera. DH medicine.
I am on a first name basis with Wendy at the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. She says that the smoke which came rolling in about 90 minutes ago is from the fires in Montgomery county and that there are no fires currently in our area.

What am I forgetting to get ready if we do have to evacuate?     

A Cool Day

This morning the temperature was in the low 60's!! This is the first time that has happened since May.  And today's high temperature is only 90!!  The humidity is very low (well, low for the Texas Gulf Coast).  So pleasant when I was out trimming the roses this morning.  Even the cats were frisking about.

Another Cool thing about today is the whiz of hummingbirds at the feeders. I could see 4 at one feeder and 5 at the other.  There were more but they just move too fast to count.  They love our feeders, butterfly weed, and purple salvia.  They are gathering along the coast before their migration to Central America.

The last Cool thing is my lemon cake which is out of the oven, cooling on the counter, waiting for the lemon glaze.



Thought for the Day:

I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.  Martha Washington