Book Nook Cafe discussion

madrano wrote: "Howdy, friends! I’ve been away from the board much longer than i thought i would be. First, there was our North Atlantic cruise, which was wonderful. Once we got ashore, we headed for Texas but our..."

Glad you're back, but also glad you got to escape this horrid heat and humidity for a time. Icebergs sound nice!

Thank you for the welcoming posts! We continue to have some internet issues. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising, as we are in "The Hill Country" of Texas, which can be rural, then urbanish 3 miles away. Additionally, our machines are still not behaving as they did prior to our cruise. I think we fooled with too many different settings, hoping to link up to family, friends and this group.

ANYway, now we are housesitting my sister-in-law's home while they are in Turks and Caicos, until Tuesday. They have a nice pool, so we have some relief from the high temps. This was unexpected, so we are kinda out of sync now. However, it's most welcome!

I've also managed to confuse my book/reading notes, so much of my weekend will be spent figuring out how to adapt this new change...or find a way to return to the old. The "updating" of Windows is part of the problem.

And so it goes...
Oh! Every day this week a small horned owl has greeted us in the patio out the back door. What a pleasurable way to start our day.

madrano wrote: "Oh! Every day this week a small horned owl has greeted us in the patio out the back door. What a pleasurable way to start our day."

They are beautiful !

I've been toying with putting What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman on my TBR.

I've added that to my TBR here at Goodreads, Alias. Thanks. We had a storm last night and we worried for the owl but this morning, there she sat, on the patio's ceiling fan. The swimming pool automated cleaner has ceased operating, however. Always something. OR, as Dan says, "The more you have, the more to break down." Decades he's been saying that!

Alias Reader wrote: "madrano wrote: "Oh! Every day this week a small horned owl has greeted us in the patio out the back door. What a pleasurable way to start our day."

They are beautiful !

I've been toying with putt..."

Oh, I love owls, too. And I love nightingales. When I lived in Switzerland (we keep our windows open all night, all year round in Switzerland, unless it's raining), there was a nightingale that would sing most of the night. It was gorgeous. I even put a nightingale in one of my latest short stories and titled it simply "Nightingale."

madrano wrote: "I've added that to my TBR here at Goodreads, Alias. Thanks. We had a storm last night and we worried for the owl but this morning, there she sat, on the patio's ceiling fan. The swimming pool autom..."

Glad the owl was okay.

Sorry to hear about the pool. :(

Kiki, the idea of sleeping with nightingales singing sounds wonderful. Thanks for that image.

Alias, the pool was flooded with leaves but we cleared it out, along with the filter system. It's still not up to norm but we can handle it, i believe. Fortunately, the temperature didn't even go over 100 today!

In NY our temps have come down to around high 70s- 80s but the humidity is just so high. Gross. I think by Thursday things are supposed to get better. Fingers crossed !

I'm glad your TX temps are under 100. I can't even contemplate such temps.

It ain't pretty, particularly when the humidity is high. Today is nice--88 and 54% humidity. Slight rain possible.

On our travels, as i've mentioned above, our pads & surface went berserk. I've been trying to repair the damage but i seem to have lost some book notes. And then, because i didn't have enough book issues, i misnumbered my entries, so i listed 10 numbers for which i had no books. I need to settle down!

Meanwhile, i'm just trying to catch up on the board posts--what fun to learn what i missed. It's slow going but i will catch up. Tomorrow we head back to San Antonio, so i'll probably be AFK until Wednesday.

Wow, you are really close to me right now! LOL! We are on our last week in Bastrop. We are moving to Marble Falls on Saturday. We will be there for 3 months, and hopefully 6. I've heard the weather is supposed to be bad this winter and I really don't want to mess with moving at the end of the year. I'm hoping my BF will extend his contract.

Goodness, Kim, we are close. My sister-in-law & husband live in Kingsland, which is about 15 minutes from Marble Falls. In fact, the Assisted Living facility we hope to place my Mother-in-law is in MF. We have no idea how long the wait will be, however, as she's 21 on the waiting list. Enjoy the area!

Thanks! We're going to be staying right near Buchanan Lake. I think we have to drive through Kingsland to get to MF. I'll be making several trips to SA, though, because my best friend and daughter are still there. Plus I have a few other friends that I worked with that I like to get together with from time to time.

I'm not a fan of Texas but San Antonio is a terrific place. The Hill Country has become the Wine Country and all seems too-too. We've come to know the Dallas to SA & Kingsland route too well, so i am jaded. What used to feel unique now seems uninteresting.

That said, i admit to liking the "antique" shops throughout this part of Texas. Not owning a home, we seldom visit them, due to temptations, but there are some good "artifacts" of the way the state used to be not all that long ago.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your return to the State, Kim. Being near family is what drew us back (for now) and the upcoming season is worth lingering here.

I know what you mean about the route getting boring. It’s pretty much that way after 2 trips. Lol! I’ve never been up in this part of Texas, so today’s route was new to me.

When my BF lived in Victoria and I was in SA, I drove that route so much I could have done it in my sleep. Lol!

For me, that describes much of Texas. In spring, when the bluebonnets are in blossom most drives are different. Other than that, particularly in dry years, where everything is dried out, not even the colors change for months on end.

We found Victoria to be a charming town. While there we found a booklet listing old homes there, which we used one day. What a variety of old architecturally Victorian/western homes.

In honor of our world traveler - Madrano - today is World Tourism Day

https://www.un.org/en/observances/tou...

:)

Julie wrote: "In honor of our world traveler - Madrano - today is World Tourism Day

https://www.un.org/en/observances/tou..."

Yay madrano, an intrepid traveler with your hubby. 👍

Julie wrote: "In honor of our world traveler - Madrano - today is World Tourism Day

https://www.un.org/en/observances/tou..."

Thank you, very much. What a great idea for a day, even if a person is only able to read about traveling the world.

The graphic reminds me that Dan, my traveling companion & husband, has never been to Mexico! How that happens, living in San Antonio on & off as a kid, is beyond me. Lucky me, that was my first foreign country.

madrano wrote: "The graphic reminds me that Dan, my traveling companion & husband, has never been to Mexico! How that happens, living in San Antonio on & off as a kid, is beyond me. Lucky me, that was my first foreign country."

I lived in San Antonio for 12 years and never went to Mexico. I actually have no desire to, either.

Interesting, Kim. It just seems like such a natural thing to do but, then again, i'm a rambler, it appears. And my family seldom traveled at all.

Likely Dan's folks didn't go south because they lived around the world as part of his dad's military career, too.

madrano wrote: "Likely Dan's folks didn't go south because they lived around the world as part of his dad's military career, too."

Maybe. I still want to travel, especially to places in Europe. I just have no interest in Mexico. It's not a place I've ever wanted to visit. I did get to visit Paris, though, which was on my bucket list. So is the Great Wall of China, although with everything that's going on over there, I'll probably never get to see it.

Kim, my above-mentioned husband feels the way you do about visiting Mexico. As i did so (graduation gift) when i was in high school, i'm okay, although i know much of the things i most like visiting (museums and historic sites) have changed. It also helps that we have visited Costa Rica and Guatemala.

I hear ya on China. Ever since hearing about the Terra Cotta soldiers, i've wanted to visit there. As it is, i'm seen exhibits in the US, limited statuary from that site. This may have to satisfy me.

Recently (i think it was on Hulu, not sure), i saw a film about a nearby site in China with has smaller soldiers, many nude.
https://www.springfilms.tv/portfolio/... So, it's moved higher on my list. This link is to the film i saw, btw. While it shared little about the latest figures, it gave me a better overall picture.

Madrano wrote: "Ya'll are making me smile with your gator stories. "Ours" was so docile I wondered if it was rubber until it blinked. Of course it still could have been, with all the robotic advances.

We chose Su..."

Sanjay Gupta did a fascinating segment on 60 Minutes about Tabasco Sauce, a 150 year old tradition.

https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/XalYc...

Madrano wrote: "Where did the last month go? After we arrived in NYC we were busy with family & a few friends there. Upon exiting, we caught colds, so have been suffering & now recouperating in Yorktown, VA. At la..."

Deb, do you primarily visit historic battle sites?

We are moving to a property that was adjacent to/part of the Brandywine Battlefield in Chadds Ford, PA. Come visit! Our road is named after a man (a Quaker) whose house was at the battlefield and was used by Washington for meetings. A few houses away from us is Kuerner Farm, where Andrew Wyeth painted his famous Helga paintings and many others.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Sanjay Gupta did a fascinating segment on 60 Minutes about Tabasco Sauce, a 150 year old tradition..."

I cannot say for certain but there was a film playing in the tour's waiting room. It may have been from that program. In the same town we stopped at the Konriko Rice Mill. No film but the visit was much less structured.
https://www.iberiatravel.com/blog/art...

JoAnn; I have many ancient grandparents and cousins buried at the Brandywine church in Chadd’s Ford. I’ve visited a few times to see them. I might have passed your house. Small world.
Michele

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Deb, do you primarily visit historic battle sites?..."

What a great location to live, JoAnn. We visited the area over Thanksgiving Week, in '06. For some reason i cannot locate my photos, although i know i had my digital camera then. Maybe misfiled, as it was one of our shorter vacations.

We visit a variety of places, as well--museums, writer's homes, parks. We stopped and liked the Brandywine site, particularly the striking stone homes. We've seldom met a Revolutionary battle site that we didn't want to revisit. History intrigues us and the more we read, the more we want to revisit.

While i knew the Wyeth family lived in the area, i cannot recall finding a particular place for them. I remember when those Helga paintings left the nation in awe. If we return, i would welcome meeting up with you for some book & travel thoughts.

Michele wrote: "JoAnn; I have many ancient grandparents and cousins buried at the Brandywine church in Chadd’s Ford. I’ve visited a few times to see them. I might have passed your house. Small world.
Michele"

small world indeed!

madrano wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Deb, do you primarily visit historic battle sites?..."

What a great location to live, JoAnn. We visited the area over Thanksgiving Week, in '06. ... While I knew the Wyeth family lived in the area, i cannot recall finding a particular place for them."

Not sure what you mean by "a particular place for them"......Andrew Wyeth's home and studio are about a mile or two northwest of the battlefield. He is heavily represented in the Brandywine River Museum across from the battlefield. NC Wyeth's studio is on our road. And Jamie lives nearby in Delaware.

When we visited, we were on our own, not even a guide book. (It was a last minute trip.) We saw no signs indicating Wyeth's home, visitor's center or studio, which i thought would be open to the public. Nothing apparent was evident, so i'm baffled how we missed that. Do you know if anything was open then? I ask because Andrew was still alive when we visited.

ANYway, our time was limited, as is evident from the fact we, firm museum visitors, didn't even visit the Brandywine River museum.

Visiting studios of artists is one of my favorite things to do when traveling, so this is disappointing. As i mentioned, we hope to return and do better prior research. We also missed the Longwood Gardens but that was a decision based on the November weather that visit.

Tonight we are in Albuquerque New Mexico where it’s actually cool 38° right now. Last night we were in Lubbock Texas and the winds were whipping about 70 miles an hour. What a contrast to tonight where the sky is clear and it’s crispy cold

Today we stopped at the Blue Hole, which is a 80 foot deep pond in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. If you’ve read the book, Bless Me, Ultima—Rudolfo Anaya, you may be familiar with this body of water. It features heavily in the coming of age story. While i was tickled to be there, as i really enjoyed the book, i was surprised that there was no mention of the book, the author, or anything else about the Deep Hole, except its depth.

https://www.santarosabluehole.com/

madrano wrote: "Tonight we are in Albuquerque New Mexico where it’s actually cool 38° right now. Last night we were in Lubbock Texas and the winds were whipping about 70 miles an hour. What a contrast to tonight w..."

Thanks for sharing, deb. For us armchair travelers it's fun to follow along with you and Dan.

Thanks. Wi-Fi has been iffy, thanks to the high winds, so i’ve been unable to connect regularly. Today all’s well, thankfully.

Have fun on your journey. Hopefully it will be a mild spring when you get here to California and not raining or an early summer heat wave.

Thanks, Denise. We hope to avoid driving in snow, too, going over the mountains to Oregon. Weird trip.

Today was cool & lovely.

We head to San Antonio tomorrow for my Mother-in-Law's interment. After that, we head back to Dallas for two days, then head north, ultimately to Montana, for a wee bit of a family reunion.

However, this will be the end of my easy posting on the board, via our desktop. It's slow but gets the job accomplished easier. So, as usual, i caution that we may not get as many signals as needed for parts of the journey. We think internet is everywhere but the prices lead some hotels to pass on upgrades that are really useful.

ANYway, i'll be on my iPad to post, which is limited, at least as how i want to post.

We return to Dallas around August 20, where we'll be staying until almost the end of the year. Enjoy the season, folks.

madrano wrote: "We head to San Antonio tomorrow for my Mother-in-Law's interment. ."

Deb, you and Dan are in my thoughts during this difficult time.

@deb definitely learned that lesson. When I drove from LA to Waco I stayed on the major highways and looked through San Antonio and then Austin.
The second time my daughters dad drove and he likes the off the beaten path… so he decided to follow GPS diagonally through some back roads through a lot of farmland. Until the signal died and there wa no more GPS. And no phone signal. And he was low on gas.

Be safe out there!

Thank you, Alias. It will be the 99th year of her existence, so, a celebration, as well.

Denise, what a story. There are far too many small Texas towns with no gas station, either. So just reaching a town doesn’t mean gas. Poor guy.

madrano wrote: "Denise, what a story. There are far too many small Texas towns with no gas station, either. So just reaching a town doesn’t mean gas. Poor guy."

Don't feel bad for him, it was his fault. I told him to stay on the freeways.

Luckily the next small town DID have gas. Eventually I was able to pick up a cell phone signal and search for gas...it turned out I had a signal because the town that served the farms was 1/4 mile away. It had gas, a mini mart, a diner, and a bank. Then I told him we were taking the freeways on the way home. And we did, even though he planned a longer drive than I did and we had to get all the way to El Paso where the first hotel was

Lucky turn of events, Denise. I must admit that we are back road travelers, more often than not. A time or two we’ve had close calls re. gas, too. Only good luck has helped.

We had no Internet at my Sister-in-law’s home, weather-related. So, i’m way behind and will probably not try to catch up. I’ll be reading them, tho.

Tomorrow is the service, then we hit the road again. Mostly, i just wanted to say “hey”.

Hey, deb.

Best wishes to you and Dan tomorrow.

Thank you, Alias Reader.

We are in Kansas presently. Today we saw some odd rock structures, some were shaped like mushrooms. Here’s a link to their site. I’ve yet figured out how to post images with my iPad.

https://www.travelks.com/listing/mush...

Tomorrow we visit the Eisenhower Library and Home. https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/

We carry on, despite lingering cold issues (& tissues).

Thanks for the link, deb. I've never heard nor seen mushroom rocks.
What an unusual rock formation. Cool.

I look forward to your comments on the Eisenhower Library. I'm sure it will be fascinating. Have you read an Eisenhower book yet for our challenge ?

Way back in 2008, I read
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
7/2008 Dwight David Eisenhower: War Hero and President-Marian G. Cannon

I gave it a 3 minus. I honestly don't recall the book. Apparently, I wasn't thrilled with it. Good but didn't exceed my expectations. I will have to read a different bio on him.

No, i haven’t read much about DDE, other than bits of his WWII accomplishments, so it will be new to me. We have visited his birthplace, which is in Dennison, TX, but the family didn’t live there long.

My plan is to read Eisenhower—Stephen Ambrose, mostly because i liked his
Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier so much. As it nears, i’m not as certain, so appreciate your comment on the Cannon book.

Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen E. Ambrose

Nothing came up with your link. So I'll see if this one works.

I'm adding it to my TBR as I see from Amazon that it is
"The Renowned One-Volume Life and – Illustrated,