Oberon's First Thread of 2021

Like many, 2020 didn't work out the way it was supposed to. Like most, I am anxious to turn the page to a new year. I am hoping this year sees the return of live theater, in person Minnesota United games and travel. However, at this point I am willing to just accept a modest improvement.

I don't make regular reading plans. That said, I did finally start a reread of the Aubrey/Maturin series that has long been a favorite of mine. I intend to continue that into the new year. Other plans for the new year include a continued focus on hiking, nordic skiing and audiobooks while doing both.

The picture above is me and my oldest son trying fly fishing for the first time. This is about the only activity I got to do on what was supposed to be a family vacation in Colorado. Instead, I spent my time coping with two herniated discs that required surgery in Colorado. If I can avoid a repeat of that for 2021 I will consider myself fortunate.

2020 Book Year in Review

I ended the year at 103 books. I credit the increased rate with increased time from the pandemic and a number of audiobooks.

My top books for 2020 were:

1. Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt
2. Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
3. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
4. Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald
5. The Bells of Old Tokyo by Anna Sherman

The family at the Grand Canyon.

My oldest turns 16 in three days. The boys are 13 and 8. This year will mark 20 years of marriage for my wife and me.

Books read in 20201:

January

1. HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian
2. Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght (audiobook)
3. The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Kalili (audiobook)
4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
5. A World Beneath the Sands by Toby Wilkinson (audiobook)
6. The North American Indian by Edward Curtis

February

7. Hellboy and the BPRD: The Beast of Vargu and Others by Mike Mignola
8. Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen by Rodolphe Goetzinger
9. A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan (audiobook)
10. Swamp Thing Omnibus by Nancy Collins
11. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
12. Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick (audiobook)
13. Notre-Dame by Ken Follett (audiobook)
14. Oak Flat by Lauren Redniss (audiobook)
15. Ottoman Odyssey by Alev Scott

March

16. Relentless by R.A. Salvatore
17. Essex County by Jeff Lemire
18. The Quiet World by Douglas Brinkley (audiobook)
19. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
20. Howl, A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg
21. Cruz Bay From Conquest to Exploitation A Forgotten History by David Knight St.
22. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

April

23. The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian
24. Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
25. Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian
26. The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian
27. Rightful Heritage by Douglas Brinkley (audiobook)
28. The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian
29. Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller (audiobook)
30. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt (audiobook)

May

31. The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian
32. Wright Sites by Joel Hoglund
33. Ghostways by Robert Macfarlane
34. Leadership by Dois Kearns Goodwin (audiobook)
35. Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert (audiobook)
36. Strange Harvests by Edward Posnett (audiobook)
37. Beloved Beasts by Michelle Nijhuis (audiobook)

June

38. Return of a King by William Dalrymple
39. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (audiobook)
40. Plunder by Menachem Kaiser (audiobook)
41. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

July

42. The Trigger by Tim Butcher
43. Burning the Books by Richard Ovenden
44. Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz (audiobook)
45. Cahokia Mounds by William Iseminger
46. Heathen: Volume One by Natasha Alterici
47. The Problem of Susan by Neil Gaiman
48. Home Waters by John Maclean (audiobook)

August

49. Treason's Harbour by Patrick O'Brian

Welcome back and happy reading!

Happy reading in 2021, Erik!

Dropping a star, Erik! Beautiful photos.

Dropping off my and wishing you the best of new years in 2021!

happy new year!

Happy new year and happy new thread, Erik. Lovely pics, and god memories.

Welcome back!

And keep up with my friends here, Erik. Have a great 2021.

Happy New Year, Erik!

Happy New Year, Erik. You have a beautiful family. The bar is low for 2021 to be better...

Happy New Year Erik. Wishing you better health than last year.

Happy New Year, Erik! That's a lovely photo of your family in >3 Oberon:.

Posting to show that I am here and this thread is active even if I am not spending much time on LT at the moment. Work is very busy and home life/kids is equally busy. I promise I will start popping into other threads as things calm down.

In the meantime, here are some swans that I came across on a little inlet to a lake I was skiing around on Sunday. Not sure why this wasn't frozen over but the swans and some ducks were very happy with it.

>18 Oberon: Hi Erik. Way back when, in college, I needed a two credit course to graduate. I choose a course of bird behavior. It was fascinating. And, all I had to do was attend a weekend with the class at a bird sanctuary, and write a five page document on what I learned. The professor talked about swans. I was fascinated.

Nice pic!

What an extraordinarily dark day for democratic governance. I am deeply troubled.

>21 Oberon: I am deeply troubled. I am too.

>21 Oberon: - Yes.

The storming of the US Capitol has reawoken many of my polisci leanings and resulted in endless hours of consuming print media. Probably to no good end. Thus, in order to distract myself I thought I would put up my first review of the year.



Ancient Bones by Madelaine Bohme

I got Ancient Bones through LT's Early Reviewer program and it is one of the best books I have received through the program. Ancient Bones is a well written and readable update of the current status of paleontology/archaeology of mankind. To expand, I use paleontology/archaeology as the distinction between the two is generally understood to be that archaeology deals with anatomically modern humans with archaeology and later, human culture while paleontology focuses on the fossils of non-human life. This book focuses distinctly on the transition point (or points) between modern humans and proto-ape ancestors.

Ancient Bones makes the argument that humanity descended more directly from a species in Europe and thus challenges the long prevailing "out of Africa" human migration theory. While interesting and well argued, this section of the book is more a snapshot of one side of an ongoing scientific debate about the origins of humanity. The more relevant and interesting portion of the book to me was the broader update that is provided about the scientific consensus surrounding human evolution and how it can be reconciled with the finding that some of our oldest ancestors were found in Europe.

If it has been awhile since you learned some of this history, the update is a bit of a surprise. Personally, I had the sense that our knowledge of human evolution was built on the discoveries of people like the Leakeys and their work in Olduvai Gorge that established that our first ancestors lived in eastern Africa and eventually migrated north into Europe and Asia. Neanderthals were alternatively part of the line or an offshoot that died out but otherwise modern humans arose in Africa and slowly spread throughout the globe.

Ancient Bones does a marvelous job of updating this understanding. In doing so it incorporates finds like the so called "hobbit" skeleton in Indonesia, Denisovan remains from Russia, and a lot of the information we have learned from detailed genetic analysis of earlier finds . This results in a far more complex story of evolution with different proto-humans appearing and disappearing with substantial evidence that the different species were still closely related enough to interbreed. The genetics also point to other branches of the human tree that we still haven't found.

As Ancient Bones freely acknowledges there remain a lot of unanswered questions and more we need to learn. With that acknowledgment, Ancient Bones serves as a very readable update on the current understanding of where we came from. Highly recommended.

Ancient Bones sounds great, Erik. I am very interested in archeology. I will look for this one.

>25 BLBera: A very good book if you are interested in the subject matter.

I saw today that Biden has named William J. Burns as the next director of the CIA. Burns wrote an excellent book on his time as a diplomat called The Back Channel. I would highly recommend it.

Happy New Year, Erik. Happy New Thread. I have been listening to Owls of the Eastern Ice. No surprise, I am enjoying it very much. Thanks for the rec. I have been seeing swans lately too, on my bird outings. As long as there is open water, they will hang out.

>28 msf59: Hi Mark. I figured you would like it. I am aiming to get a review up soon myself but I thought a quick note plugging the book was called for. Glad it hit the mark.

>30 Oberon: Following on with political figures who have written excellent books, it was announced today that Samantha Power will head USAID, America's foreign aid office and that the position will be elevated to the National Security Council in the Biden administration. Power has written several excellent books. Her most famous is A Problem from Hell that launched her career and chronicles America's reaction to genocide. Her newest book Education of an Idealist is basically an autobiography with a hefty focus on Power's time in the Obama administration. Finally, there is my personal favorite Chasing the Flame which is excellent biography of Sergio Vieira de Mello, a longtime UN representative famous for solving hard problems through diplomacy who died in the bombing of the UN Mission in Baghdad after the invasion of Iraq by George W. Bush. As an aside, Chasing the Flame was used as the source for a decent Netflix/maybe HBO? movie of the same name. As is usually the case, the book is better but the movie was decent.

>30 Oberon: Yes. I read her autobiography last year, and had everything crossed she'd get to join this administration. A Problem from Hell is near the top of one of the mountains. I'll add Chasing the Flame to the list.

She also appears a bit in the documentary The Final Year.

>31 Caroline_McElwee: - I saw that documentary - twice. Excellent

>31 Caroline_McElwee: & >32 jessibud2: I saw and "liked" that documentary. Hard to watch all that we lost. As the Trump administration slouches toward the exit I found it very hard to think on how much better off we could have been but for the slim 2016 election outcome. It is heart breaking as I believe very strongly that it didn't have to be this way and that if Clinton had won we would vastly better off than we are today.

Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght

Owls of the Eastern Ice is an account of Slaght's effort to learn about and track Blackiston's Fish Owl. The bird is the largest of the owls and lives along the Russian Pacific coast and a few isolated parts of Japan. The owls primarily eat fish and frogs. Slaght's story is set primarily in Russia where he conducts a multi-year survey to first find fish owls and then, later to catch and track fish owls.

Slaght's field is grueling and I also found it very interesting how little was known about fish owls prior to this work. For example, when Slaght starts out, they have a difficult time telling the females from the males. While I enjoyed the details of the owls, even better was the description of living and working in the Russian far east. Slaght does an excellent job portraying the remoteness of the local and the odd characters the area attracts. The result is that Owls of the Eastern Ice reads as much like an adventure story as it does a nature/conservation account.

Finally, I can't ignore the fact that Slaght is a Minnesotan (which I did not know until reading the book) and thus I especially appreciated the times he returns to Minnesota to take classes at the University or how he partners with the Raptor Center to devise away to catch his first fish owls. This is not to say that anyone who is not so fortunate to be tied to Minnesota won't enjoy the book - it was just a nice touch for me.

Owls of the Eastern Ice is an excellent as both nature writing and adventure travelogue. Highly recommended.

This is a picture of the author with a fish owl that he has tagged and is prepared to release. Note the fish in the owl's mouth that is an effort to keep the owl calm. I have to say, I wish I had a profile picture half this bad ass.

>34 Oberon: This one is near the top of my tbr mountain Erik, glad it hit the sweet spot for you.

>35 Oberon: It is a great photo.

>34 Oberon: On to the list it goes!

>34 Oberon: The owl book sounds interesting.

>36 Caroline_McElwee: I am not sure if there are any of these in captivity but I would love to see one.

>37 drneutron: Yay!

>39 thornton37814: I definitely thought so. Hope you check it out.

I gave my wife a new iphone for Christmas and as part of that purchase signed up for a year of AppleTV+. I was reluctant since we have a pile of streaming services already but I wanted to see the Tom Hanks movie Greyhound and Sophia Coppola's new film was released on AppleTV so I figured a year free wasn't a bad outcome.

Instead of watching either of those films I have been sucked into two other shows. The first is Wolfwalkers which I watched with my boys. Unbeknownst to me, it is by the same director who did the Book of Kells and Song of the Sea (both of which are on Netflix) and are part of an effort to bring to life Irish folklore through animation. Truly gorgeous movies that represent some of the best of what animation can do.

Even more addicting has been Dickinson, an odd mashup of period costumes and modern speech about the life of Emily Dickinson. It is hard to describe and I can see why lots of people would not care for its portrayal of Dickinson. Nevertheless I am captivated. I am now in search of a copy of the complete works of Emily Dickinson. Not something a tv show would ordinarily set me on to.

Very impressed with Amanda Gorman's poem at the inauguration today. It is called "The Hill We Climb."

>42 Oberon: - Me too. She must be a performance artist. For someone so young, she seemed remarkably composed and I thought she did a fabulous job! her star is about to soar!

A World Beneath the Sands by Toby Wilkinson

A World Beneath the Sands is Wilkinson's latest book about Egypt. After thoroughly enjoying The Nile by Wilkinson, I thought I would give this one a try.

The focus of A World Beneath the Sands is the "golden" age of archaeology in Egypt. Wilkinson defines the period as roughly stretching from Napoleon's invasion of Egypt (with a large group of so called savants in tow to catalogue the country) up through the discovery of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter. Wilkinson makes clear that the period is more accurately a European rediscovery of ancient Egypt and that much of the archaeology at the time was hand in hand with colonialism. As a result, Europeans largely controlled who dug where and who kept what.

This reality had significant impacts, both positive and negative. European focus on Egypt led to modernization and growth of the country and ultimately led to archaeology becoming a scientific discipline grounded in Enlightenment thinking. However, along the way, Europeans treated the Egyptians themselves as wholly inferior, carted away much of the finds back to their own countries, and engaged in such destructive practices as dynamiting the pyramids in the service of exploring them.

Wilkinson does a fine job of noting the failings the Europeans while acknowledging the failings of the Egyptians themselves. When Napoleon first came to Egypt, the country was still nominally under the control of the distant Ottoman empire. Slavery was widespread. And, no one, Egyptians or otherwise paid any attention to the legacy of ancient Egypt. Rather, sites were wholly lost or, those that were too big to lose like the pyramids, were quarried for handy stone.

Wilkinson spends most of his time walking through the archaeology of the period and the discoveries that were made. It is hard not to feel nostalgic for this period. It is the setting for things like Death on the Nile and Elizabeth Peters' books featuring mysteries among the wonders of ancient Egypt. Wealthy patrons would outfit boats and leisurely travel the Nile while sponsoring archeological digs. It is hard not to be entranced about this lifestyle even if it was, ultimately, at the expense of the Egyptians.

If you have an interest in Egyptian archaeology, A World Beneath the Sands is an excellent and balanced look at the beginning and high point of popular Egyptology.

>44 Oberon: Adding to my list Erik. Like most children I was really into Egyptology. Years looking at the artefacts at the British Museum, then as an adult visiting the country.

>45 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, this book tells the story of how a lot of the stuff at the British Museum got there. I very much hope to some day visit Egypt myself. I would especially like to have the time and money to take a boat up the Nile.

>46 Oberon: - I did a Luxor to Aswan cruise, and it was amazing. Totally cheaped out on it, though, and the boat was a nightmare. So yes, worth saving pennies for!

>46 Oberon: A boat up the Nile will not disappoint Erik. We went on a smaller boat, 70 passengers. Wonderful. One of my favourite places was Saqqara, although it was probably the hottest I've ever been. I'd like to explore it more one day. We arrived and a sand storm blew up. Very atmospheric. I noticed there is a docu on Netflix about it, which I aim to watch at the weekend.

>47 katiekrug: & >78 Oberon: I would love to see places like Luxor, Aswan and Saqqara. The smaller boat sounds perfect. I watched a documentary (on Curiosity Stream I think) where a woman hired hired a Dahabiya (the sailing boats) to tour the Nile. I think something like the BBC fronted the bill but it was pretty remarkable.

Erik, you might enjoy Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney. I read it in 2011 and rated it 3.5 stars.

I'm with you, Erik. I'd love to visit Egypt some day. This book goes on my WL.

Ancient Bones is a book I am interested in obtaining. I recently finished a book regarding the discovery and argument regarding ownership of the fossils of Sue, the largest dinosaur set of T Rex!

>50 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. I will check it out, though to be honest I am not sure I would want to row the Nile as opposed to being carried along in luxury.

>51 BLBera: LT meet up! Just need a rich patron.

>52 Whisper1: Ancient Bones is very good Linda. I think I was one of the people recommending Tyrannosaurus Sue - an excellent book. Sounds like you enjoyed it.

>44 Oberon: Excellent review, Erik. You got me with that one. How did you like the narrator?

Hi Erik! We are also enjoying Dickinson. (similar reason for having Apple TV). It's quirky enough I can't watch it more than once or twice a week, but very fun.

>54 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie - it was narrated by Graeme Malcolm. Solid, non-super remarkable. I don't speak French but his French pronunciations sounded accurate to my untrained ear.

>55 banjo123: At least there is one! I think quirky is a solid description of the show - some misses but still fun.

>53 Oberon: I have been down the Nile on a cruise but I think going down it on a skiff may a tad hazardous and hard work.

>57 PaulCranswick: Nile cruises are more common than I would have thought! At least with LT members.

A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan

A different sort of book from the others I have read by Timothy Egan. Egan sets out to walk the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage route from Canterbury Cathedral to Rome. Along the way he uses his travels to muse on his lapsed Catholic faith and details the history of that faith as well as the places he passes through. The book is a much more personal and introspective book as Egan discusses at length his own upbringing, the experiences of family members and the the religious education (or lack thereof) of his children.

As I spent most of the time I was listening to the book out hiking, I appreciated Egan's narrative about the physical aspects of the travel. For example, he manages to severely blister his feet coming down from the mountains into Italy. As a result, he purchases a pair of open shoes to continue walking in to avoid making his blisters worse. However, the only thing available are shower shoes - a major fashion faux pas in Italy.

While much of the book delves into deep subjects there were laugh out loud funny moments as well such as when Egan is trying to gain access to a museum commemorating a massacre of Huguenots and encounters a very uninterested young French man who lives nearby. Egan's very profane response (which I don't think he said out loud) was hilarious.

Egan is an excellent observer and narrator which makes A Pilgrimage to Eternity highly informative. I can see some being put off by Egan's descriptions of his very personal struggles with faith and Catholicism but I found it interesting and worthwhile. Recommended.

Great review of A Pilgrimage to Eternity, Erik!

>59 Oberon: I read that one last year. I liked it, but didn't love it.

>60 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl

>61 thornton37814: I wouldn't say I loved it either but parts of it have stuck with me. Maybe I am just missing Europe too much.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

One of the stranger books I have read in awhile. This was the selection for the over-the-top themed bookclub my friend has been doing. For reasons that escape me, she got very interested in samizdat (circulating copies of censored literature) in Russia and wanted to try the book.

Set in Moscow, the story involves the sudden appearance of Satan and odd members of his court in the middle of the city. Satan sets about occupying an apartment of a man who is killed shortly after meeting Satan and who Satan predicts his demise. Appearing as Woland, an illusionist/magician, Satan proceeds to set up a stage performance at a theater where he performs various miraculous and absurd magic tricks which proceed to cause chaos.

In the second part of the book, Satan invites Margarita, a bored housewife to host a ball with him in exchange for the recovery of her lover. Connecting these stories is another story, a vividly rendered depiction of Pontius Pilate and the sentencing of Christ to crucifixion. The first part of the Pontius Pilate story is related by Satan as a recollection to the first people he encounters in Moscow. The second part is as a segment of a book that Margarita's lover has written and then destroyed.

I am not sure that my brief description does the plot much justice but The Master and Margarita is not easily categorized. Much of it reads like a fever dream. The characters are memorable and weird. Many of their actions make little sense and Satan's decisions as to who and how to punish their various transgressions don't always make sense. It is an interesting book. I admit that I struggled to get into the story at the start but the weirdness pulled me in and pulled me along.

>44 Oberon: What a great review!

>63 Oberon: I loved this crazy novel Erik.

My sister visited Bulgakov's house when she visited Moscow a few years back, which I think had a bit of a surreal quality too.

Fever dream is a good way to describe The Master and Margarita, Erik.

>64 Whisper1: Thanks Linda

>65 Caroline_McElwee: I think visiting the house would be interesting. Not sure what the environment would be that would produce a writer like Bulgakov.

>66 BLBera: It seems a little to long and detailed to be absinthe induced? Laudanum perhaps like The Rime of the Ancient Mariner? Speculating obviously.

I have been doing a lot of hiking since my back surgery. I got an upgrade to AllTrails (a hiking app) for Christmas and am already solidly over the 100 mile mark for 2021. A lot of that hiking is while the kids are at soccer practice and I have to kill an hour or two before they are done but I have also used it for socialization. While my friends are less keen (and less motivated) than me, I persuaded a buddy to go hiking with me to find Zug Zug.

Short version of the story is someone made a caveman frozen into an ice block for a marketing job and kept the caveman afterward. Deciding it was too cool to leave in the garage the artist got in contact with the park board and got permission to install it along a trail in a Minneapolis park. So, frozen caveman in snowy Minnesota park.

Story if you want to read more. https://www.vice.com/en/article/epdm7m/a-caveman-encased-in-ice-has-appeared-in-...

>68 Oberon: That's cool... er literally too.

Well, that would be a surprise to come upon while on the trail. 😀

>68 Oberon: As an update, I took the boys on a hike this weekend to find the other caveman (cavewoman?) Zara. Helpfully she had been tagged in Google Maps so it wasn't too difficult. It also didn't hurt that it is unnaturally warm here with temperatures touching 60 degrees.

Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick

Easily the best book of 2021 for me to date. Eat the Buddha is set in Ngaba, Tibet and is somewhat famous for a horrific reason. It has become the epicenter of self-immolation by Tibetans protesting Chinese rule of Tibet and repression of Tibetan Buddhism.

Deeply reported, the book details the lives of people living in Ngaba or who used to live in Ngaba and fled. Eat the Buddha provides a solid history on Tibet but focuses on the way that Tibetan life has changed since the conquest of Tibet by Communist China. The book details, through accounts of people who lived through it, the changes brought to Ngaba through the Cultural Revolution, the famine that resulted from The Great Leap Forward, and the economic changes that were wrought as China slowly set out to colonize the Tibetan plateau. Much of this history overlaps with and is intertwined with the life of the current Dalai Lama who fled into exile in India following the Chinese conquest.

Towards the final third the book addresses the level of despair and hopelessness and how that leads to some of the first monks to self-immolate in protest. In covering the self-immolations, Demick does an impressive job of describing the people of Ngaba and how they are affected. It is a hard story but fascinating. Demick has delivered an excellently reported book that does far more than explain the phenomena of self-immolation. It provides a thorough (and mostly damning) account of daily life in Tibet. Highly recommended.

>72 Oberon: I have this near the top of a tbr mountain, glad it was a hit for you Erik.

>73 Caroline_McElwee: If you are interested in Tibet I think you will find it fascinating Caroline.

>74 Oberon: I've long been interested in Tibet, since a kid, Erik. I think a book on my mum's shelf The Rose of Tibet probably started it. Then I became interested in the Dalai Lama. Definitely nudging this up the pile.

>75 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, have you read Patrick French's Tibet, Tibet? That is another favorite of mine. The mountain Buddhist countries are fascinating to me but I suspect I am far more likely to make it to Nepal than to Tibet given China's current hold.

>72 Oberon: This sounds like a fascinating book, Erik.

I'm going to have to look for the cave people :)

>77 BLBera: I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the cave people were removed this week. Per the artist, they were both designed to blend in with the snow so now that it is mostly melted they removed them. I have hopes that they will be brought back - perhaps to different parks next winter but they are gone for now.

>78 Oberon: :(

Updating my thread to provide proof of life. Back to work after a week of spring break and an Easter celebration.

We went to the US Virgin Islands for a week, staying primarily on the island of St. John. Most of the island is a national park and the waters (and reefs) around the island are mostly a national monument.



We stayed in a VRBO with just our family. This is a view from the deck. We had a hot tub at our disposal which we sat in every night and admired the moon and the ocean.

We spent our time snorkeling and hiking in the national park.







A lot of the island consists of old sugar plantations so there a lot of ruins to be seen.





There are also petroglyphs from the pre-columbian Taino people.





One of the main attractions is the snorkeling that is pretty good on almost all the beaches. I also got to take the older two scuba diving with me.









It was a fun trip with the family. Got the advantage of going someplace new, got away from work and schedules for a bit, and due to a bit of fortune also managed to get first vaccinations for myself and my daughter. To top it all off, I read a couple of books and did not end up in a local hospital.

Always good to end vacation with no hospital trips!

I've been thinking about looking into going to the USVI - we are fully vaccinated now, but I'm not too keen yet on international travel and jumping through any quarantine hoops... Thanks for sharing the photos - looks great!

>82 katiekrug: USVI might be a good fit for you then. We had to upload negative COVID tests taken within five days of travel to get in but other than that it was not a big hassle. At the same time, as a US territory we felt pretty safe. Mask rules were pretty rigorously enforced in any enclosed space which we appreciated. Given that most of St John is national park it was pretty easy to be outside and well away from other people. I don't think we would have gone to a hotel with a bunch of crowded common areas and we didn't eat anywhere inside (even though USVI is at 50 or 75% capacity for restaurants). We just cooked for ourselves or got take out. A lot like how we are operating at home but warmer.

I'm just longing for a change of scenery....

>84 katiekrug: Completely understand that. Homebodies may have been fine with our long travel ban but not me.

>81 Oberon: Great holiday photos Erik. Glad you all had a good time. And doubly glad no hospital visits, but jabs received.

>86 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline. I have to admit I was positively giddy to realize I could get vaccinated. Even better was the vaccine for my teenage daughter. Quarantine has been very hard for her so the prospect of some freedom was really important.

The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

This was my beach read. The book is principally about smallpox, though a chunk of the book is intertwined with the anthrax mail attacks in 2001, as Preston's main focus is a biological attack using smallpox.

The book traces the history of smallpox and the successful effort to eradicate the disease in the 1970s. However, samples of smallpox were kept after the eradication effort, some for strictly medical purposes and others for biological weapons purposes. Demon in the Freezer addresses how potent a weapon that smallpox is today. First, because the immunizations/immunities from the disease have all but disappeared over the past 40 years and second, because we have become far more adept at manipulating viruses to make them even more dangerous.

Smallpox was already one of the most lethal diseases of humanity. Highly transmissible, with a longish incubation period meaning that an infected person could infect lots of other people before realizing the danger posed by the diseases and a high mortality rate resulted in a horrible disease. Following eradication, countries - especially the Soviet Union, set about adapting the disease to make it more virulent and less susceptible to vaccinations. Much of that technology has only gotten simpler.

The Demon in the Freezer is a terrifying book and a reminder that humanity has numerous ways of destroying itself without the help of nuclear weapons. In fact, a bioengineered smallpox epidemic would likely be worse. At a time when all of us have seen the impact of a global pandemic, the prospect of a far more lethal disease designed specifically to avoid vaccines is the stuff of nightmares. Nonetheless, fascinating book that is well written that will leave you better informed and a fair bit terrified. Highly recommended.

That one was definitely both terrifying and a good read! Especially as I live about 20 miles from Fort Detrick, the military’s main biological research facility...

>88 Oberon: I knew there was a reason I don't do beaches :-)

I actually love being by the sea though.

Sounds like a great vacation, Erik. Always good to end a vacation NOT in the hospital.

Your kids are growing up!

>63 Oberon: Just passing through some threads and wanted to comment about The Master and Margarita. My daughter recommended it to me and I read it last year I think? Anyway, "one of the stranger books I have read in a while" is definitely true! There is a little bit of everything in that one.

>90 Caroline_McElwee: I have a thing for reading terrifying books on vacation. I read Into Thin Air a few years ago on vacation and it gave me chills even sitting on the beach.

>91 BLBera: I used to take the "not ending up in the hospital" piece for granted but not anymore! My middle son has hit the full adolescent growth spurt. In under a year he went from being shorter than his mom and sister to looming over both of them. Kid has been growing so much he even developed stretch marks on his back.

My daughter got mistaken as someone in her 20s when we got vaccinated. An older looking daughter is just what every anxious father needs.

>92 ursula: Nice to have you stop in Ursula. I am very curious to go to book club and see what other thought of the book because I am still processing it.

>89 drneutron: Oops - missed you there Jim. I could see that book being especially terrifying being close to Ft. Detrick. Especially given the part where they are talking about the super finely milled anthrax and how far it can spread just via the wind. The author does a fine job of making it clear just how terrifying this stuff is.

>94 Oberon: Yup!

>63 Oberon: I've had this on my "To Read" list for quite some time. I may have to try it this year.

Your holiday shots are as envy inducing as ever, Erik.

I have to give a shout for my team yesterday beating the Champions-Elect in their own back yard despite having our captain sent off in the first half. We have played expansively all season and won plaudits a plenty along the way but yesterday was all about spirit and we showed that too in abundance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQW2hrjoMA

>96 ocgreg34: A wild ride I will say.

>97 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. That is a fantastic result from Leeds. The MLS opener here is this weekend so I am gearing up for the new Loons season with much excitement. We finally brought in a new striker so we shall see what are our odds are.

A long weekend of soccer travel to Milwaukee Wisconsin this weekend. With COVID the sightseeing isn't much and with steady rain there wasn't much to do outside. I engaged in some retail therapy at a used bookstore which is about all I accomplished this weekend.

The Atlantic is running a series of pieces on the National Parks. One of the first pieces is by David Treuer who wrote the excellent The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee. As I have been doing a lot of reading about nature, conservation and the historical legacy of the park system I think this series will be right up my alley.

Here is a link to the Treuer article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/05/return-the-national-parks-t...

Loons update:

The Loons returned to playing with a much hyped replay of the end of last season which was an away game against Seattle. Last year, it was the Western Conference finale and the Loons went up 2-0 and held deep into the second half before folding and giving up a stoppage winner to Seattle.

As bad as last year's match was, the Loons did far worse this year. Instead of a taught game we had a scoreless first half with the Loons looking like the better team with a disaster of a second half in which the Loons gave up four unanswered goals. It was not an encouraging start.

Bad soccer plus a fairly severe reaction to my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine made for a crummy evening.

I'm sorry to read about your reaction to the second Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose, Erik. What symptoms did you have, and are you feeling better?

I hope to resume attending Atlanta United matches with friends soon. No one seems very excited about them, though.

>102 kidzdoc: I had most of the range of symptoms. About 6 hours after the second shot I had a headache and chills sufficient to wake me up. By morning I alternated between chills and a fever and I ended up with joint pain (primarily in my hands and back) just like the flu. Joint pain, headaches, and alternating fever and chills lasted for about 48 hours post injection. By Saturday evening everything cleared up and I had no symptoms.

I think Atlanta United is due for a big rebound year after last year’s disappointment. Keep the faith!

>103 Oberon: I had similar symptoms which began roughly 16 hours after my second Pfizer vaccination. I woke up due to arm pain in my left deltoid muscle where I received the second jab, which had a palpable lump in it and was quite tender. Shortly afterward I began having low grade fevers, chills, nausea and a poor appetite, but these symptoms improved significantly 12 hours later, and by the following morning I was completely back to normal. I could have worked that day, but I'm glad that I was able to spend the day in bed.

I feel confident that my immune system is now primed to handle any exposures to SARS-CoV-2, especially since I and my partners continue to see patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or MIS-C, multisystem inflammatory syndrome of childhood, which follows a mild case of COVID-19 by three or four weeks and is a much more worrisome and deadly condition.

The Five Stripes did manage a scoreless tie with Orlando United, so that was an acceptable result.

>104 kidzdoc: I am extremely hopeful that my immune system is now similarly primed.

I am very curious if the variability in reactions to the vaccine is correlated to the variable reaction that people have to the virus itself. I realize there is probably no ethical or practical way to test the point but I have been surprised by how people can have very different reaction to the vaccine and the virus.

Word is we will be getting a verdict in the Chauvin trial shortly. Going to be a tense day here.

I got my first jab this past Sunday. I had no reaction at all on Sunday but yesterday, I had a mild backache, mostly across my shoulder and neck area. I also napped for an hour or so in the afternoon. But that was the worst of it. I took a robaxicet (muscle relaxant) before going to sleep last night and another this morning and other than mild fatigue I have no other symptoms. I got the Pfizer vaccine. You are actually the only other person I have heard of who mentioned achiness in the back. If this is the worst of it, as I suspect it is, I am fine with that and grateful that that's it. Of course, it will be interesting to see if the reaction to my second shot (Aug. 8) will result in the more typical second shot reactions that many have reported.

>107 jessibud2: I had next to no reaction to my first shot but obviously that was not the same for the second. I am surprised your second shot is spaced out so far. Here, they are being pretty regimented about 4 weeks for Moderna and 3 weeks for Pfizer.

This matter will undoubtedly wind its way through Minnesota courts for years to come but the guilty verdict today will most likely be what stands.

The jury came back with a guilty verdict in a very short period of time. That left a lot of people thinking that their minds were made up as soon as they got the case. I have to say, for the community as a whole this is the best outcome. I think there would have been a lot of violence if there had been an acquittal. Unfortunately, I can't imagine that the risk of violence wasn't on the minds of the jurors too.

>109 Oberon: I was so glad to hear this outcome Erik. I hope Chauvin doesn't appeal.

>108 Oberon: - Because we are so lacking in supply, the decision to stretch the interval to 4 months was made to ensure that as many people as possible get at least one shot. Apparently, there has been research that shows 4 months is still ok (but probably not much beyond that). If we get more supply (and I am not holding my breath on that), maybe they will shorten the interval. Meantime, I am relieved to have received my first.

>109 Oberon: - I did watch it live on tv, toggling between CNN and our Canadian news network. Very nerve-wracking, for sure but the right verdict, and a lot of relief, I am sure. Am I understanding that there will be no life sentence? Why not??! And why 8 weeks till sentencing? Isn't that a rather long time? Could he still walk, at some point? Hardly justice, it seems to me.....

>105 Oberon: I am extremely hopeful that my immune system is now similarly primed.

I hope so, too.

I am very curious if the variability in reactions to the vaccine is correlated to the variable reaction that people have to the virus itself. I realize there is probably no ethical or practical way to test the point but I have been surprised by how people can have very different reaction to the vaccine and the virus.

That's a great question, Erik. Although, as you say, there is likely no way to test this hypothesis, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. I also wonder if individuals who have been exposed to one of the routine human coronaviruses that causes mild illness (serotypes 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1) have developed some protection against SARS-CoV-2, as all strains of coronavirus that infect humans bear the Spike protein that is a component of the vaccine, and at the same time were more symptomatic after the second Pfizer or Moderna jab. I have no doubt that I and my pediatric colleagues have been infected numerous times with non SARS-CoV human coronaviruses, which may have primed our immune systems to both fight off exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus), possibly without causing symptomatic COVID-19 (the infection), and cause an intense inflammatory reaction to the vaccine. This may not make sense initially, but it's possible that people whose immune systems are primed against the human coronavirus may eliminate the virus when it first colonizes the nasopharynx, with little more than mild symptoms that could be mistaken for allergic rhinitis; this happens to me several times a year, and what has probably happened is that my immune system eradicated a respiratory virus before it could spread beyond my upper airway. OTOH, the Spike protein in the virus has been introduced systemically, which bypasses the upper airway and mimics a full blown infection. As you may have heard, people who have COVID-19 are much more symptomatic after the first mRNA vaccine jab than those who are not known to have had COVID-19, and the former group only needs one vaccine dose, not two.

Is that clear as mud?!

I'm working nights (5 pm to 1 am) in the hospital this week, and one of my dearest partners and I watched the verdict on CNN on my iPad together. She and I hugged tightly for a minute or two, and we were both visibly relieved and emotional after Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts. One of my closest friends (an African American former classmate at Tulane) attended law school at UMN, and another Black Tulanian who is good friends with both of us lives in Minneapolis, and they were also emotional and deeply relieved — but not jubliant — after the verdict was announced. I'm also relieved that you and your family do not have to worry about violent protest there, and I'm glad that none will take place here in Atlanta, or elsewhere.

>109 Oberon: I have been following the trial of Chauvin with obvious interest, Erik, and the fact that justice was seen to be done expeditiously and fairly has been hugely important. I couldn't really conceive of any other verdict IMHO but I was a little surprised at how quickly the jury returned.

I think the wider community needed this but I am certain that the process will continue. I hope it doesn't lead to any sort of complacency in the need to continue to fight racism and/or brutality of all kinds wherever we find it.

Have you been keeping abreast of the furore that developed in the EPL? The British sporting model is different to the American one in terms that we are not open to a franchised closed shop. I am a very proud football fan today as a huge wave of coming together swept the greedy owners away. - for now at least.

>109 Oberon: Yeah, I'm sure that there will be any number of appeals that will last a long time, but I don't think any of them will stick. And he gets to sit in jail while all that is winding its way through the system. Let's hope this is the first step to widespread change.

>110 Caroline_McElwee: He will absolutely appeal Caroline. It would be malpractice for his attorney not to. There some pretty convoluted issues raised by this case that I will outline in a separate post.

>111 jessibud2: I know they have advocated splitting doses here in an effort to get more people partially vaccinated but I think supply has been ramping up so fast that they haven't needed to split shots. Some, especially Republican, states are already at a point where they are actively soliciting people to get the shots and they are going unused.

As to your questions, life sentences in Minnesota exist for first degree murder and some aggravated criminal sexual conduct. Even then, life sentences often aren't truly "life" and there is a mandatory minimum of 30 years for a "life" sentence. I practice civil law so it isn't really my area of expertise but the area that seems to result in true life sentences are where prisoners serve a prison sentence and their are deemed sexual predators and are confined on that basis. Supposedly they can get treatment and be released from that facility but for the vast majority of the people it is a defacto life sentence. As to sentencing, again - not my area of expertise but eight weeks seemed short to me. Sentencing hearings are lengthy, there is a lot that goes into them and in the federal courts it can easily be six to nine months from conviction to sentencing. As to your last question, I could see him going free eventually for the reason I will elaborate more fully below.

>112 kidzdoc: That does make sense Darryl, thank you. I was under the impression that the COVID-19 spike protein was somehow unique to this virus but if it is a common feature to the family of viruses I can see how exposure to other viruses in the same family could potentially provide protection.

I think relieved is exactly right in the context of this verdict. It is a tragedy and a conviction provides a measure of human justice but it doesn't restore a life. Working in the justice system and seeing first hand what we call justice leaves me a bit jaded. To me, it is like politics - utterly flawed but the best system that humans have managed to develop. I am enormously relieved that the jury's conclusion is widely perceived as the "just" outcome and brings a measure of accountability. At the same time, we are a long ways away from resolving how policing should be conducted.

>113 PaulCranswick: My concern in waiting for the verdict is that we have seen lots of other cases where police were acquitted and even more where police were not even charged for actions that were well over the line.

Yes, have watched with amazement the announcement and prompt implosion of the Super League. The amount of money washing about the sport suggests to me that we will see more schemes like this down the road.

>114 drneutron: I expect the appeals to be going on for a couple of years but you are right - Chauvin will be sitting in jail and I think this will mark a significant turning point in policing. At least I hope so.

Longer, kind of nerdy, inside-baseball like post on appeals.

The criminal appellate process is long and often confusing. In the Chauvin case, I fully expect an appeal to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. From there, there is a decent chance that appeal would go to the Minnesota Supreme Court and potentially on to the US Supreme Court. Both supreme courts have discretionary review meaning that you have to ask the court to review the case and the court decides on its own whether to consider the appeal or not. Furthermore, a prisoner is entitled to bring a habeus corpus petition in federal court to challenge whether the state court violated the prisoner's federally guaranteed rights in the state court proceeding. I am not sure we will see a federal challenge in this case but it is possible.

I expect the appeal process for Chauvin to be pretty hotly contested because of what happened prior to trial. Chauvin was charged with three counts: 2nd degree murder, 3rd degree murder, and 2nd degree manslaughter. Prior to trial, the presiding judge dismissed the 3rd degree murder charge against Chauvin only to have the court of appeals reinstate the claim. Chauvin was convicted on the reinstated charge as well as the other two charges.

Minnesota law defines third-degree murder as someone who "without intent to cause death" . . . "causes the death of (another person)" by "perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life".

In my opinion this is a poorly drafted statute. Minnesota courts have interpreted the line of "perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others" as exposing more than one person to a risk of harm. The classic examples given are selling tainted drugs to multiple customers or firing blindly into a building. Recently, the Minnesota Court of Appeals revised the definition of "others" to include the singular in the Noor case, a case involving another officer caused death. The twist there was that the officer had a Somali background and the victim was white. The Noor decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals has been accepted for review by the Minnesota Supreme Court meaning the case is still being actively debated and we do not have a final decision of whether "others" can be interpreted to mean only one person. All of this is relevant to the Chauvin case as Chauvin's conduct of "an act eminently dangerous to others" was solely aimed at Mr. Floyd. Thus, if the Minnesota Supreme Court rejects the interpretation of "other" to include just one person, the claim almost certainly fails against Chauvin too.

In addition to the complication of whether "others" can be interpreted to apply to a single person, the whole "evincing a depraved mind" is pretty unclear. I am not sure if the Noor case will clarify what is meant by a depraved mind or if it will just focus on "others." I could see the appellate courts, either the Minnesota Court of Appeals or Supreme Court reversing this and basically saying to the legislature you need to fix this if you want people to be prosecuted under it.

Ultimately, I expect the convictions on 2nd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter to remain regardless of what happens with the 3rd degree murder count. I have no idea if that will require a further hearing on sentencing but I would not be shocked to see the wrangling over this continue on for several years.

Thanks for the explanation, Erik.

>118 BLBera: Sure Beth. I think a lot of people operate under the belief that juries decide and cases abruptly end. The real system is never as neat.

Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller

Fuller is best known as the author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and what is essentially a sequel Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Fuller has written other books (including fiction that I have really enjoyed) but these two books dealing with her family are her best writing. In the earlier books, Fuller's mother Nicola takes a predominate role. Travel Light, Move Fast focuses on Fuller's father, Tim Fuller.

The book opens with Tim Fuller's death in Budapest and much of the book is a retracing of his improbable life path and the recollections that the surviving family has of him. The family details are, of course, easily accessible on Wikipedia. However, reading it there loses Fuller's vivid and entertaining descriptions of her family. Fuller is in top form in this account. If you enjoyed Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness you will enjoy Travel Light, Move Fast. Highly recommended.

Hi Erik.
I just finished reading The Marches by Rory Stewart, and saw your great review. So I wanted to let you know that I appreciated your review, and have put The Places in Between on my library wishlist.

>121 FAMeulstee: Glad you liked it and glad you tried The Marches. I have high hopes that Stewart will right more. For what it is worth, I think The Prince of the Marshes was one of his best.

Loons update: The Loons are in utter freefall. They started the year in the top 5 and have managed to lose every one of their first three games. Nothing seems to be going right for the team currently. Now they are at the bottom of the MLS. At least MLS does not have relegation because things are ugly right now.

I went to Rockford Illinois over the weekend for kid soccer. The soccer wasn't all that great and the drive was miserable but I did get to spend time with family. We toured the Laurent house, a Frank Lloyd Wright house built for a man in a wheelchair and thus carefully adapted for his use. The house was a gem.

>124 Oberon: Great house Erik.

>125 Caroline_McElwee: Visiting the house has reawoken my interest in constructing a Japanese garden. Probably still won't happen but I am dreaming.

Beautiful house and garden, Erik. Yes, it is inspirational. Right now I will concentrate on not killing the hanging plant I got for Mother's Day.

>127 BLBera: That sounds like a good, very Minnesotan Mother's Day plan. We went out and bought plants on Mother's Day too and I looked with some alarm at the frost on the grass this morning.

Wright Sites by Arlene Sanderson

I picked this short guide up at the Laurent House. It is a very nice collection of buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright that are open to the public with notes on access. Some remain in private hands but are open for limited tours, others are functioning businesses or performance spaces. The guide is well illustrated and gives enough information about the history and importance of each building (often including information on rehabilitation) sufficient to make decisions about visiting without overwhelming the reader with a treatise on each property. The book has a brief section on Wright structures available to visit in Japan. Finally, there is a suggested tours section that describes potential routes for combining many of the sites. Were I retired I think it would make an excellent starting point for a summer roadtrip.

Loons update - Loons remain in freefall, no bottom in sight. Pretty quickly going to reach terminal velocity for the season. A colossal disappointment.

Loons update - Loons win! The freefall is at least paused. The Loons eked out a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday. Long way from a turn around but it probably preserved the coach's job for another week or two.

And the Loons win again! Another 1-0 victory over Dallas FC. Long climb back to relevance but this is how it starts.

Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert

I was first introduced to Kolbert through her excellent book The Sixth Extinction that dealt with the number of species that were or are being driven to extinction by modern humans. Under a White Sky is Kolbert's exploration of humanity's attempts to alter/repair nature usually after humanity previously altered the natural environment. Broken into individual chapters that focus on different environmental issues and humanity's response to them, the book builds towards proposed solutions for dealing with extinction and climate change. While Kolbert professes to be optimistic about out collective ability to deal with major ecological problems the narrative laid out in Under a White Sky give few reasons for optimism.

The book begins with efforts to control invasive fish in Illinois and moves on to address things like the levee system in Louisiana to control the Mississippi and the attempts to breed heat resistant corals. A common theme throughout is how many changes made to the natural environment by humanity resulted in more problems from the "solution" than the original problem. Relatedly, the futility of trying to save/impact some of these systems. This leads to discussions of CRISPR technology and technological solutions to climate change. These chapters make it clear that humanity's ability to alter natural environments continues to grow unabated while our ability to see around corners and predict unexpected consequences remains limited.

The title Under a White Sky refers to a concept spray sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere to block solar radiation and thus limit and maybe reverse global warming. The plan would be similar in concept to what has happened with major volcanic events that have pumped particles into the atmosphere resulting in short term cooling. This is where the "white sky" comes from - the particles turn the sky from blue to white. Terrifyingly, it seems like the plan could work and would limit or maybe reduce global warming. However, the secondary consequences of altering the very atmosphere should give everyone pause.

Kolbert does not weigh in with an opinion but asks important questions that are well worth considering. Under a White Sky is engrossing and troubling. Highly recommended.

>133 Oberon: I have The Sixth Extinction near the top of my tbr mountain Erik. I suspect I'll be adding this one too.

>134 Caroline_McElwee: The Sixth Extinction is really good Caroline. I would rank it ahead of Under a White Sky if forced to choose.

Beloved Beasts by Michelle Nijhuis

Short review. Beloved Beasts is the story of modern conservation. It traces the careers of people like William Hornaday (who was primarily responsible for saving the American Bison), Rachel Carson (author of Silent Spring about the impact of DDT in the environment), and Aldo Leopold (credited with coming up with the land ethic). It telling the stories of the individuals, Beloved Beasts traces the changes that have come to conservation and wildlife management as it changed from preserving a single species to preserving ecosystems and transforming from a colonial game preserve to community managed and sustained wildlife reserves.

The book in well written and engaging. My only complaint is of a more personal nature - my own reading over the past year has been pretty heavily focused on conservation and nature writing. As a result, most of the profiles by Nijhuis were ground I have covered in my own reading over the past year or so. For someone less immersed in the genre Beloved Beasts is an excellent overview and starting point.

Loons update: Loons tied 1-1 versus Real Salt Lake. Under the circumstances the Loons were fortunate to get a point out of the game. They are off for a couple of weeks due to the international break and should return with a couple high priced signings in place. If they don't take off like a rocket it will be disappointing.

In other Loon news - saw one of the nesting pair on my parent's lake. He was pretty close to us while we were fishing.

Last nature update. Encountered a large snapping turtle along a busy road when coming back from the store. With help from my son I relocated it to the lake in the hope that it would avoid becoming road kill this nesting season (sadly a very common occurrence for our local turtles). This one shared the common snapper disposition and did not thank me much for the assist.

>138 Oberon: Lucky turtle. It reminds me of my father rescuing a drowning squirrel that had fallen into a water butt, it bit him for his trouble.

lol. Reminds me also of a funny incident with a friend of mine. She lives out in the country and always tries to do what you did, with regard to turtles on the road. One day, she drove past one and kept her eye on it in the rear view mirror, as she carefully backed up. She put on her gloves, put the car's emergency lights on, and got out. Only to discover that she was about to rescue a hat.

:-)

>140 jessibud2: Tee hee.

>140 jessibud2: *snork*

>139 Caroline_McElwee: Some things just don't appreciate our assistance.

>140 jessibud2: That is a great story. I can see the resemblance.

Return of a King by William Dalrymple

Dalrymple's early books were more travelogues in nature. This book, like his recent book about the East India Company Anarchy are more standard works of history. However Dalrymple's history books retain the narrative force of his early works and thus make for engaging history.

Return of a King is the story of the British in Afghanistan. Largely it is a story of hubris and miscalculation on the part of the British. Believing, mostly wrongly, that Imperial Russia was out to secure control of Afghanistan and then threaten India, the British set out to replace the king of Afghanistan with another, more pro-British claimant.

The British succeeded in installing their preferred monarch on the throne in Kabul but in the process alienated the Afghan populace and most of the tribal chieftains. Ultimately, this led to an uprising against the British. Due to a series of terrible military decisions, the British abandoned Kabul in the hopes of making a retreat to Jalalabad. The Afghans decimated the retreating British wiping out the army almost to the last man. Famously a British army doctor, William Brydon arrives alone at Jalalabad on a dying horse. Others later made it back from the retreat or escaped capture but Brydon as the sole survivor remain an indelible image of the war.

Thereafter, the British raise a new army and reinvade Afghanistan and proceed to engage in scorched earth tactics as retribution. They recover some of the officers and women taken captive from the destroyed army but largely destroy everything they encounter and then declare victory and go home. The former king who the British originally deposed because of fears of Russian influence returns to Kabul and reassumes the throne.

Thus, after nearly bankrupting the Indian treasury the British lose an entire army, sow the seeds for the Indian rebellion and end up with the same person back on the throne still without the imagined Russian threat appearing.

Dalrymple does an excellent job of setting the stage for the conflict and explaining the many cross-currents of the Great Game. However, the history, even well told, can be a bit dry. However, once the fighting starts Return of a King was utterly gripping in its narrative as it described the retreat of the army from Kabul and subsequent events like the siege of Jalalabad. A highly recommended and engrossing account.

>144 Oberon: I read that one a few years ago when I had just started the British Author Challenge and really enjoyed it.

Happy Father's Day, Erik.

>144 Oberon: Hi Paul. Dalrymple has written a number of excellent books. I haven't found one that I haven't enjoyed yet.

Loons update: Loons win! Better yet, I got to go to the game. First game with full attendance since the Loons first playoff game in the fall of 2019. Front row seats courtesy of my sister - we got to see the Loons win 2-0 over Austin FC and climb out of the cellar.

>147 Oberon: Congratulations to the Loons! I'm glad that you were able to attend that successful match. My friends have started to attend Atlanta United matches, so I imagine that we'll organize another group outing later this summer.

Have you been following UEFA Euro 2020? That has captured all of my football attention the past couple of weeks, and that will only continue for the next three weeks.

>148 kidzdoc: Yes absolutely. I have watched most of the games. I am (of course) cheering for Spain. However, my youngest is a big fan of Mbappe and so if things go according to plan there will be a big divide if France and Spain meet in the quarterfinals.

I will say that watching the Loons after watching the Euros is a bit of a let down - especially a team like Spain that managed 80% possession versus Sweden. Stunning to see the difference in passing and ball control.

>149 Oberon: I expected that you would support Spain. Kylian Mbappé is a great player, though, and I look forward to a France vs Spain quarterfinal match up.

You probably won't be surprised that I am pulling for Portugal, although I expect them to lose to mighty Belgium, my choice to win Euro 2020, tomorrow. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players of all time, but my favorite European footballer is Kevin De Bruyne of Belgium.

I haven't watch any MLS matches on television, or needless to say in person, so far this season. I lost some degree of interest after Atlanta United unwisely chose Frank de Boer to replace "Tata" Martino as manager, as the team was far less exciting to watch or successful on the pitch.

Hi Erik! It looks like your Loons are beating my Timbers at this very moment. But there is still time for a goal on a Asprilla bicycle kick, so I won't give up hope.

>150 kidzdoc: Half time of Portugal/Belgium and you might be right. Interesting that De Bruyne is your favorite player. He is my middle child's favorite and we just ordered his club team jersey for his 14th birthday.

That is a shame about Atlanta. I assume they will rise again.

>151 banjo123: The Loons pulled that one off! Honestly, I thought that Portland would find a way through with all of that pressure. Really a shame about the claimed racial slur. I very much hope that it is not true but I honestly suspect that it happened. I wonder if it is a function of both players being South American (Columbia/Argentina). As much as I want to cheer for the Loons if it happened the player needs to be punished. There is no excuse or place for that in soccer.

Sadly, I am reminded of how frequently US/Mexico games have to be stopped for homophobic chants. Conduct like that has to be dealt with no tolerance.

You would think that the Timbers could score, but apparently not to be.

Really too bad about the racial slur, I hope the MLS takes action. Diego Chara is very level-headed, so I am sure that it happened.

>154 banjo123: It felt like they had 75%+ of the possession. Plus your goalie kept you in with some huge saves.

Spain made it through the first round of the Euro knockout stages with a 5-3 win over Croatia. Bizarre game where Spain's own goalie scored the first goal on himself and where Croatia stormed back from 3-1 down to tie it in stoppage time.

>156 Oberon: That was a highly entertaining match, but the one that followed between France and Switzerland was even better. My father doesn't know a thing about European football, but he was utterly captivated by it.

>157 kidzdoc: Two unbelievably entertaining games. My Mbappe loving son was devastated about his PK miss. Quite the upset really.

I also grieved for Mbappe last night - he didn't have that finishing touch yesterday. I would have liked them to win, but Switzerland was just a great team collectively, and when you don't score on your many chances...

On books: I've read the first in the Aubrey series but had a hard time following the "action" on the sea with all the unfamiliar sailing expressions (Listened to an audiobook). I might continue with it at some point.

>158 Oberon:, >159 ctpress: That match will be best remembered for Kylian Mbappé's PK miss; however, the Swiss were the better squad and fully deserved to win. The French were lethargic and aimless throughout the first half, they let a 3-1 lead slip away in the last 15 minutes of regulation time, and, as Carsten said, they had numerous chances to put Switzerland away in the second half and in extra time. Spain, on the other hand, also gave up a 3-1 lead late in the second half, but they scored two goals in extra time and kept the Croatians at bay.

>159 ctpress: I agree that this was not Mbappe at his finest though he had some nice assists. The real story in my opinion is how porous the French defense was. I am really surprised that Switzerland could score three goals against France. I read that part of it was due to a formation shift by the French to a 3-4-3 formation that they reversed at half time . . .

On Aubrey, I have never tried the series on audiobook. In printed form the nautical language (unfamiliar terms, etc.) can be a distraction but one that fades the more you read. Knowing the sails from one another really isn't necessary for enjoying the books.

>160 kidzdoc: I agree that Mbappe's miss will be the remembered part of the game. The consequence of being as famous as he is.

I genuinely thought Spain was going to blow it when Croatia scored in stoppage time. It made for a very nerve-wracking game. The permanent story of the Spain/Croatia game could have been the own goal by Spain's keeper. Instead, it is a footnote and adds a touch of redemption to the game.

Spain made it through another tough game edging Switzerland in a penalty shootout. Spain probably should have scored after Switzerland went down a player due to a red card. Switzerland's goalie kept them in the game. Now Spain waits for the winner of Belgium/Italy which is ongoing.

Happy belated 4th of July. We had a normal feeling 4th with fireworks, grilling and socializing. One more step in a return to normalcy.

I especially appreciated the 5th as I got in a lot of lazy reading time and plowed through Burning the Books. Hopefully a review is forthcoming.

As for the Loons update - the Loons tied San Jose at home. Really should have been a win. So I guess the unbeaten streak remains but it doesn't feel like it.

Sadly, Spain's Euro 2020 run ended in penalty kicks with Italy today. I loved the way they played and they look to improve going into the World Cup.

Loons update: Loons win! For the first time ever, Minnesota beat Seattle 1-0. My middle child and I were at the game courtesy of some friends' season tickets.

The local wildlife is doing well although, we like most people, are in quite a drought. The lake is as low as I have seen it.

>166 Oberon: How lovely to see your neighbours Erik.

>167 Caroline_McElwee: We are big fans - unless they decide to eat our few plantings. Thanks for stopping by Caroline.

Home Waters by John Maclean

I have been in a bit of reviewing drought. Some of it is due to not fully working out whether I enjoyed the book I have read and the other part because the books were not especially memorable. Luckily, that changed with Home Waters.

This book is by the son of John Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It which I would argue is one of the great books about fishing and benefits from a fantastic movie adaptation. If you enjoyed either the book or the movie, I believe you will enjoy Home Waters. That said, if you have never watched the movie or read the book, I am not sure that you would appreciate Home Waters because it reads in conversation with A River Runs Through It, both the movie and book.

A River Runs Through It is fiction but a very biographical piece of fiction. Home Waters makes it clearer what parts of A River Runs Through It are fiction and which are grounded in fact. It talks about the impact of A River Runs Through It on the Maclean family, on the sport of fly fishing and on the rivers depicted in the book and film. While that may not sound like the basis for a good book, Home Waters is an engrossing book as it picks through the Maclean family history. John Maclean benefits greatly from his family's writing skill and its fishing skill and weaves the threads together masterfully.

If you enjoyed A River Runs Through It, give Home Waters a try. It is imbued with much of the same magic.

The Loons were robbed last night. Leading 2-1 in the 93rd minute, Vancouver was awarded a PK for a foul that did not occur. Lots of righteous fury at the refs today.

That was a great battle for the CONCACAF Gold Cup!

>171 kidzdoc: It was indeed! Alexi Lalas was literally in tears on the broadcast. It is suddenly looking like it will be difficult to pick the starting US Men's team. I think that is a plus since it feels like it is Pulisic or no one for the last couple of years. It would be great to see a US team advance through some knockout games at the World Cup.

>172 Oberon: This is the first time I've been excited about the USMNT in years. I agree, I think it will be difficult to pick the starting 11, and I'll be curious to see if Christian Pulisic will make the squad.

Did I tell you that Alexi Lalas was a student at Rutgers when I was? Back then he had long flowing red curly hair, and he was instantly recognizable and quite the celebrity on campus. He was in my Existential Philosophy class, and he surprised all of us by his knowledge of the subject and intelligent questions during class.

>173 kidzdoc: He needs to get back into form with Chelsea but I can't imagine him getting dropped. That is a very interesting story about Lalas. His long flowing red hair certainly made him one of the most recognizable players from that era.

Yes, that was a great CONCACAF! Unlike the USWNT, which has been uninspiring. We are now cheering for Canada here, happy that Christine Sinclair will get a medal.

I am a big Norman Maclean fan, and hear him read when I was an undergrad. Will have to look for Home waters.

>175 banjo123: I can't make up my mind about the USWNT. A bronze medal performance is a great run for pretty much every team out there except for them and it feels like a let down. I know it is a team on the older side so maybe this is the time to turn over to a younger generation. The USMNT team did that but it took a complete failure to even qualify for the World Cup to do it. Plus, I feel like women's soccer is expanding globally at a huge rate and maybe this is just the rest of the world catching up. I don't know.

I would have loved to hear Maclean read. I am going fly fishing in exactly a week so hopefully I come out with some fish (and looking like a young Brad Pitt).

Please join me in my second thread of the year. https://www.librarything.com/topic/334471#unread