Wow. Weird as you'd expect from Jodi Taylor and twice and good

The Nothing Girl
by Jodi Taylor
 

It's been a long time since a book made me tear up because it was so darn sweet. Until this. How in the world did she manage to write a story so very strange, so very unusual, and so very, very lovely?

I'd read one or two of her Chronicles of St. Mary's, about time traveling historians who seem to die or suffer dismemberment in every couple of pages. Those were good, funny, and full of breakneck action. Heads roll and arms fly and you can't stop reading.

But this was the exact opposite.  It's simply the story of a young woman growing into adulthood, with the impediment of a bad stutter and a tendency to run away from normal situations.  She's helped by a magical companion....

And there I'm telling too much. Just read the book. It's lovely, absolutely lovely. And have tissues for the ending.

Mammoth Goes to Blanco and S. Llano Day 6

 Sat 11/5

Where the deer and fox and owl hung out:

Our campsite, good-bye!

And return. Knowing it was going to be a long drive, we got moving early. Maybe ten o'clock?  Early enough.  And it was a long drive indeed, but not as bad as expected. For one thing, our RSV symptoms were easing up. We only used two or three kleenix per hour, not ten. And for another, despite having to take secondary roads for most of the way, the traffic wasn't bad and the hills not so horrid, either.

We filled up in Weatherford and took I-20 over across Fort Worth. Google Maps app routed us on the Express Lanes, which are pricey as hell but worth it--we got to bypass a lot of slow and stopped traffic on the 820 loop around north Fort Worth.

And home by four-ish. Good trip!

Another reliably good dog adventure

The Hiding Place
Mercy & Elvis Mysteries

Good mystery--well plotted, good search dog action, and only a few necessary (and, of course, unbelievable) coincidences. I like this series a lot.

(All except the love interest side plot. But it's not a big part of the book and can easily be ignored.)

But those scenes are the only thing that were boring enough to make me put the book down and not swallow all the rest of the delicious action in one gulp!

Mammoth Goes to Blanco and S. Llano Day 5

Fri 11/4/2022

Today I made a plan to visit the fourth bird blind, and so I did. But first I took an early walk along an interpretive trail through the turkey roost area. I didn't see any turkeys, but I did gain a lot of miscellaneous information about the elm trees--Cedar Elm--the Shumard Oaks, and the Honey Mesquite. Not to mention pecan, sycamore and other river bottom trees. That's what they called them, anyway. I wouldn't think this land had ever been near or under the river, but what have you.

 

 

After my walk we drove over to the "Lover's Leap" overlook, a few miles on the highway. Nice view up there but nothing spectacular, and definitely not worth a drive.

Then I went off to the fourth bird blind.   I forgot my camera, but even without that extra weight it was a long, tiresome walk. On the road.  This one had the usual dripping water fountain made out of big rocks, plus a thistle feeder and some sunflower seed. But no birds. Great place--no birds.

So I walked back, did dishes and ate lunch, then  set off for the first bird blind we'd visited, and this time I took my camera. Sadly, the Western Scrub Jay weren't around. I could have gotten a picture of a black-crested Titmouse but I'd put my camera away when they finally decided to pay a visit.  

I  got this Bewick's Wren,

 

 

 

And I badly needed to potty, so back to camp it was. On the way a big armadillo crossed our path and I tried to take a picture, but no luck. Try taking a one-handed phone picture with a dog going crazy and digging the leash into your other hand--

Not possible. After than I went to the Agarita Blind, where I saw (guess it!) no birds. Oddly enough, it was getting on to four o'clock by then, so I went down the road to the day use area in hopes of seeing some turkeys.

 

And there they were, but way off in the bushes where I couldn't get a good picture. I decided to keep on going on the road in hopes that by the time I reached the end and turned back, they'd be crossing the road. But my route was barred--

On second thought I might as well have kept going. They'd have moved away. But there were such a lot of them (10 or more) and they were rather big and evil looking. So I went back.

Good thing, too. After hanging around and doing a little house work, I went inside to bring Zack out for a potty. As I was stepping out the door, Zack in hand, I saw Ed on his feet aiming his phone at something....

FOX!!!    I finally saw a fox again. I have not seen one since Yellowstone, over fifteen years ago

 

Later the deer came over to the field and massed around the edge of the trees, just as they had the day before. Funny creatures.

In the dark, just before bedtime, I could see them moving sneakily along the very edge of the trees, just behind our campsite. They seemed to be going the opposite direction from before. But who knows?

Meanders to Blanco and S Llano Day 4

 Thu 11/3/2020

I think the guy with the flag was gone in the morning. When I walked Molly over there before breakfast, we saw only the campground host's trailer. So I'll never know. And from this moment on, I no longer care. Life is too short to spend it stressing out about things not important to me.

And it turns out we were some of the biggest light polluters out there. When Ed went outside for his final cigarette  before bedtime, he noticed that the campsite next to us was lit up awfully brightly. Curious, he took a quick look--and it was our power regulator. The big, honking, fancy power regulator and surge preventer box that we had the shore power plugged into--to prevent another wipeout like we had at Surfside--had very bright lights on it. We'd noticed them, but never cared much because all the other campsites were lit up so excessively that our box wasn't going to make much difference.

Not here, though. In a really dark place, those lights were bright.  I've taken a dark blue towel and improvised a cover for it, so we'll see how much better it is tonight.

The campground seemed awfully full for a Wednesday, but on Thursday morning they mostly cleared out. Unless a lot more people come in that I've been seeing come in, it'll be more than halfway empty tonight. It's kind of cloudy and windy, so maybe that's keeping people away?  Most likely not, and there's not much chance of rain, either.

We had a lovely, lazy day. We drove over to the day use area and sat by the river for a while. Then checked out the bird blind on the trail leading to the overlook. There I saw Western Scrub Jays, house finches, and lesser goldfinches.

We took the trail toward the overlook, but turned around after going only two-thirds of the way up. Ed's hip was hurting him and he was uncertain of the way back. I was not all that worried, but no matter. We weren't really sure how far we had to go because the trail was not marked at all once you started on it. We weren't even sure we were really on the trail.  I might do it again tomorrow,but I probably won't.  I will, however, go check out the bird blind again.

After a lunch break, we headed to the other bird blind where I saw Inca Doves, more house finches, black-crested titmice, and one odd little warbler-like bird that left as soon as I glimpsed him. Blah!

And then we moseyed on down the trail looking for turkey. We made a small circle, from the blind to the river to the parking area and then on another cross trail that headed toward the blind. And that's where Ed saw the turkeys for himself. Probably the same flock, skulking around in the brush like turkeys do. They're awfully quiet for something so large.

Lots of axis deer looking at us

Mammoth Goes to Blanco and S. Llano Day 3

 Wed, 11/2/2022

We made poor time traveling over the South Llano River State Park, but that wasn't really an issue. We just weren't in a hurry. Plus, we both were at the worst stage of our RSV symptoms and didn't feel like moving fast. We didn't leave until nearly 11:00, then we took a longer route south and then west because I didn't want to drive on the hilly  little, two-lane road over to the gas stop at Comfort.

So we went down 281 and across to Boerne, which is an awfully trumped up tourist trap. Nice if you're into that sort of thing, but full of hill-country junk and German beer and such nonsense. I wouldn't go out of my way to go there--except possibly for the candy store.

After getting on I-10, it was predictably nice and even had an 80-mph speed limit for a while. We probably never got up to that speed because the hills out there are seriously long and slow.  There's no way you can maintain speed in an old RV pulling a jeep, even our Massive Mammoth had to struggle. But it was an easy drive.

We topped off the gas tank at Junction--not a habit of ours, but we wanted to be ready to make good time when we headed back home after a few days. There we left the Interstate and headed down to the park. I'm not accurate in my notes as to when we arrived, because when I looked at my phone it said 1:30 and then when, parked at the campsite, I looked again, it said 1:48. So did it really take us 18 minutes to circle through the park and get to our campsite?  It's not that long a circle, either--Molly and I just walked it in ten minutes--but then again, Ed was going five miles per hour. I kept having to take the Jeep out of gear, stop it and start it again in first gear to keep from passing him.

It's a really nice park, but sadly, full of the usual Texas a**holes. During my Molly walk, I passed by a man sitting outside his camper, just a few feet past the huge sign that said "This is a dark sky park. Please keep outdoor lighting to a minimum." He asked where I was camped and when I pointed to show him, he said, "be sure and keep a lookout for my flag when I turn it on!"  I muttered, "oh. Sure." and went on, but I doubt if he heard the disgust in my voice.

I am very curious to know if the rangers might say something to him about it, especially if he leaves it on past ten p.m., which is when "peace and quiet" hours start.

Molly and I took a short walk and then returned to get her claws trimmed. After that we went out again, at around 5 o'clock to finish our walk. The trails that led to the "turkey roosting area" were all chained off with signs saying "open from 10am through 3pm", which is a polite way of saying, keep out at night.

So we stayed on the road and there we saw the biggest armadillo I've ever encountered. He was a monster beast. But he didn't see us, so on we went.

Then down the road to the day use area, we encountered white-winged doves, tons of them. All over the road. Shortly after they flew away (politely, so we could pass by), we saw a flock off turkey skulking in the underbrush off to one side of the road. I counted eight heads, but there could have been more.

When we finally headed toward home, we met another armadillo, which upset Molly unduly. This was a normal-sized one. But she really wanted to eat it. Poor puppy!

Mammoth goes to Blanco and S. Llano, Day 2

 Tue 11/1/2022

At Blanco State Park for a second day. After breakfast and a Molly walk that was much shorter than I wanted it to be, we left the dogs inside and headed out to visit natural Bridge Caverns.  It was and it a truly great cave. Maybe even worth the $26 it cost. (Per person)

Outside the cave was exceptionally beautiful with tons of plantings for butterflies.  And hummingbirds, too, in season but there were none still around at the time of year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And afterward we went to the Screaming Goat. Cajun food for a very late--three p.m.-ish--lunch. Also excellent.  I had a collard greens melt--roasted collards on rye bread with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. Huge, fattening, and delicious.  Sadly, I ate the whole thing.
 

 

 

Good-bye to Bob and Theresa and back at camp. Molly's evening walk wasn't enough to burn off all the calories in that ginourmous lunch, but it helped.  I may feel like eating again, someday.

Mammoth Meanders to South-Central Texas

Mon 10/31/2022

Home to Blanco State Park. Exceptionally fast trip. This might be the first and only time we've ever gotten to the Love's Truck Stop in Temple in under three hours, and even filling up seemed exceptionally fast. After filling up, we cut across I-14 and SH (US?) 190 to Lampassas, then on south on 281 to Blanco.

The park isn't much, but then, I wasn't expecting much. I just knew it was reasonably close to Bob and Theresa's house and it wasn't the COE park at Canyon Lake. We've been to the COE park several times, and it's just the same old same. Plus the driving to it is a little unpleasant--hilly little two lane roads to get over from 281. Not my fave.

This place is kind of small (knew that) and kind of nestled in the middle of a little town (Blanco). I knew that, too, but I didn't expect the amount of highway noise. Or the number of people cramming into the tiny campground. They're pretty much all old people, like us. I guess they're the class of people who can't or won't afford the prices at a fancy private RV park.

But I'm being silly. It's a perfectly nice little park and really quite beautiful.  Molly and I took a nice, long walk under the huge hemlock trees by the Blanco River. No birds to think of, just a few doves and couple of huge geese of some undefinable species. Either domestic or imports, but not any native American goose I know of.

Bob and Theresa came over after a little while and we went for a walk. The "nature trail" was a lame, unadorned path cut along the southern edge of the park boundary, We didn't make it all the way to the end--we were talking and pausing and looking around all the while--hoping to see something but seeing very little except underbrush--when our stomachs called out we went out to get supper.

We ended up going to a lovely little Tex-Mex hole-in-the-wall right next to the park entrance. Within walking distance, in fact. Inside, there was only one couple eating, and only six or eight tables total. But their menu was large--all the normal Tex-Mex and a lot of seafood dishes.  

I ended up with Camarones Mexicanos even though I prefer not to eat shrimp of indeterminate origin. (Hint: it's always from Indonesia or Cambodia and most likely harvested by impoverished or enslaved laborers.) But it was excellent!  I'd most definitely eat there again. Even Ed's Chile Relleno was good.

When we left there were a few extra diners in the restaurant. Good--I'd hate to see it go out of business.

My review:
Tiny little park in the middle of a tiny little town
The campsites were okay but small and just a little cramped for a state park. More spacious than a private RV park, of course. Our site was long enough for a 32' Class A RV plus a Jeep.   It was back-in, with full hookups but only 30-amp, although some of the sites down the loop were 50-amp.  There were also sites without sewer and a tiny little dump station on the road going out.

It was very clean all through the campground--only over by the highway crossing the river was there any trash on the ground. None of the sites were far from the river, but didn't have a view of it. But it was quiet and peaceful on the weekdays that we were there. I could see it being very crowded during the summer due to river access--the section of the river in the park was dammed to be high enough for a very short paddle or float trip.

As to activities, the only hiking trail was named a nature trail but that was asperational only. It was just a route cut through the underbrush along the river. One could take a short hike along the north side of the river (away from the campsites) to a bird blind at the end. No one had filled the bird feeders.

Old days Alaska

 To the Bright Edge of the World
by Eowyn Ivey

Inspired by the real-life 1885 journey into Alaska let by Lieutenant Henry T Allen, Report of an Expedition in the Copper, Tanana, and Koyukuk Rivers in the Territory of Alaska.  Knowing that, I enjoyed it more in the after-reading period, because so much of it was beautiful beyond imagining and I thought it must be sheer, imaginative storytelling. Which it is--but with a ton a research behind it.

The actual narrative--beautiful, heartbreaking, sometime exciting and always intriguing--didn't flow through my heart so well that I wanted to read and savor every word. For one thing, she told four stories interwoven and while they both complimented and teased each other, one of them fell flat, one puzzled, and one seemed pulled apart by the constant interruptions from the switch of perspective.

In particular, the narrators were Lieutenant Colonel Forrester, who was traveling to explore the unknown regions of Alaska; his wife, left behind in Vancouver Barracks, his scientist and photographer, Lieutenant Pruitt, and the modern-day people who are archiving and reviewing the materials left behind by the other three. Forrester's narration was "the story" that suffered from interruptions. His wife's story was fascinating and could have made a book all on its own. Pruitt, whom I think was the other narrator but was never mentioned by name, only appearing by disjointed ramblings of a degenerating mind that didn't fit into the rest of the story at all (in my opinion.) And the modern day people appeared late enough on the stage that I never really understood who they were and what they were about.

A more careful reader would adore this work.  Me, I enjoyed...but only just.

Hometown disappointment

Quilt City Murders
by Bruce Leonard

Drat. I really wanted to like this book, and it was set in my hometown. Or should that be, I really wanted to like this book because it was set in my hometown?

Alas, that was not to be. I didn't hate it and didn't dislike it enough to give up on it, but by the end I was only slugging through to see if it could possibly get better. But especially at the ending, I found it too confusing and the cast of characters too broad. When the murderer was finally revealed, I didn't feel the satisfaction of having guessed them--I didn't know them all that well--nor did I feel the aha! moment of having been fooled. The lead character was fooled, beautifully.

Nor did I fully understand her boyfriend's ending. At one point it made perfect sense...but then it didn't. Maybe I'm a little dumb.

And maybe I don't like books that make me feel a little dumb.

I'd say it was a good effort for a first book, and if the author tries again it might be better. But I'll leave it to someone else to find out.

And by the way, if you grew up in Paducah Kentucky, you might enjoy it just for that. He did an excellent job at name and place dropping.

Gardening in My Roots, First Frost Edition

 November 13 and the first time I had ice in the bird bath. Just a skim, but the fields were white with frost. This should mean good-bye to the peppers, 

 

but the turnips, collards, and possible the little bit of lettuce I managed to coax out of the ground in the heat of summer will survive.

 

 

 

 

What about the Mexican Sunflowers, though?

No good

Okay (and a little cring-ish) reading for RV-ers

 Three Years in a Walmart Parking Lot
by Sharon Waters

I downloaded this through Kindle Unlimited and due to the large amount of repeated content, I suspect it was self-published. But very much a lot of fun and inspiration, too.

This old woman--my age!--decides to buy herself a small RV and give up her house. And for three years she travels south in the winter and north in the summer, more or less retracing the same route. She visits with friends and relatives along the way, but her primary point of nightly residence is Walmart. Many, many Walmarts. She doesn't care to drive very far--fifty to a hundred miles a day (or less)--and so she gets up in the morning, walks her dogs, goes through her pre-departure checklist, and travels the next leg, then parks for the rest of the day.

At the time RV-ing was fairly novel and Walmart was very welcoming of overnighters. Toward the end of her three years, all that was changing, but mostly she had an easy choice of it. Not my cup of tea, but you have to admit it sure beats a retirement home!

The repetition was annoying, but not a killer. As I started a new chapter and I realized I already knew the events she was imparting, I simply skimmed forward to get to something new. In an audiobook this would be bad, but not on paper. Virtual paper.

She didn't have too many death-defying adventures, although her experience of departing an automobile ferry she ended up on by accident....well....that was a nail-biter. But mostly it was an introspective, amusing but seldom funny, sweet story.

And true.

Strange historical fiction but good reading

 Doll Baby

by Laura Lane McNeal

What a weird book. It was mostly straight narrative, from the points of view of several people but mainly the main character, Ibby, an 11 year old girl whose father had died so her mother dropped off to live with a grandmother she'd never met. The mother was a real piece of work and no one liked her very much, but still a mother--not someone you want to lose track of with no notion where she went, why she went, and was she ever coming back.

The sections that Ibby didn't observe directly are in the POV of Doll (aka Doll Baby), a black woman who works in the grandmother's house, and her mother, Queenie, also working the in grandmother's house. The grandmother is a real nutcase, but a semi-functional one. Her heart is in the right place even if her actions are often odd.

And--here's a warning--a few critical events from the past are told in short flashbacks. I found it irritating, but I wanted to know what happened so badly that I put up with them.

And that's the reason I kind of liked this book. It really kept me interested. And the historical settings (1960s New Orleans) were right on target. Civil rights and demonstrations and irrational police shoots loomed large on the screen, and a whole of things just weren't fair. But it was awfully realistic and eminently believable.