Friday, August 28, 2020

Recommended Books

Because of Covid and being trapped at home so much, everyone I know is reading a lot more.  My list of books read this year is already very long, so I thought I would put in some recommendations, based on my reading since January.

***= highly recommended

***All Blood Runs Red:  The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard—Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy by Phil Keith with Tom Clavin
Amazing saga of a black man from Columbus, Georgia who runs away from home as a child, so he can go to France, where he has heard there is no prejudice.  His amazing journey and exploits through two world wars make spellbinding reading.  This is an astounding true story.

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, by Fredrik Backman
Touching story of grandfather, son, and grandson, as the grandfather realizes that he is losing his memories and preparing to die.  It was the author’s personal thoughts that he didn’t expect to turn into a novella, but it is a lovely, warm story of love and loss.

Five Presidents:  My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, by Clint Hill
Fascinating story by Hill, who was in secret service protecting five presidents.  He was the person who jumped onto the car to protect the Kennedys in Dallas.  His experience there continued to haunt him throughout the rest of his life, causing him to ultimately turn down the directorship and eventually to retire.  Lots of interesting details about the eccentricities of the presidents, those that were easy to work with, like Eisenhower, and those who drove them crazy, like LBJ.  Also lots of details of the many trips that the presidents took, and the amazing work that the secret service had to do to try to protect the president under most trying situations.  A very personal story, though, about the incredible sacrifices the members of the secret service make.

***The Woman Who Smashed Codes, by Jason Fagone
Fascinating biography of  Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who was an astonishing code breaker during both world wars, and between.  Her exploits against rumrunners were well known, but her wartime work was never acknowledged, due to the need for secrecy.  Because she kept meticulous records, which were donated to a college, her biographer was able to piece together the incredible contributions that she and her more famous husband did.  Highly recommended  The book jacket says, “A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies.”

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn:
Mystery, sort of thriller.  Woman with agoraphobia lives vicariously by spying on people with the telephoto lens of her camera.  She is self medicating with lots of pills and alcohol, so when she sees what appears to be a murder in the house across the street, no one believes her, especially since everyone in the house denies that anything has happened. Lots of interesting twists and turns to the plot, coming to a climactic ending.  Apparently, it is being made into a movie.  It should be good. Recommended because it ropes you into the suspense, although not great literature.  I stayed up until 1:30 one night because I just had to finish it.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman
Delightful, though complicated story about Elsa, a precocious eight-year-old, and her most outrageous and wonderful grandmother.  They have many adventures and a most rich fantasy life, thanks to the grandmother’s fairy tales, all of which end up having some truth to them, related to the grandmother’s life. This is a sort of quest tale, as Elsa is charged with finding and delivering a series of letters, all of which reveal things about not only  her grandmother, but also the receiver of the letter. Lots of Harry Potter and superhero talk, but it is still a fascinating story about love and forgiveness that adults will appreciate. 

Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout:
Follows Olive Kittridge through a second marriage and into old age.  She comes to some understanding of how her actions contributed to difficulties in her relationships.  Still the feisty person she has always been.  I liked it, not as much as the original, but it was good.

***One Summer, by Bill Bryson
Fascinating exploration of events in the summer of 1927, as well as the history around them.  From Charles Lindbergh’s famous flight, to Sacco and Vanzetti, to Babe Ruth, to Prohibition, as well as many other things—all told with Bryson’s wonderful style and wit.  Highly recommended! Amazing amount of research went into this book.  The bibliography is extensive. Thanks to Richard, who recommended the book and let me borrow his copy.

***The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka
Carefully researched stories of mail-order brides from Japan in the early 1900’s.  Their lives and fates, told in fascinating detail.  There isn’t just one heroine.  This is the story of thousands of women and how their lives turned out after they arrived here in America.  A must-read.

***The Tiger’s Wife:  A Novel, by Tea Obreht
It is so hard to describe this book.  It has fascinating descriptions of life in the Balkans over the lifetime of the doctor grandfather, who is the major character.  Also, there is the tiger, who escapes from a zoo during a bombing and ends up living near the childhood home of the grandfather, and the granddaughter who seeks to find and understand the secrets of the grandfather’s life. The book has many magical realism aspects, including a “deathless man.”  A wonderful read, well worth the effort of keeping track of the people’s names, which are so different for speakers of English.

The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides
Psychological thriller:  Psychiatrist who has his own problems takes on a most difficult case, a woman who will not speak after killing her husband.  Many twists and turns make this interesting.  I read this in just two days because I couldn’t put it down.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

August Trailer Trip: Franklin, NC August 15 - 22, 2020

 We had a most enjoyable week at one of our favorite places:  Franklin, NC.  It is a beautiful area in the mountains between Asheville and the Smokies, only about a two and a half hour drive from here.  We have been there numerous times for anniversary weekends at B & B's, as well as tent camping before we got our trailer. Franklin is close to Highlands, another lovely mountain town.

The route between Franklin and Highlands goes through the Cullasaja River Gorge.  As you wind up the mountain on hairpin curves, the river plummets down the side of the gorge next to you.  There are numerous outstanding waterfalls.  One of the best is the oddly named "Dry Falls."  It is a lot of fun, because you can actually walk behind the falls.  Unfortunately, I only took videos there, and after numerous attempts and Google searches for help, I have been unable to download the videos to this blog.  So below is a link to some commercially taken pix. Be sure to scroll down to the end, where there is a fantastic video--much better than what I took.

Pictures of Dry Falls

All along the route, people were playing in the cascades and waterfalls.  Here some people had tied a rope so they could swing out, turn around, sit down, and slide down the falls.  It took some maneuvering to manage it.



We had two fun hikes.  The first was to Wayah Bald, where we hiked on the Appalachian Trail.  We have been there several times, and it is a great hike any time of the year.



View from observation tower

Another wonderful hike was the Chattooga Loop Trail from the Bull Pen Road Iron Bridge.  We were the only ones on the trail, once we got past the bridge, where there were some folks playing in the water.

Tillie II waiting for us in the empty parking lot at the end of the hike
We ate lunch next to the river.

Cascades seen from the bridge, with people playing in water

We also tried to get to Jones Bald, but after a long drive up a series of  mountain roads, we came to an impassable dirt road.  Later, we asked about it at the outfitters in Highlands, and they said that we were wise to turn around.  Even jeeps can't get up there now.

Both Franklin and Highlands are lovely little mountain tourist towns.  They had local ordinances that required masks both on the streets and in businesses, so we felt comfortable there.  Everyone was wearing masks.  We even had lunch at outdoor patios a couple of days, the first time we have eaten "at" a restaurant since March.

View from restaurant patio in Franklin

Franklin has lots of beautiful pocket parks all over downtown.
There was a statue of a Confederate soldier in one of them, though.

We stayed in a commercial campground next to the Cullasaja River, so we could have electricity for A/C during the day, if needed.  (The nights were in the 60's, so we slept with the windows open.) Most of the other trailers there were permanent large trailers and fifth wheels that snowbirds use in the summer.  Almost all of them were really nice, with permanent decks and docks next to the river. Our next door neighbor, however, was this weird old trailer with an arbor of trumpet vine.  It covered half the trailer, too.  Shelby loved it because a baby bunny lived under the vine.  Every once in a while it would emerge and eat grass next to our trailer.  Shelby would sit transfixed and watch it.

We thought it was unoccupied for a while,
but a normal-looking man and dog showed up for the weekend.

Shelby on alert for the bunny