Reading List

December 13, 2011

The Sleeping Beauty

By C. S. Evans

It is the age old story, re-told in the 1920s by E. S. Evans. Maybe he added a few things, but it is the story and it is enjoyable.

I read this version because it was available on my Kindle. Afterwards I found that I may have missed the best part of this edition. There are illustrations done by Arthur Rackham that didn't come across in the Kindle migration. I found a few of them on the internet. The pictures make the story come alive.

Reading List

December 7, 2011

The Red House Mystery

By A. A. Milne

What do you say when you come across a mystery written by the author of Winnie the Pooh? "Oh, I just must read this!" Yea, right. But I decided to see what it was like. After starting it, I was perusing my 501 must read list and, lo and behold, there it was on the list.

So how does this mystery stack up to, say Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Very well, thank you. In fact, it is somewhat better. In The Red House Mystery, Milne actually gives you all of the clues – well most of the clues. But then he does something unexpected. He actually tells you why they don't make sense. All along you have a prime suspect, but he doesn't fit the clues. Milne lets you discover the real issues a little bit at a time. But then, alas, he doesn't tell you one or two little tidbits, so it would take a real good sleuth to figure out exactly what happened.

I liked it. You'll like. I recommend it. It would work good for a book club. Winnie the Pooh would be proud.

Travels with Lar

December 4 – 9, 2011

Columbia, Maryland

 I flew into Baltimore on Sunday.

I went to Columbia for work – I was teaching two classes – 3 days and then two days.
Classes went okay.

It was a rainy week. I really didn't do anything special this week at all.

It was the last class that is to be taught at the Mentor office in Columbia, MD. Mentor is closing this office and asking the employees to work from home. So at the end of the class I packed all of the systems into shipping crates to send them back to Wilsonville, OR. It wasn't a particularly hard task and I did it in stages during the week as there were systems that were not being used for the class.

And that's it. Not very exciting was it?

Reading List

October 22, 2011

The Help

By Kathryn Stocket

Mar's book club read it – along with 90% of the book clubs in America.

Breanne read it.

Mar and Andrea listened to it on while driving to Virginia.

I went with Mar to see the movie – which was very good.

So I decided to read it.

That was a good decision. It is an excellent book. Some may say it is outdated because it is about events almost a half century ago. But it still touches the American conscience and lets us see things the way they were, so we can see things the way they are now – and maybe fix some things.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

Ha Ha - The Hair Wins

At the trunk or treat there was a question about who would say the paryer.  Two contestants.  Deciding attribute was who had the most hair - and I WON!!!!

So there.

Colors

October 19, 2011

 On the way to Logan, Utah from Ogden, Utah, one has to go over Sardine Canyon – a pass through the Wellsville Range. On a normal day, it is just a trip up the mountain and then down the mountain. On Saturday we made this trip and were awestruck at the glory of the autumn colors. Never in the many, many trips over that pass have I seen it so vivid and beautiful. Alas, I did not stop to take a picture, for how could a camera capture the browns and reds and yellows that covered whole hillsides.

The next Friday, when passing over it again, some of the wonder was gone, yet it was still a mighty feat of nature to create such a canvas. Alas, I still did not stop to capture it in a picture.

However, on Wednesday, after I finished working, Mar picked me up with the Mother and Brenda and we drove up Logan Canyon just to see the colors. Might I say that I once read that one magazine ranked Logan Canyon as one of the top ten spots in America to view Fall foliage. It did not disappoint this year. We drove up and stopped at a little picnic ground by a little grotto on the river. It was a lovely secluded little spot – with a reward of a wild apple tree that was bearing pretty good tasting fruit. We went a little further on and turned up Blacksmith Fork canyon to see something off the beaten way. The leaves were beautiful in the approaching twilight and the canyon itself was delightful. We would stop now and then, and then continue on.

As we got almost to the top of the canyon (we were looking for Old Ephraim's grave) and looked out on a breathtaking autumn scene, Mar – who was driving – looked down and said "Oh my, we are almost out of gas". I must say, that stopped the pilgrimage to the burial shrine. We were well into the back woods, and we were probably saved a lot of stress and tribulation by the fact that it was mostly downhill back to civilization, so Mar coasted much of the way.

A delightful trip – and I did take some pictures. Alas, a cell phone is a sorry excuse for a camera, especially in the shadows of twilight.

Travels with Mar and Lar

Ogden and Logan, Utah
October 13 – 22, 2011

 
Maybe this was a business trip. Maybe it was a family trip. Maybe it was a pleasure trip. As it turns out, it was all three. And it was the result a one of those "perfect storms".

Lar was scheduled to do a business trip to Tucson, Arizona. Not looking forward to it very much. Then he got an overview of the upcoming schedule and found that another instructor was doing a class in Logan. Charlie, the other instructor, had no reason to be in Logan other than the class. Lar had lots of family reasons. So a short phone call later, the classes were switched – Lar on his way to Logan – Charlie to Tucson. And because it was Logan, Lar decided it would be real nice – I mean real , real nice – to take Mar. So a ticket was purchased and the plans were made.
 
We went out on the Thursday before the class, because Lar had taken that Thursday and Friday off a long time before – more of the "perfect storm". Thursday night, Friday and Saturday morning we spent with Melanie and Mom (that would be Lar's mom) in Ogden. On Saturday morning we all went to breakfast with Emily and Rick. We like doing family help things for them. This trip we:

Trimmed a bush

Trimmed two trees

Cleaned out the rain gutters

Installed gutter guards

Repaired the shed (sort of)

Helped Melanie order new doors

Put plastic on two windows

Played lots of games

Ate lots of food

Saturday morning we went to Logan to stay with Mar's mom for the duration. We sent her into stress by telling her we wanted her to come back home with us. She said okay, so we got her a ticket on our return flight. We stayed with her until Friday morning. We did some things for her also:

Cleaned up a rock garden

Dug up some flowers (that we delivered to Brenda)

Trimmed bushes and spread bark

And Mar did a lot of running around town with her

Spent time with a lot of family

On Tuesday through Thursday, I taught the class – which went okay.

Friday we went back to Melanie's and finished some work (and played games). Then Saturday morning we flew back home.

Good trip – made even better by being surrounded by people I love – and people who love me.