The Nature of Things

My rating: 3 of 5 stars Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo were a Swedish husband and wife writing team, who, between 1965 and 1975, published a series of ten books featuring the detective Martin Beck. In many ways, this was an iconic series, forerunner and progenitor of some of the most popular Scandinavian mystery/thriller series of today. Writers like Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo, and Stieg Larson certainly owe a debt to the Sjowall/Wahloo team. Over the years, I have seen references to this series in reviews that I've read of other books. Finally, I decided it was time for me to get to know the works and to find out why others spoke of them so reverentially. This Kindle edition of Roseanna that I read had an introduction written by Henning Mankell, in which he acknowledged his debt to the earlier writers. (Mr. Wahloo is now deceased, but Ms. Sjowall is still with us - just not writing mysteries anymore.) He also mentions the influence of American detective fiction on the Sjowall/Wahloo t...

Here we are at last at the first day of December - last month of the year. What will the month bring? "Sickly grey" days of "puddling mud of endless dreary rain?" Or maybe bright, sunny days with clear blue skies and brisk temperatures, the last days of autumn before winter truly begins? Well, that is to be determined, isn't it? Thirty-one days of the unknown lie ahead of us. Let's make the most of them!   Mad December       by Thomas Horton This is not yet the howling winter Huffing its bluster hither and yon Heaving its intense fury In swells of former flurries Gathered like an army of tiny invaders Forming a carpet to choke the life From all they touch No, this is the sickly grey Of a desolate late autumn That has forgotten The beauty of her childhood Gone the leaves of fire Against crisp blue skies And harvested bounty In beige fields where Children enjoyed hayrides And picked the perfect pumpkin And banished their shivers With warm spiced cider By a cra...

'Tis the season. Thanksgiving is past. Time to get the house decorated for the year-end holidays and that, of course, means a tree. That can be a challenge though if you have a Simon's Cat in the house.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars Reading a No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novel is like being in the presence of an old and well-known, well-loved friend. It's a warm hug from a someone who knows just when you really need that hug. These books are classified as mysteries, but they might as easily be called philosophy, because they are filled with Precious Ramotswe's ruminations on life, on what makes people behave as they do, on her beloved Botswana, on Africa. All of the "mysteries" that she is called on to solve are, at their core, puzzles of human nature and why one person seeks to cause mischief for another. There are no car chases, no gunfights, no bloodshed. There is simply Mma Ramotswe meditating on the personalities of those involved in her current cases and using common sense and her well-honed instinct to sort through all the motives and possibilities to a logical conclusion. The great Sherlock could not do more.   As this book opens, we learn that Mma Ramotswe...

Yes, it is that time of year again. Time for another Addams Family Thanksgiving. Enjoy! I hope your Thanksgiving is a peaceful one with no flaming arrows and no scalpings.

The Virginia opossum, more familiarly known as possum. The opossum, or possum, is the only marsupial animal found in the United States and Canada. They are also frequently found in my backyard at night. Possums are scavengers and are always on the look-out for something that can become their next meal. They are attracted to garbage cans, dumpsters, and other such containers. They also will eat carrion and can sometimes be found near roadkill. They will hunt small animals. In past years, when we had a backyard flock of chickens, the possums were a threat to them. They are omnivorous and will eat just about anything they can get their mouths around. I even sometimes see them under my bird feeders where they pick up nuts and fruits that have fallen from the feeders. As a member of the marsupial class of animals, female possums give birth to tiny babies, about the size of honeybees. There may be as many as 20 babies in a litter, but, generally fewer than half of them will survive. After bi...

I've often written here and elsewhere about the plight of the Monarch butterflies and of the bees. They are iconic insects that can be recognized by most people, even those that are fairly ignorant about other insects, and they are hugely important cogs in the ecosystem. The migration of the Monarch is a tale which borders on the magical. A fragile insect which makes the long trek all across the continent from Canada to Mexico is something which catches people's imagination as a thing that is really quite marvelous. The Monarch's migration is particularly important and is cause for celebration in Mexico where the butterflies have traditionally wintered. A story in The New York Times this week ( "The Year the Monarch Didn't Appear" ) emphasized that important cultural link. On the first of November, when Mexicans celebrate a holiday called the Day of the Dead, some also celebrate the millions of monarch butterflies that, without fail, fly to the mountainous fi...