The Nature of Things

Mid-August is the hottest part of summer for us in Southeast Texas. In addition, all our lovely showers from spring and early summer seem to have ended and suddenly things are very, very dry. I've had to deploy the sprinklers to keep some of my plants from succumbing to the heat and dry conditions. Even so, in spite of hostile conditions, August has its blooms. Here are some of them. In the little pond, the water lilies are blooming. Those pellets surrounding the blossom are food for the goldfish. Also in the pond, the pickerel weed is going strong. And beside the pond, the swamp hibiscus that we call Texas Star is sending out its daily blooms. The 4 O'clocks are full of their blooms as well. The almond verbena with its small blossoms that carry a big fragrance that scents the entire section of the garden where the big shrub lives. Even though it has been dry, the humidity has been high and that has been enough to keep the Texas sage in bloom. In the veggie garden, most of the ...

The Reversal by Michael Connelly My rating: 3 of 5 stars Twenty-four years earlier, Jason Jessup had been convicted of the murder of a young girl. He had always maintained his innocence and had spent all of his years in San Quentin trying to get the conviction overturned. Finally, new and improved DNA forensic procedures cast doubt on the earlier conviction and led an appeals court to finally reverse the conviction. The LA district attorney, however, is convinced that the earlier verdict, even if flawed, was correct and that Jessup is a murderer. He determines to try him again, but he realizes that he needs someone who is untainted by any association with the old trial to lead the new prosecution. For that role, he reaches out to a man who has never prosecuted anybody, but has always been a thorn in the prosecution's side, criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Haller is at first reluctant to take on the challenge, but he becomes convinced also that Jessup is guilty, and he agre...

"Be kind to people and don't judge, for you do not know what demons they carry and what battles they are fighting."                                                                                         - Vashti Quiroz-Vega  Loneliness. Chronic illness. Feelings of worthlessness. Addiction. Worries about one's children. Obesity. Anorexia. Money worries. Loss of job. Humiliation. Loss of a loved one. Maybe even worse, the feeling that one has failed a loved one. Demons that bedevil many of us at one time or another in our lives. The thing that we have to realize is that everybody has them. It is part of what makes us human. But even though those demons are gnawing away at us on the inside, other people can't always detect them. That must be the way it is with people...

(Note: My review of The Private Patient was originally published on Goodreads on January 24, 2009.) The Private Patient by P.D. James My rating: 3 of 5 stars When you pick up a P.D. James mystery, you know that you are in the hands of a master.  Cleanly plotted, meticulously detailed, characters revealed layer by layer, hers are the epitome of the "British mysteries" in the tradition of the great Agatha.  It is a tradition that I know and love. The Private Patient is her latest entry in the saga of Commander Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard.  It is a police procedural with, as usual, James' touch of humanism. We find that Dalgliesh is about to marry his beloved.  Their romance has had its rocky bits as most romances do, but finally they have decided to join forces officially. Before that can take place though, Adam is confronted with another mystery, the murder of a famous, and apparently rather notorious, investigative journalist, who has a reputation for ruth...

So, yesterday was my birthday. It was one of those which contains a zero, always a time for special reflection on the past decade and all the decades that went before - and the decade to come. There are things to regret, of course, sad memories of those loved ones lost in the past decade, but also happy memories of joyous days, seeing new places, having new experiences, learning new skills, as well as time spent in the company of dearly loved old friends and companions. The decade ahead will offer new challenges, but maybe more joys and new experiences as well. Then perhaps one day I will even open the newspaper and happily learn as Billy Collins did that I am as old as... Cheerios BY  BILLY COLLINS One bright morning in a restaurant in Chicago as I waited for my eggs and toast, I opened the  Tribune  only to discover that I was the same age as Cheerios. Indeed, I was a few months older than Cheerios for today, the newspaper announced, was the seventieth birthday of Cheer...

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : The beautyberries are ripening and the mockingbirds have discovered them. Mockingbirds love berries of just about all kinds, but beautyberries are particular favorites. This one was gobbling up those berries as fast as he could. You might notice that he looks a little raggedy. That's because he is still going through his summer molt. In a few more weeks he will be sleek and beautiful again, every shiny new feather in place. *~*~*~* Birds that are found sick or injured on the streets of New York City have a friend in need, a friend indeed in New York Wild Bird Fund which operates a hospital to care for the birds. It was founded in 2001 and has since treated more than 10,000 feathered patients. *~*~*~* And on the other side of the country, humans have come to the rescue of a flock of flightless geese that had become stranded because of California's extreme drought. The geese had become helpless prey for foxes and ot...