The Nature of Things

This one was perfect. It was my comfort read and it provided everything that I needed just when I needed it. Visits with Commissario Brunetti and his families - both his own and his work family - are like that, but this one was even better than most. It begins on the island of Pellestrina on the Venetian lagoon. Two clam fishermen, a father and son, have been found murdered on their fishing boat.  The older man's head had been caved in by a couple of brutal blows and the younger had been knifed in the stomach and bled to death. But that wasn't the end of it. In the middle of the night, the community was awakened by a loud boom as the boat's gas tank exploded and enveloped it in flames. The flames spread to the boats moored on either side and things looked very dicey for a while until the other fishermen managed to get things under control and extinguish the conflagration. When the neighbors finally realized that the owners of the burnt boat were missing, someone thought ...

For someone who normally does not read a lot of nonfiction, it seems like I've already more than met my quota for 2019. And yet here I am with another one. This one has gotten quite a lot of notice and it is still in the top ten of best sellers in the country. But what a depressing read! It is certainly not what one would want to be reading when one isn't feeling on top of the world, but I had already started it at the time I became ill recently and I persevered and finally completed it on the day I was released from the hospital. Two reasons to rejoice. I don't mean to imply that it is a bad book; quite the contrary. It is very well written and obviously well researched. I was surprised in reading the book on my Kindle to find that I completed the main narrative at 60% of the book; the other 40% was made up of notes which served as the author's bibliography. All the references were well-documented. The narrative brings together the latest information and research regar...

As an only child raised with a couple of dozen cousins, I know a little about kin. I know about being "entwined in red rings of blood and loneliness" and that we have always been and ever shall be sisters in every way that matters. Kin by Maya Angelou    FOR BAILEY We were entwined in red rings Of blood and loneliness before The first snows fell Before muddy rivers seeded clouds Above a virgin forest, and Men ran naked, blue and black Skinned into the warm embraces Of Sheba, Eve and Lilith. I was your sister. You left me to force strangers Into brother molds, exacting Taxations they never Owed or could ever pay. You fought to die, thinking In destruction lies the seed Of birth. You may be right. I will remember silent walks in Southern woods and long talks In low voices Shielding meaning from the big ears Of overcurious adults. You may be right. Your slow return from Regions of terror and bloody Screams, races my heart. I hear again the laughter Of children and see fireflies ...

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : Great Crested Flycatcher image courtesy of allaboutbirds.com. The Great Crested Flycatchers arrived this week. While sitting in my backyard on Wednesday afternoon, after my few days in the hospital , one of the first sounds I heard was the bird's unmistakable call. It was like a "welcome home" and a most welcome sound for me. *~*~*~* Have you heard about Netflix's new Nature documentary, "Our Planet" ? It sounds quite interesting, although I admit I haven't seen any of it yet. Apparently, it has a lot in common with the original "Planet Earth," including the voice of David Attenborough, but this series also "repeatedly, unambiguously, and urgently" delivers the message that our planet is imperiled by our own actions. It's a message that badly needs to be pounded home.   *~*~*~* For the first time in many decades, there is a new wolf pack living on the western si...

For those of you who might have noticed and wondered where I've been this week, well, it is not a pretty story.  I had a medication change last week and it turns out I had a severe allergic reaction to the new medication. My last few days have been mostly spent in the hospital. I'm home now and feeling much better so I hope to get back on schedule with both my blogging and my reading soon. And I do hope, dear reader, that you are having a much better week than I've had!

Linda Gregg was an award-winning American poet. She died last week at age 76, and since I didn't know her work, I thought I should get acquainted and introduce her to you. Here is one of her poems. L ooking For Each of Us by Linda Gregg I open the box of my favorite postcards    and turn them over looking for de Chirico    because I remember seeing you standing    facing a wall no wider than a column where    to your left was a hall going straight back into darkness, the floor a ramp sloping down    to where you stood alone and where the room    opened out on your right to an auditorium    full of people who had just heard you read    and were now listening to the other poet.    I was looking for the de Chirico because of    the places, the empty places. The word    “boulevard” came to mind. Standing on the side  ...

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : The American Robin is the harbinger of spring in some places but around here they are present throughout the year and their nesting season has begun. *~*~*~* Farther north, large flocks of robins are showing up in yards as their spring migration is well underway. In the 1800s, these flocks would have been fair game for hunters. Thankfully, that is no longer the case and robin numbers are increasing. *~*~*~* Communities in California where the superbloom of wildflowers has taken place are still having to deal with large numbers of tourists, some of whom are quite thoughtless and destructive. Some have even landed in helicopters which have flattened the wildflowers around their landing spots. *~*~*~* Scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2017 wrapped up a comprehensive analysis of the threat that three widely used pesticides present to hundreds of endangered species .  But just before the team planned t...