A Sense of Place

There are three things which draw me to particular books and authors, hold me there, and keep me returning. This author may be particularly adept at writing engaging dialog. That author may create likable, although not always smart and moral (I hate it when the murderer turns out to be someone I like) characters. And then there are books which evoke a strong sense of place, which somehow manage to inspire in me the desire to go places and try things which I might not otherwise in my more grounded and sensible moments consider trying, such as staring down an angry bull elephant or flying solo across the Atlantic.

Beryl Markham's 1942 memoir "West With the Night" is one of these books. It was an excerpt from an audio edition of the book which led me to putting this book on hold at the public library. There are some books which I breeze through well before the three week lending period, and others which I don't quite make it through in time, because I find myself savoring passages, thinking, rethinking, reading them to others and asking for their opinion on. I know the book touched something deep within others as well, for on two separate occasions strangers on public transportation recognized the book and counted it among their favorites.

The book follows the author from her early childhood when she and her father moved to Africa, through her young adulthood when she trained racehorses, to meeting a pilot and hearing a call to fly herself, first flying medical supplies to remote areas, then becoming a scout finding herds of elephants, and then deciding that she wanted to fly solo westward from Europe to New York - a flight that had not yet been successfully accomplished by anyone non-stop, and which no woman had done solo.

Descriptions of the animals, of the land, and the people were vivid enough to pull me into the narrative. Descriptions of the safaris made me want to go on a safari myself, although in interest of my pocketbook, I simply bought a safari jacket and called it good. An uncomfortable talk with a man dying of malaria and reminiscences with a childhood friend were real enough to cause me to feel a part of those conversations and feel like I knew those people. Ms. Markham turns a phrase so well that her descriptions of the loneliness of an airplane cockpit and the silence of an African Serengeti night have forever altered the way I think of silence and loneliness.

Such books aren't quick, single-afternoon reads. This is a book to savor over many days, to take time digesting. This is a book to take you to another place and time. And the trip is very enjoyable.

West with the Night

Little Man

A couple of weeks ago, while searching for something else entirely, I stumbled across a reference to Little Man Ice Cream in the lower Highlands area of Denver. Being a fan of health food (there is a lot of calcium for strong bones in ice cream, dontchaknow) I suggested to a friend, who owed me a birthday treat, that we go and check it out. I'll have to confess that the first draw wasn't the fact that Little Man makes their own ice cream from locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. No, it was the shape of the building. I had to go check out a place shaped like a giant milk can. Once we got there I realized I had driven past it on one occasion, not realizing what it was.

We checked it out this past Saturday. It must have been Prom night, unless teenagers these days dress up en masse just for kicks. It also seemed to be a favorite hangout for young couples with cute babies. Chalk up one more point in Little Man's favor: I like places where I can "people watch."

Ice cream, sorbets, and gelatis in cones or cups; malts and shakes, sundaes and floats - and enough intriguing flavors to know, even before we got to the window, we'd have to return. I would not normally think of putting blueberry and cinnamon together, but discovered the flavors complement one another very well. The concord grape sorbet was also delicious, as were the chocolate-orange gelati and the fig sorbet. Apparently they change their flavors often in a devious plot to get you to return frequently. Yeah, good luck with that - I can stay away, you know, I've plenty of will power!

Behind the milk can is a patio additional to the one in front. This one is on a lower level from where the building sits. There are two ways to get to there: by stairs or by slide. There are times when you must allow your inner child permission to come out and play. This was one of those times where my inner child didn't bother to ask for permission, he went straight to the slide without a moment's hesitation. My friend showed remarkable restraint and took the stairs.

Reasonable prices: $2.50 for a single (large) scoop, curiosity piquing flavor combinations, a cool building, people to watch, and a slide. Could it get any better than that? As always, as long as you must eat, it's best to have a friend tag along.

Chocolatey Goodness, part two

Today's mail brought a belated birthday present from a Canadian friend. It was late by the time I got the chance to open the package. I shouldn't be eating candy this late. But what kind of friend would I be if I didn't honor my friend's kind gift by immediately enjoying it?

First to sample: "Rockets", which are like American "Smarties", those teeny sugary wafers in a roll. More tart, less sweet than the Smarties. Next to sample was a Kinder "Bueno" wafer, a chocolate covered cookie wafer with creamy hazelnut filling. My golly, I'm not sure these should be legal. I didn't think I was a fan of hazelnut. I thought wrong.

A box of "Smarties" went into my bag to take to work tomorrow. These are like M&Ms, and I have it on good authority they are tastier. A box of Lindt truffles which I'll enjoy sometime soon. And two Kinder Eggs - It's been a few years since I enjoyed a Kinder Egg. For the uninitiated, these are plastic eggs covered in chocolate, with whimsical toys inside. I don't know why they're sold all over the planet save the U.S.; something to do with concern over choking hazards (as the toys are very small). Apparently children in other parts of the world are smart enough to differentiate between candy and plastic and know what to eat and what not to, but they are not so smart here. Or maybe it's just American lawmakers and bureaucrats who think our children aren't smart enough. Anyway, you can't get them here unless you want to pay big shipping charges or have friends who love you the wide world over.

So, Yay for friends! Yay for Canada! and Yay for chocolate ~ which, in my opinion, is proof that there is a loving God.

Chocolatey Goodness

Two blocks away from my favorite branch (Arvada - two stories of books, with a reading room sporting huge picture windows) of the Jefferson County public library, is one of my favorite food places, Rheinlander German Bakery. They have chocolate there. But not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill chocolate. Delectable chocolate goodies that will make you believe in Magic. Chocolate raspberry tortes. Bavarian cream puffs. Chocolate covered coconut macaroons. And so much more. Can't handle sugar or gluten like you used to? Watching your calories and carbs? No worries. Out of curiosity, I have tried their sugar free and gluten free treats. I don't know how they do it - I think it's Magic - but those treats are every bit as - Dare I say it? Yummy! as those with real sugar. I kid you not. Go ahead, go there and try to prove me wrong. It's a great comfort to me to know that should I ever have to give up sugar or wheat or gluten, the chocolate wizards at Rheinlander Bakery have me covered. Life is beautiful.

Books which I should not read while taking public transportation

Anything by Richard Paul Evans. Whatever paper or ink they use for his books, I seem to have allergies to, and they make my eyes water and nose run...

Original sources

"OUTRAGEOUS!!!!" "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????" "UNBELIEVABLE!!!"

Fake virus warnings, missing children found ten years ago, precocious children dying of dreaded diseases who curse you to hell for not forwarding the email, threats real or imagined to our national security and freedoms of religion and speech... since I seldom see anything new in these, I have to wonder how carefully these are read before the emails are dutifully forwarded (as instructed at the end of every missive) to everyone in one's address book. Most of these can be easily debunked by a careful reading of the email itself. The rest can be debunked by spending a little effort and a little time by going to the original sources helpfully cited in the email themselves. Or of, course, by forwarding them to me, but as my friends and family have discovered, I tend to get a bit snarky in my responses, so it might be easier on your tender feelings to do your own research.

Of all these offending emails, the ones I find most irksome are those with a political nature. I might very well disagree with the political figure or group a particular email vituperates against. What bothers me is that the emails are so full of misinformation, quotes taken out of context and in many cases, outright lies. And I cannot help but to wonder how much the originator truly misunderstood the situation and how much they carefully cherry-picked their information in order to deliberately discredit a person or group, and incite hatred, knowing that from there people would react emotionally instead of intellectually, and unknowingly spread those lies.

The current round of myths coming into my inbox concern our current administration and its policies. First let me say that I don't agree 100% with the current administration, just like I didn't with the previous one, or the one before, or the one before. I have my own reasons for disagreeing, based upon what I actually have heard and read. So if an email tells me some horrible thing is in this section and that line of the health reform bill, I look it up - and I don't find that particular phrase, neither where the email told me to look for it nor in a word/phrase search of the entire document. Those things are not in there. There's plenty that is unacceptable to me, but no one ever puts those things in an email to forward on, possibly because they are not nearly as scary as the made up stuff. Likewise with the emails I got about the previous administration's Patriot Act bill - the scary stuff that came in to my inbox was not contained in that bill. The same goes from quotes that a president or senator or congresswoman supposedly said in some news conference; in looking up the original source, one finds that they did say something silly or boneheaded, but it wasn't what the email said it was, nor as incendiary.

Since this blog is supposed to be about books, I'll get to my point by mentioning two bestselling books: Barack Obama's "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope". One recent email I received started out insisting that every true and concerned American should read these two books, and offered up "direct" quotes from the two books which showed racism, religious bigotry, and power madness.

Well, I did. Read the books, that is, or at least I listened to the audio versions. Not because the email told me to, but because I wanted to know where the man was coming from, for my own understanding, even before I got the email. Anyone want to guess where I'm going with this? Every single one of those quotes was taken out of context. Every single one. One was truncated, another merged with another quote with all the parts in-between left out. All had doomsaying conclusions drawn from them, which conclusions themselves took great liberty with the actual words quoted.

People read book reviews because they haven't time to read every single book out there. So they put their trust in a reviewer who may or may not interpret the book the same way they would. The reviewer may or may not have the same values as the reader, or the writer for that matter, would could in itself color their judgment when reviewing.

My point is this. Regardless of what you feel about a person or their ideals, don't let someone else make that decision for you. Do not assume that a quote is as "direct' as it purports to be. Look it up. You don't have to spend the money on your own copy, even; there are these wonderful institutions known as Public Libraries which will allow you to peruse to your heart's content for free. The information is out there, but it isn't necessarily going to come to you when you're plugged in. I cannot say that reading either book has improved or sullied my opinion as it was before; I still agree where I agreed before and disagree where I disagreed before. I never thought our President was the Messiah; I never thought he was the anti-Christ. But I do understand why he believes as he does. And I got there from reading from the original sources.

Books to the ceiling

This mural is painted on the wall in the children's section at the library branch where I send all my holds. I have to look at it every time I go to pick up books. I don't think I have anything to add to it...