The Padded Cell: Bookmarque Reads without Rules (Part 2)

The first thread was getting a little long so here's a new one.

March is over already. ¼ of 2019 is behind us.
So how did my reading go? Like this -

14 books read
3 non-fiction, 11 totally made up
6 men, 8 women
9 new authors, 5 familiar
2 ebooks, 5 audio (!!), 7 physical
4 library books, the rest I bought
Of those 7 I bought new, 2 were used and 1 was an ER copy

.............

The least cataloged on LT was not bad people by Brandy Scott with 13
The most cataloged on LT was The Child by Fiona Barton with 544

The worst was The Naturalist which was so bad I skipped a lot towards the end - ½ star - we really need to have negative stars! So bad.
The best was a tie between Eagle and Crane and Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter with 4 ½ stars each

>1 Bookmarque: Q1 gone already. :-(

Happy new thread.

Was out and about yesterday looking for abandonment. It doesn't take long and you don't have to go far. This is in the next county south.



The house was to the right and had the front door open and swinging in the wind.

>3 Bookmarque: Spooky!

>3 Bookmarque: Sad that people just have to up and leave, or that they just grow old and die and no one can make a living on a small farm.

A lot of it is how much food has changed here in the US and pretty much none of it for the better. But I won't get into that. Not the place. It is sad to see so much left to rot, but the state will survive. I just wish that there could be some wilderness reclamation along with it. The trouble is that the parcels, even if they do run into the hundreds or thousands of acres, are disconnected. When you are in a forest, though they are all logged, you can envision what all that farmland once looked like.

>6 Bookmarque: Agree, on all points. This has been going on in Sweden, too, but a lot of it was so long ago that nature has reclaimed much of it. Maybe helped by the century-old reform that shifted parcels of land into continuous large areas, so that when a farm is discontinued the wood can start to creep back in over the whole of it.
The shift reform aimed at making farming more rational: probably hurt a lot when it happened but has been over-all good. The abandoned old farmsteads that can be found here were generally left during the famine/s that forced people to emigrate to the US.

>6 Bookmarque: Very similar here, with one important twist. Abandoned farmland (due to farmers attempting to raise crops on dry land that is too marginal for that) and pasture (sold for urban development stalled by bureaucracy in the example I'm thinking of) revert not to grassland but to scrub woodland. This is due to a shortage of large herbivores (think elephants and rhinos) bulldozing the trees and making conditions suitable for grasses, which in their turn attract the antelope we first thought of. Curiously, this is a major problem in the Kruger Park, where the management has tried to use massive fires to redress the balance.

>6 Bookmarque: "parcels are ... disconnected"
This may not be all that disastrous. A book I'm reading at the moment (Wild Karoo) reports infrared-camera trap studies suggesting that at least on pastoral farms around here, there's a lot more wildlife than anyone ever suspected, and it moves around quite freely, despite "jackal-proof" and "game-proof" fences. (Consider the example of Sylvester the lion, who escaped from the Karoo National Park and was recaptured 400 km away; he now lives apparently happily in a private concession attached to Addo National Park.)

Could be these abandoned farms will be helped by time like yours Busifer. Most of them are less than 100 years old. Heck, Wisconsin didn't become a state until well into the 19th century.

Agreed, Hugh, there are more critters on vacant land than we think, but it's not an ecosystem and like your grassland being difficult to make without ketstone species, the right woodlands mix is tough here, too. Mostly it's lack of beavers, but hopefully that can start to change. Ben Goldfarb who wrote the book Eager up on the first post is going to be speaking here in Wisconsin in May. Granted, it's to a bunch of wetland lovers up north, but it's a start.

Meanwhile another farm gone bust -

One of my favorite books has an awesome Penguin cover!

>11 Bookmarque: Oh my.

It's not that gruesome, honest. It's more metaphorical and apt. In many ways.

So I realized I haven't shared any swamp photos with you from my trip down south. Here are some that came out especially well.

Before the rain -



During -



After the rain -



All in the same little section of trails by the visitors center.

>13 Bookmarque: Wow.

Love the pictures!

Super pictures, as always. I love the "during" shot. The depth is great.

Thanks guys. What's the point of having a water-proof camera unless you take it in the rain?

Here are a few more favorites -

In this one you can see the bald cypress "knees". At this point I had no idea what they were, at first thinking they were gnawed off saplings, but when I got to look closer I realized that wasn’t it. They’re so odd and I didn’t learn what they were until the next day when I read a sign in another park. Even though they have a name, we still don’t know what they’re for. Only bald cypress trees produce them, but not all trees. Ones on dry land or in perpetually deep water don’t have them. Only trees in shallow, but variable, water have them. The theory that they are for oxygen exchange/absorption has been eliminated because cypress don’t have the necessary physical structures in the bark to make this happen. Another idea is that they are part of the stabilization structure, like the buttresses, to make them more resistant to high winds. Unfortunately this is difficult to test and therefore remains unproven. Don’t you love natures little mysteries? 200 years of looking at them and we still don’t know.



This shot has another thing the bayou is famous for - Spanish moss, which like petite syrah, is neither. It’s actually an epiphytic flowering plant that is dependent on, but not parasitical to, the trees on which it grows. An epiphyte absorbs nutrients and moisture through its leaves from the air and rainwater. Spanish moss can grow many, many feet long and it dangles and sways everywhere. It’s mystical and otherworldly and enchanting.



It was wonderful.

>17 Bookmarque:

And no snow!

Love your pictures! Makes me want to go there. I've heard of cypress knees, but never seen pictures before. My imagination didn't match reality.

>17 Bookmarque: Good heavens! Didn't they tell you? Knee roots are standard anatomy for all mangroves: here are some of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Red Mangrove, growing at Beachwood in Durban:



Any tree species that makes a habit of growing in flooded ground will have some adaptation for getting air to the roots -- it'd drown else. You saw what Swamp Cypresses do; many mangroves do something similar. Even Fever Trees, despite being related to (semi-)desert trees, throw up knobbly roots above ground/water level if their home is wet enough.

Love your photos from the swamp.

Thanks Busifer. I love a good swamp.

And hugh, while that may be true for the trees where you are, it seems it doesn't apply to the bald cypress. The problem is that bald cypress knees have no lenticels or aerenchyma - two structures necessary for gas exchange. A few scientists have measured gas exchange between bald cypress knees and the air. Paul Kramer, the renowned plant physiologist at Duke, and his students found no evidence of significant gas exchange and concluded that knees do not play a significant role in bringing oxygen to the root system.

And upon further research, a cypress swamp is not a mangrove. There is no salt water and it is not affected by tides. Inundation would happen irregularly. Maybe that's why bald cypress knees are different.

Fascinating!

>11 Bookmarque: I believe you scored a direct hit with that one. Here's hoping I can find it at the library. I cannot, simply cannot, buy any more books for a while.

As always, your photographs are brilliant.

If it's Any Human Heart, you should be ok, it's his most popular book I think. And I'm glad you like the shots. I'm almost done processing day two in the swamp. Or maybe I just started day 3. Something like that anyway. Here's day two -



No boardwalk meant many trails were too damaged to be open or just too muddy for comfort.

>26 Bookmarque: The library has only the e-book and the audiobook. I understand their problem with shelf space, but when I go to the library I want a book.

>27 Meredy:

I am proud to know you!

The green of the swamp foliage is so intense! That must have been refreshing after the whites and browns of a northern winter. Lovely photos as always.

That's weird Meredy. Maybe you can find a used copy somewhere, although I enjoyed it as an audio book. The whole thing is a fictional journal so it works well.

It absolutely was, Sakerfalcon! This time of year my eyes are starved for color. But it won't happen here for a couple of months. So more abandoned places!



And a look through the lower left window -



Everything you need for a quiet evening in your rocking chair - coffee, thermos and hydraulic brake parts!

>30 Bookmarque: Oh my, I have a friend, oh, you met her! She could make that chair beautiful with her upholstery skills. Assuming it isn't isn't broken.

I did!! It looks like a comfy design. I envy people who have skills to preserve cool stuff. And here's the house that goes with the farm above -



There was far less color in this scene so I decided to treat it a little differently. The house pops more I think.

Your pictures a just wonderful. They are very atmospheric. The abandoned farm ones are a fantastic record of recent history.

The last on in post #17 is straight out of a horror movie. It is fantastic. I can see a spirit beckoning unsuspecting travellers to come this way.

Thanks Pete. Sometimes when storms roll in and I'm out and about, I can't resist playing up the drama a bit -

Well, some of us enjoy the drama, so don't be afraid to keep them coming!

>34 Bookmarque: What >35 Busifer: said.

Thanks guys. For a nature photographer, I sometimes think I spend too much time with the ruins, but they fascinate me just as much. The untold stories. The unremembered people. The unspoken voices.



An old school house.

Drama of a different variety.



The beginning of my very short time in the most enchanting backwater bayou. If my tour guide moves ahead with plans for a 3-day package, I will probably go. It's amazing to paddle a cypress swamp. Just amazing.

>38 Bookmarque: That's a great image. I find bayous and cypress swamps fascinating, though I'd be wary of snakes!

The light started out a little flat, as it had been the whole time I was down there, but a little sun broke though at the end. Sigh. I hope I get a chance to go back.



And I love snakes so of course I only saw one little water snake on my first day.

>40 Bookmarque: Awww. Is that a little garter snake?

Isn't it cute? That was after it was scared into the bushes by some folks who didn't even see it. This is how I first encountered it.



Not a garter, just a water snake. No venom or fangs.

>43 -pilgrim-: It hss an adorable little face! What a pity it doesn't have the garter's flashy red and yellow markings. This is quite a retiring little fella in comparison.

Until your comment I had no idea that garter snakes produced a neurotoxic venom. (I love the Wikipedia description of them as "nearly harmless"!)

That's probably why the tip of my finger was all tingly when one bit me once. The ones that are most common in north America look like this -

>44 Bookmarque: Yes indeed. The red flashes are only visible when they expand.

And that is a gorgeous photo. Another of yours?

Yup, that's mine. From a few years ago when I lived in New Hampshire.

And apparently being invisible isn't really more than just peeling the flesh off your head -

Beautiful pictures, as usual! You are so talented! I especially love the pic of the Spanish moss. That stuff is spooky looking.

Thanks very much catzteach!

Another Shelf by Shelf post for today - http://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/2019/04/shelf-by-shelf-robotham-to-sandford.ht...

So many lovely photos. Thanks for sharing :) Love the little snake! Reminds me of the rat snakes we get in my area.

Thanks Narilka! Glad you like my little herp collection.

I’ve been a little absent because I spent the week at Mayo Clinic Rochester. It was crazy. It’s what I imagine entering the Borg collective would be like. Nearly 40,000 people WORK at this place and pretty much all of them are color-coded by uniform. I’ve never been in so many elevators or said my name and birthday so much in my life. It’s a frantic maze of efficiency, artwork and the walking wounded. At points I felt a tad unworthy because my condition isn’t life-threatening and so many people come to Mayo as a last resort.

But anyway. It’s my leg and my life and so I’m looking for answers.

They told me what I already knew. I have lymphedema in my left leg and it is a closed system. Lymphoscintigraphy shows that while my right leg is super efficient, the left is shut down. The lymph fluid just flails around in my calf not knowing what to do. It doesn’t flow up and out via the lymph system above my knee.

Everything, apart from insurance authorization, is a go for a surgical repair. It is micro surgery and VERY delicate since lymph tissue and structures are so absolutely tiny. What the surgeon will do is first locate the clogged lymph nodes and then bypass them directly into the vascular system so they will drain. From my reading it’s a reasonably successful procedure although it might not be permanent and there is a chance it won’t work for me. But since my condition isn’t too far gone and I had functionality up until a year or two ago, it’s a good bet I can get it back.

I won’t know the insurance situation for probably a couple of weeks. Am a little nervous that it won’t be approved and I’ll have to stump for it myself.

And so to end, here's a shot of an abandoned church I stopped for on my way. It's in a tiny little Wisconsin town by the Mississippi and there's a brand new church in a similar style just down the road.

Best of luck with the surgery!

I am enormously envious of your pictures. Having posted some pictures recently myself, I am now able to say with complete certainty that there's much more in it than meets the eye (heh).

Good luck and strength to you! Do the Mayo staff in red uniforms survive to the end of the episode?

Thanks guys.

Ha, yeah, Hugh. I think they get picked off. No safety in numbers!

And thanks Richard, I've been a photographer for over 30 years and I'm still learning. The biggest transition was to digital and the processing techniques that go with that. Because I'm so grounded in film photography, playing in software to achieve different effects has been a tough go, but lately I've been branching out a little to drive my vision into new directions. This next shot is a good example -



I've passed by this burned out house for years now, waiting for the right conditions in terms of weather and light. I got those (and a bonus puddle), but I also learned how altering reality just a little with software can complete the effect I want. I try not to go too overboard, unless it's really called for, and mostly I'm a reality driven photographer, but I like playing around too. I wrote a whole blog post about it here - https://wickeddarkphotography.com/2019/03/17/are-you-real-or-not/

Holding my thumbs for the insurance situation turn out in you favour.

Terrific photos, and I really hope the surgery is the answer for you, and covered by your insurance plan!

Thanks ladies. I hope they will approve. They have covered all treatment up to now so chances are they will since I've followed accepted protocol/treatment plans with no result. Plus I have no chronic illnesses or conditions (apart from asthma which I've had since I was in single digits) which would tell against me. The more things you have wrong with you, the lower your chances of coverage are. Like giving a liver transplant to an alcoholic - not a good prospect. If they're looking for best outcomes, I'm a good candidate.

It was kind of funny though...every time a doc would go through my history with me, he was amazed I am not on more medication. The only thing I take is an asthma control drug. The rest of the world is medicated I guess.

Oh and here's some more abandonment for you. I shoot so much of it - seems endless!

Great picture. Just to think that someone once spent a lot of money and effort to get those silos up...

Funny you should mention those. They're Rochester silos, company now defunct. Made in...you guessed it, Rochester Minnesota, the very place I was last week. The former manufacturing site is now an industrial park. At least it was in the 1990s.

Ah, I've worked with the largest farming co-op here in Sweden, specifically with harvesting, quality assessment, and grain trade, with a side of animal feed, for some years previously, so tend to see such things as silos.
I can also spot various tractor brands, for the same reason.

I am a collector of odd information ;-)

Oh that sounds pretty interesting actually. I don't photograph equipment very often since it requires trespassing and I don't do that, but when I have the opportunity I don't hesitate!





Collectors of odd information unite!

>51 Bookmarque: All the very best for the procedure. I’ll be thinking of you and wishing you well.

Lovely picture of the abandoned church.

thanks Pete. It will be some weeks until I even hear if it will be covered. Surgery probably sometime this summer. After the trip to Portugal.

>63 Bookmarque: I look forward to your pictures from Portugal.

I read the start of your blog post on using effects. I look forward to getting the time to read the rest of it.

I hope you get approval for the surgery and it all goes well.

See, I always knew the Pub was full of collectors of odd information.
And >63 Bookmarque: best wishes for the surgery and your dealings with the insurance company.

Yes jndeed. I wish you well with your surgery.

Thanks everyone, my waiting game has begun! Luckily I have some distractions - Las Vegas this weekend and Portugal starting on May 14 or so.

>68 Bookmarque: Not bad. I have to wait until 2nd May for the discussion as to when my surgery will be!

Yeah, a lot of complaining is done about a private-pay/employer-pay health system in the US and I know it has its flaws and that I'm part of a privileged class with reasonably good access to it. I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of that v. a government/NHS type scenario because that has its good and bad points as well.

That being said, competition is key to making the current US system work. Premier providers like Mayo have to compete worldwide with others of its ilk. When people have money they have choice. I could have gone to Beth Israel in Boston or the University hospital in Chicago for this same treatment, but I chose Mayo for its closeness and its reputation. They are very aware of this. Absolutely EVERYONE I dealt with, from people handling the elevators, to janitors to doctors and receptionists - everyone was fabulous. If someone had run over her dog that morning I wouldn't have known. It must be a very closely monitored mandate; Be outstanding.

And I only waited for one appointment. Everything else was early or on time. The one I waited for was in the middle of the day so understandable, but it's what the doctor did next that was kind of amazing. He scheduled some tests for the end of that day, so I had to stay an extra night so he could review them the next day. Luckily the Hilton could accommodate me and I didn't have to move rooms. But the doctor couldn't review my stuff until 5:00 on Friday, leaving me with nothing to do until then. And the inconvenience of checking out of the hotel, getting the car and trying to navigate the parking at Mayo. All the major hotels are connected to the hospital complex via tunnels and skyways, so once I parked at the hotel I just walked and not even outside until the weather was better. Anyway...

On my way back from dinner the doctor calls me. It's like 7:30-8:00. He says there's no need for me to wait until 5 and to come in at 10 and he'll fit me in. Not his receptionist, not a nurse, the specialist called me. And he saw me on the dot at 10 and I left for home when we were finished.

Shit that turned out longer than I wanted, but the upshot is that the Mayo is an exceptional place to receive healthcare. Yes, it's a privilege and it probably shouldn't be as extreme as it is, but I can't change that and I'm very grateful that I can access it.

I still have the Blue Cross hurdle, but it's out of my control so I will just wait to hear if they will pay.

Glad your health care is going well so far and hope that continues. Sending "cover this" vibes to your Blue Cross provider.

Your photos are stunning, I love old barns and farm equipment.

That is some stellar service! Nice to hear a positive story about health care :) Fingers crossed your surgery is approved. Can't wait to see photos of Portugal.

Thanks peeps. It was a good experience overall and for that I'm thankful. It's pretty obvious that the leadership at Mayo knows that it is stressful and they do everything they can to limit or reduce it, or at the very least not add to it much.

Spring is very slow in coming to northern Wisconsin. Folks in the southern part of the state have wildflowers and bees already, but we still have snow on the ground. From the 9th or so -



The trail there now is basically inaccessible because of all the melt making the stream below the 1/2 built beaver dam really wide and mushy. I sank in to my shoelaces a few times. The trail leading to it is semi-frozen under ground and really unstable. There are large rocks sunk in to their very tops. Kind of like this little set of pine cones in the snow -



And from two days ago -



It was weird to have on a t-shirt, work up a sweat and see snow. Then the breeze would blow across it and instant air conditioning!

Ah, refreshing photos for me. We are hitting 100°F this week. Still cooling off at night though, so that's nice.

Wow, the Mayo, clinic sounds wonderful! I really hope it all works out.

We just started warming up here. So glad spring is here, but I love your snow pics!

Not so warm here MrsL, but that's ok. We have enough water everywhere as it is. A slow melt is safer for everything. It's pretty much gone in the yard now. Maybe some stubborn shady spots. The ground basically feels like a giant wet sponge.

And yeah catzteach, it was a more pleasant experience than I was expecting. The doctor that centered around my case just sent me a little thank you note. It's perfunctory and probably canned, but what the heck. Glad you like the snow pics.

>70 Bookmarque: As someone with a congenital, chronic condition, whose symptoms began to affect me whilst still at university, health insurance was never a viable option for me - so I have to be in favour if an NHS- type system.

But the UK does have a two-tier system now, with a parallel system of private hospitals. Certainly the cossetting and pampering level is much higher there, and access times a lot better. But they tend to suffer from overspecialisation.

It is the effect of the market forces that you refer to. It is more cost-effective to specialise in common, well-paying procedures - and often relatively minor ones, since that is where the NHS waiting lists are longest, causing more people to "go private".

But the one time it was suggested that I go to a private hospital, since it was a minor day-surgery type procedure, and it was thought they would be able to support my post-operative recovery, the private hospital refused to accept the referral. They were concerned that if my pre-existing conditions caused complications during surgery, they did not have the intensive care facilities on site to deal with them. It was not the quality of staff that posed the problem - our private hospitals are usually staffed by top consultants who do this work alongside their NHS practice. The problem lies with the range of equipment.

So I was wondering - do US clinics have the same degree of specialisation?

Well I can't speak for all clinics, but yes, some are highly specialized like the surgeon who repaired my husband's torn pectoral. He does sports medicine/injuries and liked to do pec repairs so he did a lot of them. He might have also refused a person if that person had something like what you have, a complication they can't handle. Maybe the referring doctor should take those potential complications into account before referring, but it's complicated. Or maybe the specialist should change the venue from local office to hospital - they have privileges to do so.

Insofar as preexisting conditions go, my experience has been pretty decent. I've only had one raised eyebrow over my asthma, but that was decades ago and never since (they covered me). I don't know if you would have had the same issues here once you got covered in the first place with your first job. Because private is it unless you are covered by medicare/medicaid, blocking people out is tougher on Blue Cross than it is on British privates because there is no alternative. I've been covered by my husband's various policies for a while now, and prior to that he was covered under mine. During open enrollment there are always questions about what health issues you have, but I've never been refused.

At least that's my experience.

Oh and just a little PSA for those who celebrate Mother's Day. I've been adding new stuff to the shop. Free US shipping and gift boxes for everyone!!



Etsy store is at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWireSmith
The independent store (where there are a few exclusives) is here https://www.twsjewelry.com/store

>78 Bookmarque: Thank you for the reply. I have always wondered how the US system deals with lifelong chronic illness. Since in my case, the condition is congenital, I could never have been covered "on parents' insurance" as a child, because they have the same issues with getting insurance.

Your comment about getting the cover through one's first job is intriguing. Do all employers pay employees' health insurance premiums? Does this mean that having a rare condition, with attendant expensive medication, becomes a factor taken into consideration when hiring (in addition to questions of whether the condition affects your ability to carry out the job itself)?

Nope - no discrimination. The insurance company could refuse to cover things associated with a preexisting condition, but the employer can't refuse to hire you for the same. They can't even ask or refer to things like that during the interview process. Most full-time jobs come with some kind of health insurance. It is a one-size fits all scenario - the CEO and the janitor have the same policy. At least that's how it's been in my experience and my husband's. For example the guys who build the stuff his company makes have the same insurance as he does in a high-level management position. The employer pays the same dollar amount per employee for each scenario - single, couple or family coverage. There is usually a portion the employee pays directly. It comes out of pay before taxes. We also have health savings accounts that can be paid into before taxes as well. They go into a fund you draw on to pay out-of-pocket expenses. Like for an prescription you will have a co-pay...usually a small flat fee depending on the class of drug. Same with doctor visits. Does that make sense?

Health insurance is part of a benefit package including salary, company vehicle, 401k matching, time off etc.

Great pictures, as always.

Not getting into the health care system discussion, because it will turn very political very fast: in fact I think it already has, and so I bite my tongue and just back away.

I didn't think it had. Not from me anyway, and I don't see it anywhere else, but that's fine.

>83 Bookmarque: I understand that, but I wrote three different responses having to delete everyone of them, to not offend pub rules. Which was why I in the end decided to just tiptoe out backwards ;-)

Heath care is inherently political, I think, so whatever "side" one takes someone will get upset. But please continue, if I'm alone in my reaction that's more because I'm from a place that differs very much from both the UK and the US systems than because this is a volatile issue for the majority of the pub denizens!

>84 Busifer: I agree that this could become a political debate very easily; I am relishing the fact that this pub is a civilised place where I can ask how a different system works, and get an informative, factual answer (rather than the conversation degenerating into a debate of the political ideologies underpinning the different systems).

>81 Bookmarque: Thank you, that was very helpful. But if the insurance company could refuse to cover anything associated with a pre-existing condition, how would employer health insurance like this help someone (like myself) with a congenital condition (as you suggested in >78 Bookmarque:)?

I was advised (by a UK broker) that any health insurance policy would be pretty meaningless in my situation, since my congenital condition would impact my recovery from almost anything else that might befall me, and so the insurance company would be able to refuse payment under the "pre-existing condition" clause.

BTW I am also enjoying your pictures!

Understood Busifer, as I said up there somewhere, I don’t want to debate about which system is “better”, just relate my experience with the one I have.

Employers wouldn’t have anything to do with the insurance company’s decision, they just can’t not hire you because of some condition. You would probably be covered except for issues directly stemming from what they don’t want to cover.

>86 Bookmarque: So, if I understand you correctly, I would not be covered by health insurance in the U.S . for the same reasons as I would not be covered in the U.K. (i.e. that since the congenital condition impacts recovery from anything else, everything could be interpreted as part of the pre-existing condition, and hence excluded)

Given that, do I presume that, under the U.S. system, I would be expected to self-fund all treatment?

I am aware that healthcare is changing in the U.S. I don't wish to raise the question of the rights or wrongs of these changes; I am simply unclear as to how the system now works in practice.

Your condition might be excluded, but otherwise you might be ok.

>88 Bookmarque: Sorry, I don't follow; what do you mean by "otherwise" here?

They would cover anything else. Routine doctor stuff, emergency visits, flu shots...things unrelated to the preexisting condition.

Am in Vegas now. Had a great evening with friends old and new. More of the same today.

>90 Bookmarque: I can't honestly think of anything that would fall into that category. Preventative procedures, such as "flu jabs" risk doing more harm than good, and I am not accustomed to visiting the doctor unless ill. (I was assuming you mean "check-ups" by "routine stuff"; I hope I understtood you correctly?) Routine visits for me mean regular blood tests to check I am not developing an adverse reaction to my medications (which I assume would not be covered by the pre-existing conditions clause). And I have never yet had an emergency where my congenital condition has not impacted my recovery.

As I understand what you are saying, my medication costs, regular routine procedures, surgical interventions etc. would not be covered by American insurance any more than they would be by a UK policy.

I presume there are a significant number of Americans whose circumstances are like mine. What do they do? Are they paying the full costs of their continuing care?

I am glad you are getting a good break in. There is nothing like good company to distract you from prospective medical matters!

Given that we share an enthusiasm for Dumas, may I recommend Marie; a novel of Russian loveaka The Captain's Daughter by Aleksandr Pushkin as an excellent "comfort read"? It has a similar quota of excitable young men burning to fight duels at the slightest provocation, whilst getting caught up in momentous historical events. (Not what I was expecting from Pushkin at all.)

>91 -pilgrim-: You have reminded me that the last Pushkin work I read was, The Duel, which I read in May 2016. (I tag my read reads with year/month of completion) I enjoyed it very much.

>92 pgmcc: You mean from Eugene Onegin? (Your touchstone links to a work by Chekhov.)

Eugene Onegin is another example where I join @hfglen by being familar with the Tchaikovsky opera, but not the work that inspired it!

>93 -pilgrim-: :-)

I downloaded the PG copy of the Pushkin. Gotta hit the rest of the Marie Antoinette novels before starting anything else.

I haven't been reading much at all lately. Making jewelry then dealing with all the pictures and posting process has taken up some time. Ditto processing all my Louisiana swamp shots and others I've taken this "spring". Also spent last weekend in Vegas catching up with some old friends and making some new ones. One of the crew has an idea for a mini get together this fall in South Carolina at a gorgeous log home. I'm in!

Anyway...here's a cover that caught my eye.



Doesn't make me want to read it, but it is great!

>95 Bookmarque: I am glad that I have tempted you to the Pushkin.

And I love the book cover!

>95 Bookmarque: Great cover design!

Where did April go? Crazy.
With one thing and another I didn’t do much reading. Still got through 6 ½ books though.

A half? What? Yeah. With one of them I was reading it like normal when the stupid just got too much and I skipped way ahead to read what happened to the idiots in the story. They got what they deserved, but it took much, much too long. So I’m counting it … kinda.

6 ½ books read
1 non-fiction, 5 ½ fiction
2 new authors, the rest I’ve read
2 by men, 4 by women and 1 team of both
Borrowed 2, bought 5 - all new
3 physical books, 3 audio and 1 ebook

......

The oldest was from 1953 and the newest 2018
The most cataloged book was Pocket full of Rye - 2558
The least cataloged book was Chasing Sophea - 38

The best was Buzz : the nature and necessity of bees by Thor Hanson - this book focuses on wild bees not domestic honey bees and was a treat because the writer is good, the subject is interesting and I learned a lot. I am going to drill some holes in wood to leave around the yard as nesting sites and try my hand at putting native plants in my garden. Yay bees!!

The worst was - you guessed it, my ½ book - I Remember You and oh how I wish I could forget. Take three of the stupidest people ever, put them in an isolated situation and then torture everyone with prolonged and repetitive scenes that aren’t the least bit scary. Then add a bumbling, self-absorbed jerk who insists on “investigating” a suicide and of course isn’t telling you everything. And then everyone and everything is connected in ways that are supposed to be unsettling, but just comes off as fake. Ugh.

Another update. My surgery has been deemed medically necessary, so we're going to schedule. Problem is there's no time in the next three months that works and the following three month period isn't open for scheduling yet. So I will get a call back from the office to schedule in August. I hoped to get it done in June, but that's not possible and I get it. Busy surgeon, plus the microscope he needs is communal and that has to be scheduled as well.

So. I will be going through another almost whole summer of no shorts.

>99 Bookmarque: Strength to you!

>99 Bookmarque: That sounds gruesome :( but good news on your need being judged medically necessary!
I'm holding my thumbs for you to get an appointment as fast as possible.

Thanks peeps. If I wanted to cancel my much anticipated St. Croix river paddle, I could have gotten in earlier, but I don't want to do that. Plus I'm making a long weekend of it and visiting a huge nature preserve I've had my eye on for years. Summer only lasts so long up this way and you have to take advantage of it.

Yeah, last year was the summer of no shorts and very few shoes that would fit. Same for this year it seems. I hope it doesn't get too hot.

Yay for your surgery getting approved! I hope all goes well when the time comes.

Yes indeed. Good luck woth the surgery- plus you will have an excellent break to take your mind off it.

>99 Bookmarque: Yay, surgery approved!

>99 Bookmarque: Happy for you that your surgery has been approved. Here's hoping you can get an appointment sorted and all goes well.

Thanks peeps. I hope I can distract myself enough from now until whenever they can get me in. And I hope I fall into the 70-80% of people for whom this works. Today is the first day all week that's had any sun so I hope to get out into the yard and photograph small things. In the meantime, hey look, something abandoned!

Best wishes in every way for your surgery.

Best of luck with your surgery and well done on getting an insurance company to do what it is supposed to do.

Now, enjoy your distractions and continue to amaze us with your great photographs.

The date is set. Mid August. Coincides with a weekend match my husband is doing about 2/3 of the way to Rochester. So we'll spend an extra night so he doesn't have to drive all the way back here. I'll fool around in a nature preserve while he shoots holes in paper targets. Good all around.

Glad you have a date now, and lots of good things planned in the run up to the surgery. Your paddling trip sounds fantastic and I'll be eagerly awaiting pictures.

>110 Bookmarque: Good luck for August. As Clare said, photos will be appreciated.

Absolutely! I plan to keep the camera handy. And in two weeks time I'll be in Portugal!!

Better late than never, the hepatica is blooming!

Good to hear that you now have a date!

And - Portugal. So close, and yet so far away. From me, that is.
I hope you'll have a good time. Any special part of Portugal, or travelling around?

Funny, we posted at the same time Busifer.

I'm on a wine tasting trip with some of the same folks I went to Argentina with last year. We'll be in Sintra one night then the Douro valley...a river cruise and lots of wineries. There's a train in there somewhere too...more wineries. Restaurants. Crazy wine geeks. All fun.

>116 Bookmarque: Hey, I'll be in Porto next Friday! not going to the wineries though. I'm going to visit "the most beautiful bookshop in the world".

How funny, Richard. I'll be in Pinhão on Friday. That bookstore sounds lovely though. Take pictures!

Oh and it looks like I'll be in Porto on the 20th and 21st. What's the name of the bookstore? Looks like there's one with the "iconic red stairway" near the hotel I'm at.

That's the one. Livraria Lello. You have to buy a coupon for €5 to get in, but you get it back if you buy a book.

ETA I just worked out how to do a euro sign!

They charge admission? Wow. OK. I'll have to see if I have time and if they have English language books.

I understand that they do have English-language books. I assume the fee is because the shop is a destination--it appears on many lists of beautiful bookshops and apparently also has a Harry Potter connection (JKR lived in Porto for a while). If you google 'beautiful bookshops", you'll find pictures of it. Website.

>117 haydninvienna: Knowing your interest in food, you may wish to look out Cozinha Indo-portuguesa at Lello's, if only for the imposing name of the author: Maria Fernanda da Costa e Sousa. It does include a recipe for a vindaloo that includes about a kilo of meat and 50 chillies.

>116 Bookmarque: That sounds very nice, indeed.

>123 hfglen: 50 chilies... now, that's a vindaloo!

>123 hfglen: Yes, that is indeed a vindaloo. Les Murray's Welsh mates, tasting a forkful, would no doubt croak to white Jesus (reference). (Reminded of this because Les Murray died just the other day.) If there's an English version I'll consider it, but once again I'll have to take baggage weight limits into account, and I may be travelling with just a backpack, as I did when I went to Santorini.

I'll definitely put it on my list of things to see and hope I have the time. Looks like we have more time on this trip to do individual things.

More blooming hepatica! Hope to get into the yard later today to shoot some trout lily. It looks like it's blooming, too.

So pretty!

Thanks Narilka! I hate to leave just when spring seems to be finally here, but a week won't kill me. After Portugal we're staying put for the most part. Summer in 'Sconnie is too short to leave for long.

As usual your photographs are spectacular. This might be a silly question, but are there more abandoned buildings in Wisconsin than there were near where you lived in New England?

Oh yes, tons clammy. You know how densely populated southern New England is. Just no room to let things go to hell, they need the space. Up here...not so much. It’s normal to have a nice house next door to a ruin. Some share a driveway. For some perspective, the town I lived in in NH has about the same population as the county I live in now. Plus WI is mostly farm country and you’ve seen what Americans think about food and farmers. They just give up.

Brilliant pictures. They cheer up my day.

Your trip to Portugal sounds enticing. Be sure and wave as you pass Ireland.

We finally made it home and you’d think the international travel would have been the hard part. Nope. Sconnie is no place for the weak. First the fog was so thick on highway 29 that we had to creep along 20-25 miles under the speed limit. We stopped on a dead end road to walk around the car, do squats and wake up a little. So very tired. When that didn’t work we stopped again at a hotel to cat nap in the car. 20 minutes later we woke up and kept going. The fog cleared. Woo hoo! At this point we’d been up for about 24 hours.

Being fair, I said I’d take a turn driving so we did a Chinese Fire Drill at a stop light (PC Police don’t @ me). Of course the road on our regular way home, the one that is right off the highway is still closed for repair so we went around. Then we saw a railroad signal and a WI Power guy by the crossing and stopped. And stopped. He crossed. We didn’t see or hear a train so we crossed and talked to the guy. He said all the power outages have caused a glitch in the signal lights and they stay on after the train has passed. Oy.

But the best is for last. After slowing for several deer and finally turning into the driveway there was a tree down and we had to park ½ way to the house.

>132 Bookmarque: Egad, what a story. Never mind, I bet it was worth it. How was Porto? Did you get to Livraria Lello? Inquiring minds want to know!

I didn't get there. Got distracted by food, friends and other great stuff. All good though. All good.

Pictures in due course, I hope.

You will all be sick of Portugal before long. I took about 1000 photos with the "good camera" and my rental lens which turned out to be a great idea for me to not have to change lenses or bring an extra one with me.

>132 Bookmarque: What a homecoming... looking forward to pictures from Portugal, though!

On the signal at the railway crossing: in Sweden if the signal is out trains are stopped until repairs are done and the signal has been cleared for use again.

I guess you were missed, because your world made quite the production for your homecoming! Glad you made it safe and have another wonderful trip under your belt, and in your camera. :)

Thanks MrsL. I've only processed a very few so far, but I'm going to put in more time. Will try to keep in chronological order. This was the first hotel we stayed in - just two nights, but the town was fun. It's Sintra...about 30 mins outside of Lisbon.



It's an 18th century former residential palace for a Dutch Consul. Built in 1797, it became a hotel in 1955 and had Portuguese royal families living here in between.

>139 Bookmarque: Wow, that's slightly grander than my accommodation in Porto.

It was a nice building, but European hotel rooms in old buildings like this are notoriously ill-equipped for people to actually stay in them. Charming, sure, but useful, not so much. Luckily our travel agent got us good rates for the trip.

Now, Europe is pretty heterogeneous and I've stayed at plenty hotels in old buildings that has been more than adequate even for long stays. All of those has been in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, or Germany, though.

Just saying that "notoriously ill-equipped" feels quite harsh for something that hold such wide variety. In the case of the UK, anything aimed at tourists on the Iberian peninsula and France, or in Greece or Italy, I'd heartily agree. But it's not all-encompassing, not in my experience.

But it also might be a difference in expectations? You piqued my curiosity, nothing else :-)

Based on everything that my fellow travelers said, it's true. At least compared to US hotels. They are all more extensively traveled than I. I've been to Europe 3 times. There's no place for your stuff. Not in the bathrooms, not in the main room. Nowhere. It was like that in all the hotels we stayed at. Lovely places, but tough on the actual guest. Like that the hair dryer couldn't be plugged in in the bathroom of one hotel. All us wimmins were pissed.

Uhu. Sounds like you've been shorted? I do agree that US hotel rooms tend to be more spacious, but with a few notable exceptions there has always been somewhere to keep your suitcase flat down, hangers for clothes, and a working hairdryer, even in the real cheap places I've stayed at.
My complaints are more in the direction of useless pillows in southern France and Spain, though they seem to start getting replaced by what the rest of the world would view as fit to rest your head on, low pressure in the taps (not to mention no water at all during afternoons in the hot season), controlling electricity to the mini-fridge with a meter and charging you, and so on.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

>143 Bookmarque: >144 Busifer: Seconding Busifer. I’ve stayed in quite a few hotels in Europe and generally I’ve been comfortable, except perhaps once in Munich in a hotel that wasn’t airconditioned in a hot summer. Even the last 2 places (a kind of upholstered cave on Santorini and the hostel In Sao Bento railway station in Porto) met the basic standard. I have never seen a mini fridge with a meter. I remember a hotel in New York though that dinged your bill every time you opened the fridge door.

I think it's the type of hotel we were in - historic buildings that had been converted decades ago. And don't get me started on air conditioning. It wasn't 100% bad, but compared to even an ordinary Hilton Garden Inn, the rooms were less functional for me to stay in. Luckily the room is the place I spend the least amount of time in, so it didn't matter too much.

Yes, definitely different expectations! I have never lived far enough south for air conditioning to be considered as an essential; however staying in Corsica, mid-August, in a hotel without air conditioning, was a memorably unpleasant experience.

I would also agree that most hotel rooms in tourist regions of the UK tend to be relatively small. Space tends to be at a premium in the cities, which is where most tourists go.

>145 haydninvienna: The meter was down in the reception, behind the desk: this was in a hotel in Marine de Porto Ota, in Corsica. Not a place that I’d recommend, but it was convenient for the next leg of our journey.

>146 Bookmarque: It’s too early in the year. My experience is that the air conditioning often is kept off until July, when even the people in southern Europe starts to think it a bit warm. Electricity is expensive.

On that note staying in Sweden when we’re experiencing an unusually hot summer, like last year, can be a pain. Our houses are built to retain heat, and we don’t have a/c, as a rule. A good summer is 8-12 weeks, then we go back to various levels of freezing to death ;-) And who knows? Maybe next summer will be cold and wet?

My husband and I prefer to stay in historic hotels (we have never been to Europe, only around California and Oregon) when we go on our little trips. Our last stay was in a hotel room themed after Herman Melville and the room itself canted so that one felt very unbalanced. The bed was so soft it was like climbing into a hammock, without getting tipped out the other side. Very like a sea voyage. Quaint. One luggage rack, no closet, sink in bedroom, very few places for things, no hairdryer. :) It did have two comfortable reading chairs with a beautiful view of the beach and ocean though. We loved it, because we hate the homogenized feel of large chain hotels. However, I can see that if one is traveling a lot, or for business, that comfort, space and convenience would trump quaint any day.

>149 MrsLee: You remind me of the place Better Half and I stayed in (alas, only one night) in Hay-on-Wye way back when. It was a 14th-century inn in a timber-framed building, -- I think it was called the Blue Boar -- which sadly doesn't seem to exist any more. Now the point about 600-year-old timber-framed buildings is that they settle. Every wall, every floor at a different angle, giving a result much as you describe. Also, 14th-century patrons were evidently significantly shorter than 20th-century ones, and so it was quite normal that the males in the party would brain themselves on the ceiling beams in the restaurant.

We actually lived in a house like that when we first went to England. It was in a village called Ambrosden just outside Bicester. The floors upstairs sloped and you couldn’t keep wardrobes closed. My wife remembers it affectionately; I just remember it.

You can actually see the house on Wikipedia. Go to the article on Ambrosden, scroll down till you see the pic of the Turner Arms pub, and it’s the white house next door.

The pub in that photo looks like one need to be a hobbit to fit!

>152 Busifer: It's not a big pub and the ceilings were a bit low, but it's still popular. We used to see the patrons playing incomprehensible pub games out the back on summer evenings.

>151 haydninvienna: Yes, the attic bedroom looks distinctly challenging!

>154 -pilgrim-: I forget which of the kids got that. The house had problems other than the floors--it had been partly done up and some of what had been done was pretty nice, but the owner had evidently run out of money part-way, and one of the things that had been skimped was the DRAINS (sewer system, in my lingo)--there was a persistent smell downstairs. But it had its charm. There was a door out onto the back lawn from a sitting room and one night my wife was having a lie down on the couch in there and a hedgehog waddled in, looked around and waddled out again.

At the hotel we were in I kept trying to straighten the pictures on the wall in the library (yes, I am one of those) until I realized it was futile due to the crooked walls. After that I didn't look at them and kept my eyes on my book, or the view outside.

Dumb question: I've just been listening to a BBC item on 19th-century mail-order catalogs, where they say that one could order a whole house in kit form, and some of these still exist to this day. Are there any in your area? If so, any chance of a picture for the enlightenment of the ignorant?

Slowly I'm getting shots processed and posted on my Portugal album - https://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel/Portugal-2019

>158 Bookmarque: Nice!

>158 Bookmarque: Very lovely. A mystery awaits. A very old mystery.

Isn't it great? I didn't explore the other wing, sadly.

But if this guy was waiting for me there, I'm glad I missed it. What a fantastically campy cover!

>132 Bookmarque: YIKES!

>139 Bookmarque: & >158 Bookmarque: Wonderful! I'll go check out the album when I have a bigger chunk of time. :o)

>161 Bookmarque:

"Look into my eyes!", he commanded.

"Nooo...! I cannot look away from your eyebrow!", I replied.

Too right!

Undead unibrow.

OMG it’s June already. Holy crap. Here’s how May’s reading went -

9 books read
All fiction except one
3 by men, 6 by women
5 new authors, 4 old familiars
I bought all of them - 3 were used
4 audio, 1 ebook and 4 physical

........

Oldest was from 1963
Newest was from 2019
Most popular on LT was God is Not Great with 6590
Least popular was Until the Day I Die with 22

The best was The House of Sand and Fog even if it was depressing as all hell.
The worst was The Rules of Engagement only because it was soooooo uneventful. Great insights though.

>165 Bookmarque: Loved both god is not Great and The House of Sand and Fog. I agree that second one was thoroughly depressing. It was made into a movie, which I borrowed on DVD from my sister-in-law, only to have it sit around un-watched for several years. Every time I would pick it up I would remember how dark it was and realize I wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch it. I eventually just returned it. :o(

After reading the novel I have NO desire to watch the movie, Ben Kingsley non-withstanding. I don't blame you in the least.

>166 clamairy: I thought god is not Great was pretty good too. It’s one book I will most certainly not be taking to Doha (books against Islam are prohibited imports there).

>168 haydninvienna: I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable visiting, then. I have a tendency to say things that would get me beaten or beheaded in many places.

>169 clamairy: Qatar is rather more liberal than some Middle Eastern states. There are Christian churches there. Liquor is available within limits. But it’s still not quite a paragon of liberal democracy. Fortunately, the ruling al-Thani dynasty is a bit smarter and less aggressive than some other ME leaders.

More shots from Portugal have been added. I have so many to process it's crazy.



Gallery (growing!) is here - https://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel/Portugal-2019

Oh and so much for James Bond being elegant or stylish or anything.



About the ugliest cover I've ever seen. And am I mistaken, or is the gun barrel heart shaped? Oy.

That cover is just bizarre. You are not mistaken, that is a heart in the gun barrel.

>172 Bookmarque: Ick! That would give me nightmares!

>171 Bookmarque: This, however, I just want to get lost in! It's gorgeous.

The grounds of that palace were amazing. A little demented, but mostly charming.

Yesterday I went paddling in northern Wisconsin on an undeveloped lake. Amazing how less fearful animals are when they aren't exposed to us all that much.



I almost missed seeing this bird because it was so close and almost directly above me. I paddled away, expecting it to take off, but it didn't. Basically it just wanted me to get out so it could get a meal. Plenty of fish, mostly walleye, in a crystal clear lake that's pretty shallow. Amazing. The closest I've been to a wild eagle. There will be more undeveloped lakes in my future.

Wow!!

>175 Bookmarque: That is an absolutely gorgeous photograph.

>175 Bookmarque: it looks like it's trying to glare you out of it's territory!

You mean like this?



It would be better if I'd nailed the focus, but I didn't.

I like this one, too.



Thanks everyone for the nice words. I'm not a particularly good wildlife photographer, but these turned out ok.

Wowzer! Those are spectacular. Such a beautiful beastie. I especially love >179 Bookmarque:.

Oh yeah, it was totally going all Sam the Eagle on me!

Those are beaut, and bring back a happy memory. In 1998 I had the privilege of spending three weeks at the Smithsonian. On about the first day my host was showing me the way to the canteen, and stopped at a display of stuffed birds. He pointed to one and asked me if I recognized it. Problem: what I know about birds is dangerous, and these were clearly tagged as North American residents. The bird in question looked like nothing so much as the beloved African Fish Eagle, the voice of the Lowveld. Turns out it was Sam, who is first cousin to a Fish Eagle. In ours, the black is solid black, and the voice is clear and carries for miles; recordings on the internet of a Bald Eagle sound like a Fish Eagle with a bad cold.

Wow! to all the pictures, except the Bond cover: that was among the worst things that I've ever seen. Eww!

Very cool, Hugh. Some raptor species are very closely related, having a common ancestor when the continents were connected or at least closer together (you know, that flying thing does come in handy). And yeah, I always laugh at the phrase 'screaming eagle' when a baldie is pictured. They sound like a rusty gate.



One more for good measure. Better focus.

Amazing eagle photos! How wonderful to get so close.

thanks Sakerfalcon. It was amazing. All the while I shot, a pair of loons called to each other elsewhere on the lake. I didn't get close to them because of the chicks. They're so sensitive.

And to wash your eyeballs from the Bond cover, here's a great one featuring Soma -

>187 Bookmarque: That is good! I like the representation of the current London skyline.

The Gherkin!

A tiny visitor to my deck. Legs and all she, I think it's a she, is barely 1cm long. The worm is about 3mm.



It's a Hentzia miitrata or a white jawed jumping spider. They are so cute.

>190 Bookmarque: It's actually quite lovely. What a great photo. I'm a 'catch and release' person when it comes to spiders.

Thanks clam. I'm catch and release, too. Unless it's winter, they get to stay inside then.

>192 Bookmarque: Yes, i'm the same... mostly. Depends on where exactly there are. I had a kitchen clock spider just about every Winter in CT.

Wow, that's a fantastic photo. Spiders are awesome.

OK then, if we don't have any spider-phobes, here's another! Also from the deck.



This time it's a kind of orb weaver, a male. Those pedipalps gave him away! With no female it's really hard to tell what species it is. I've narrowed it down to a neoscona crucifera or a lariniodes cornutus. It's a little bigger than the jumper, maybe 6-7mm body alone. About 1/2 inch with the legs.

>190 Bookmarque: Love that photo! Spider photos I have seen plenty, spider photos where they seem to have bitten off more than they can chew, not so much. :)

Thanks MrsL! It was the little worm that drew my attention to her. Then she just posed sweetly with her lunch so I took her picture. I think she had the upper hand in the fight though.

>197 Bookmarque: Oh, I'm sure she did! A worm smoothie for her lunch (and possibly dinner and breakfast).

mmmmm
worm smoothies.

Great pictures.

thanks, Pete. Another undeveloped lake today. No eagles, but a loon. Too far for good shots I think, but we'll see.

Great pictures!

Thanks!
This is the lake I was at yesterday.



Because it has a real boat landing (and a dock which is unusual) it's pretty popular compared to lakes where you have to carry your boat in for a hundred yards or more.

>203 Bookmarque: And still so peaceful. Beautiful, just beautiful.

Amazing sky and reflection. Lovely tree line.

Thanks peeps. It was a really serene day.

Here's a great cover that is really evocative of the book which is largely epistolary.

>203 Bookmarque: & >206 Bookmarque: Both lovely for entirely different reasons.

>203 Bookmarque: That is good for the soul.

thanks ladies. The lake shot is a favorite. Here's another for good measure.

Wow! Excelling even your high standard! Is that a pin-oak shading you (top left)?

Beautiful lake shots. It looks like such a serene, unspoilt place.

Thanks peeps. I cranked the polarizer and the sliders a little harder than normal, but I kind of like the drama even though there wasn't any on the lake. It's surprisingly deep for a lake with no development. It's owned by the DNR and so it will stay that way. That's my quest for this season - finding and exploring lakes with no people living on them. Having waterfront property myself I totally get the lure, but it's exceptional to find a lake that is allowed to just exist. Granted people still visit them, but it's less of an impact.

Oh and it’s probably red oak, Hugh. Much more common up this way.

another awesome Dracula cover.

Nice cover. Way better than the book ;-)

I liked the book, actually. The ending is a freight train in terms of pacing.

Here's another cool cover.



I'll put my June reading summary up in the next thread!