Photo's on Friday: Springtime in the Rockies

Yesterday I took a ride on State Road 31, a Scenic Byway that winds through Huntington and Fairview Canyons in central Utah. This is what spring looks like at 8,000 feet above sea level.

yes, the snow bank is that much taller than the truck--right on top of the pass

the view out the passenger side window

the drive through the snow banks

Cleveland Reservoir, still covered with ice and snow

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Hosted by Cecily and Lolli 

this weeks theme "anything"

Thursday's with Tolstoy: Week 17

Book 6 Chapters 9-16

The War:
Following the signing of the treaty of Tilsit France and Russia become temporary allies—so the peace continues in these chapters. I did have a bit of a surprise at the beginning of Chapter 9, “At that time, as always happens, the highest society that met at court was divided into several circles, each with its own particular tone. The largest of these was the French circle of the Napoleonic alliance.” I guess I feel a little like Nicholas, it’s a little shocking to socialize with one’s own enemies.

The Peace:
The other surprise waiting for me in this chapter is that since Helene has settled in Petersburg she has become a member of this high and elite social circle. For some reason she is viewed as intelligent, well read, well-versed in current politics and of all things witty. All this and she is also beyond beautiful. The men fall all over themselves to come to her parties. They even read ahead of time so they will have something to talk to her about. This causes Pierre to shudder somewhat because he knows, “she is very stupid.”

Pierre also finds himself intimidated by the amount of male suitors she has fearing she will once again cheat on him. He is haunted by memories of the duel and has a lot of strange dreams. Boris is one of Helene’s most ardent pursuers. Pierre nominates him for admittance into the free masons. During his initiation Pierre is tempted to run the sword he holds with tip placed upon Boris heart right through him. This is a mournful period for Pierre as he tries to free himself of his “sins” and evil thoughts through prayer and study of the scriptures. (I'm still very frustrated with Pierre's failure's)

Chapters 11-16 take us into the home of the Rostov’s. (The Rostov's are a favorite of mine) Vera has received a proposal of marriage and accepted. Count Rostov is unable to come up with a dowry without borrowing. He is already heavily in debt and has sold many of his estates so he decides he must seek a position to improve his financial situation. He takes the family to Petersburg to seek an appointment.

During this time Boris does come to call on Natasha and even though he doesn’t want to be attracted to her (because she is not rich) he finds himself spending more and more time with her. Natasha is irresistible.  Countess Rostov takes him aside and “speaks” to him, explaining to him he is not welcome to court Natasha. So that ends that. Natasha is relieved, she enjoyed the attention but discovered she didn’t really love him after all.  I really loved reading about the intimate and loving scene between Natasha and her mother as they snuggled in mother's bed discussing Boris.  It brought to mind the times my daughters would come home from dates all dreamy eyed and oozing with love.  I just loved our little talks together, some of them were even in my bed as they came down to say good-night but couldn't resist crawling into bed and sharing their heart . . .

excuse me for rambling on.  OK then--back to the story.

Natasha (now 16) and Sonya are delighted to be in Petersburg because they are invited to their first grand ball, one in which the Tsar himself will be in attendance. I really enjoyed reading chapters 12-16. Natasha’s excitement as she prepared for the ball was irresistible. It took me back to the time I was a young girl going to proms and such. What a fun time of life. I’ll just end with this wonderful quote from Natasha as she is waiting to be asked for her first dance at a grand ball.

“She stood with her slender arms hanging down, her scarcely defined bosom rising and falling regularly and with bated breath and glittering, frightened eyes gazed straight before her, evidently prepared for the height of joy or misery. She was not concerned about the Emperor or any of those great people whom Peronskaya was pointing out—she had but one thought: ‘Is it possible no one will ask me, that I shall not be among the first to dance? Is it possible that not one of all these men will notice me? They do not even seem to see me, or if they do they look as if they were saying, Ah, she’s not the one I’m after, so it’s not worth looking at her! No, it’s impossible,’ she thought. ‘They must know how I long to dance, how splendidly I dance, and how they would enjoy dancing with me.’”

“Prince Andrew stepped forward in the direction Pierre indicated. The despairing dejected expression of Natasha’s face caught his eye. He recognized her, guessed her feelings, saw that it was her debut, and with an expression of pleasure on his face approached Natasha. He held out his arm to grasp her waist before he had completed his invitation. He asked her to waltz. That tremulous expression on Natasha’s face, prepared either for despair or rapture, suddenly brightened into a happy, grateful, childlike smile. ‘I have long been waiting for you,’ that frightened happy little girl seemed to say by the smile that replaced the threatened tears, as she raised her hand to Prince Andrew’s shoulder. She was the first pretty girl who caught his eye; but scarcely had he embraced that slender supple figure and felt her stirring so close to him and smiling so near him than the wine of her charm rose to his head, and he felt himself revived and rejuvenated.”

(Location 22278)

Does anyone know how old Prince Andrew is??????

Vocabulary:
Provincial: an inhabitant of the regions outside the capital city of a country, esp. when regarded as unsophisticated or narrow-minded (this term was used to describe the Rostov's)

this weeks reading was very fun :)

Wednesday Wanderings: The View from the Amtrak

I miss riding those fast trains... 'cause I'd never seen a train that fast in my life.

~Ike Turner

Saturday we took our grand children for a ride on the AmTrak

We had a great time

photo by

My life seems to be moving as fast as that train . . .
I may be intermittent on the posting and the visiting for awhile.

Tuesday: Top Ten and a Teaser

River Marked
(series: Mercedes Thompson #6)


by

Patricia Briggs

I just opened this book so today you get the first two lines for a teaser . . .



"Two Local Men Still Missing Thomas Kerrington (62) and his son Christopher Kerrington (40) are still missing, though the boat that they were fishing in has been recovered.  The boat was found abandoned two miles downstream of John Day Dam yesterday."

Location 52 on my kindle

Teaser Tuesday hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading 

hosted by the Broke and the Bookish



Today's Top Ten . . . Mean Girls



This top ten list was a little more difficult than some of the other's.  I had to dig through my book list and look up character lists.  I tend to remember the protagonist better than the antagonist.  But after a little digging I managed to come up with 10.

1. Bertha Mason (Jane Eyre)  She was Mr. Rochester's lunatic wife imprisoned in the attic and she also burned down the house.
2.  Sarah Redd (Jane Eyre) Jane's very mean and unkind aunt.
3.  Victoria (Twilight) That red-headed vampire that vows to kill Bella.
4. Jane (New Moon) The pain-inflicting member of the Volturi family.
5.  Janice Avery (Bridge to Teribithia)  The Bully that stands at the bathroom charging money to first graders for entrance.  She's a terror at school and on the bus. 
6. Cicily (A Great and Terrible Beauty)  That mean leader of the clique that ostracizes Gemma Doyle and her friends.
7. Josie Pye (Anne of Green Gables)  She was as mean as her brothers and couldn't overcome her bullying tendencies even though Anne tried to be her friend.
8.  Caroline Bingley (Pride and Prejudice) She did all in her power to prevent Bingley from marrying Jane.
9.  Lady Catherine (Pride and Prejudice)  She was pretty mean spirited especially when she confronted Elizabeth about her assumed engagement to Mr. Darcy.
10.  Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)  The head of the hospital ward who weakens her patients through a psychologically manipulative program designed to destroy their self-esteem. Ratched’s emasculating, mechanical ways slowly drain all traces of humanity from her patients.

and one for good measure

11.  The Other Mother (Coraline)  That's just creepy, a person who imitates only the good in your mother so she can lure you away from her.

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by

Jamie Ford

Kindle Edition, 304 pages
Published January 27th 2009 by Ballantine Books
ASIN: B001NLL5AO
literary awards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction (2009)

image, book description and author information courtesy goodreads

About the author:

My name is James. Yes, I'm a dude. I’m an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and a survivor of Orson Scott Card's Literary Bootcamp. On the personal side, I'm the proud father of two boys and two girls. Yep, it's chaos, but the good kind of chaos.

About the book:
In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent love - that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice - words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.

My thoughts:
There are so many reason's I loved this book, I'll share five with you.

1. It was a recommended read by two of my blogging friends, Molly and Margot. Besides recommending it they invited me to read it with them and some more of their friends. I love reading the same books that other people are reading because I love hearing their thoughts and I love discussing a good book. That was another great aspect of the read-a-long, we finished up with an on-line chat. I recommend this book just because it was so good, but if you can read it in a group that would be great.

2. I adored the characters. They were so "alive". I could picture each person vividly in my mind. I also enjoyed the emotional reaction that I had to each character. I definitely bonded with Henry, Keiko, Sheldon, Ethel, Mrs. Beatty and the others.

3. The setting was wonderful as well. The story takes place in Chinatown and neighboring Japantown in Seattle. The city was as alive as the characters with many prominent landmarks given as much personality as the people.

4. It was based on real events in real places. These types of stories always hit me in the heart and I remember them for a long time. This particular story personalizes the terrible events that befell American citizens of Japanese descent during WWII. It was before my time so even though I was aware of the atrocities they endured I never really gave it much thought. I told my mom about this book to see if she might like to read it. She said she would because when she was in 1st grade she had a little Japanese girlfriend that "disappeared". She didn't know what happened to her until she was much older and learned about it in school. She never saw her friend again.

5. Despite the heavy subject of the book, it had a "good feeling" to it. The author was very objective in his writing and didn't really cast judgment on any one group of people for what happened. He pretty well presented the subject in a way that allowed me to form my own opinions. I really liked the air of neutrality. Even though Henry's relationships with his parents were strained, the author never condemned and so in the end I was allowed to feel good about all characters involved in the telling of this tale. I loved the evolution of the story and I absolutely loved the ending.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“In the middle of the crowd stood Henry, shopping bags hanging at his side. He felt as if he were waking from a long forgotten dream. A dream he’d once had as a little boy.”

*****


“The old bachelor hotel had stood as a gateway between Seattle’s Chinatown and Nihonmachi, Japantown. Two outposts of an old-world conflict—where Chinese and Japanese immigrants rarely spoke to one another, while their American-born children often played kick the can in the streets together.”

*****

This one taken out of context is a bit hard to understand, but I loved the poetic feel to it.

“He’d stopped counting the years as they slipped into memory. After all, he’d spent a lifetime between these bookended visits.”

*****

This one is especially poignant for me as I’ve watched my mother mourn for my father these past six years.

“What his son, Marty, never fully understood was that deep down there was an Ethel-shaped hole in Henry’s life, and without her, all he felt was the draft of loneliness, cold and sharp, the years slipping away like blood from a wound that never heals.”

*****


“So Henry found himself stepping off the bus three stops early and wandering over to the Panama Hotel, a place between worlds when he was a child, a place between times now that he was a grown man.”

*****


“The silky fabric lit, and burning pieces floated out of the heat like butterflies whose wings caught flame, fluttering on the draft, flickering out and raining down as black, ashy dust.”

*****


“He’d learned long ago: perfection isn’t what families are all about.”

*****


“His father had said once that the hardest choices in life aren’t between what’s right and what’s wrong but between what’s right and what’s best.”

*****


“He’d do what he always did, find the sweet among the bitter.”


I read this book as part of a read-a-long hosted by Molly at the Bumbles.  You can find links to other reviews of this book at her post.

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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

Monday Movies: All about the facial hair.

Monday Movies hosted by Molly at the Bumbles

Today's Topic is . . . favorite male actors with facial hair





I've watched a lot of western's in my life and the role of a cowboy almost always calls for some facial hair. Clint Eastwood is the best man for a western and he looks great with facial hair--I think he'd look strange without it.






Sam Elliot is the perfect cowboy who looks great in a hat and 'stache. I love his slow, low drawl as well.

Sean Connery . . . he just looks great, and is great.  I could watch him in anything. (except maybe his Bond movies)







Kevin Costner . . . he looks great with or without a beard and mustache

Johnny Depp . . . I like him better with hair

Clark Gable . . . the most romantic guy with a mustache ever

Harrison Ford . . . I love watching this man act.  I prefer him without facial hair but he looks OK when he has to wear it.

But my vote for the best mustache sported by an actor is  . . .

Tom Selleck (Magnum P.I.)

Photo's on Friday

this is one my favorite pictures of my family.

Mr. J is leading our family through a slot canyon.

Pictured are three of our daughters

with the youngest daughter bringing up the rear.

Our son is the photographer,

taking the picture from his spot in the line

two grandchildren, and a a son and daughter-in-law

also made the hike.

Life is like that--fathers should lead the way.

hiking a slot canyon-click to view

this weeks theme "family"

this weeks theme "Easter"

Happy Easter!

photo by

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli 

Thursday's with Tolstoy: Week 16

Book 6 Chapters 1-8

The War:
Following the signing of the treaty of Tilsit France and Russia become temporary allies—even against Austria, Russia’s former ally. So these chapters are relatively peaceful.

The Peace:
Chapters One begins, “Prince Andrew had spent two years continuously in the country. All the plans Pierre had attempted on his estates—and constantly changing from one thing to another and never accomplished—were carried out by Prince Andrew without display and without perceptible difficulty. He had in the highest degree a practical tenacity which Pierre lacked, and without fuss or strain on his part this set things going.”

So Prince Andrew spends two years (it is now 1809) on his farm, working hard and implementing Pierre’s ideas. He frees all his serfs and makes them wage-earners, one of the first examples of this social advancement in all of Russia. He also spends a great deal of time reading, thinking about and writing analysis of recent military campaigns. Despite his busyness and success he is still gripped by grief and lacks the ability to find happiness in his activities.

One day while traveling between his farms he becomes aware of the signs of spring, “he sat in the caleche looking at the new grass, the first leaves on the birches, and the first puffs of white spring clouds floating across the clear blue sky.” (location 7572) Along the way he passes several spots and other bits of scenery that put him in a reflective mood. He notices an oak at the edge of the road. “Probably ten times the age of the birches that formed the forest, it was ten times as thick and twice as tall as they. It was an enormous tree, its girth twice as great as a man could embrace, and evidently long ago some of its branches had been broken off and its bark scarred. With its huge ungainly limbs sprawling unsymmetricallly, and its gnarled hands and fingers, it stood an aged, stern, and scornful monster among the smiling birch trees. This oak, refused to yield to the charm of spring or notice either the spring or the sunshine.” (location 7586) The sight of this monstrous tree bare of spring glory weighs heavy on his mind and adds to Andrew’s reflective mood.

Six weeks later Prince Andrew drives in to visit with Count Rostov at his summer home in Otradnoe, and spends the night. The sound and sight of Natasha and Sonya as they laugh and play make him feel out of sorts. He dwells on this melancholy alone in his room. It is especially poignant during the night, he can hear the girls on their balcony remarking on the moonlight. “He got up and went to the window to open it. As soon as he opened the shutters the moonlight, as if it had long been watching for this, burst into the room.” (Location 7615) As he gazed at the moon and listened to the girls cheerful chatter “There suddenly arose in his soul such an unexpected turmoil of youthful thoughts and hopes, contrary to the whole tenor of his life” (Location 7634). Prince Andrew retires to bed with these thoughts and feelings rolling around in his heart.

On his way home on the following day he passed through the forest of birches where he had seen the gnarled old oak. “The forest was quite different now, all thick, shady and dense.” Prince Andrew discovered the “old oak, quite transfigured, spreading out a canopy of sappy dark-green foliage, stood rapt and slightly trembling in the rays of the evening sun. Neither gnarled fingers nor old scars nor old doubts and sorrows were any of them in evidence now. Through the hard century-old bark, even where there were no twigs, leaves had sprouted such as one could hardly believe the old veteran could have produced.” Somehow seeing the transformation of this gnarled old tree, coupled with his reflective experience causes Prince Andrew to experience a great feeling of joy and renewal. This is a moment of healing for him and he now can move forward in his life, which he does.

Prince Andrew goes to Petersburg to submit his analysis of the military campaigns. He meets secretary of state, Speranski; and his minister of war, Arakcheev. Arakcheev is critical of Andrew’s proposal but makes him a member of the military reform committee. Speranski considers Andrew a liberal because of the changes he has made on his estates by freeing the serfs. Andrew is especially delighted to be able to meet and discuss his opinions with the Secretary of State; Andrew receives an invitation to join the committee in charge of drawing up a new civil code. Andrew finds himself very busy, busy talking, sometimes saying the same things over day after day. “He was so busy for whole days together that he had no time to notice that he was thinking of nothing.” (Location 7801) His life has completely changed when one considers that a few short months prior to this he had spent many hours doing practically nothing and mostly thinking.

Chapter Seven begins, “In 1808, Pierre on returning to Petersburg after visiting his estates had involuntarily found himself in a leading position among the Petersburg Freemasons.” (Location 7843) Pierre finds himself busy directing many of the events, but soon finds himself becoming disenchanted with the group. So he goes abroad to visit other groups of Masons to receive “illumination”. On his return to Petersburg it is his job to instruct his Masonic brothers about what he has learned—but that doesn’t go well either because his speech is inflammatory and they suspect Pierre of being a revolutionary. Pierre describes his feelings about being a member of the Masonic order, “It was like stepping onto the smooth surface of a bog. When he put his foot down it sank in. To make quite sure of the firmness of the ground, he put his other foot down and sank deeper still, became stuck in it, and involuntarily waded knee-deep in the bog.” (Location 7852)

Pierre left the lodge and went home, in the ensuing days he was overtaken by the depression he dreaded. Unfortunately for Pierre it is at this time that Helene and Prince Vasili once again make overtures for reconciliation. Pierre at the end of his rope makes a visit to Joseph Alexeevich his spiritual mentor who reminds him of his purpose in life. Pierre rediscovers inner peace and returns home. Feeling repentant he relents and consents to the reconciliation between himself and Helene. Pierre wrote to Joseph saying “I told my wife that I begged her to forget the past, to forgive me whatever wrong I may have done her, and that I had nothing to forgive. It gave me joy to tell her this. She need not know how hard it was for me to see her again. I have settled on the upper floor of this big house and am experiencing a happy feeling of regeneration.” (Location 7954)

We’ll see how long that lasts . . . .




here is a video clip of Prince Andrew's experience with Natasha and the moon

Wednesday Wanderings: Spring Surprises

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,

Blossoms popping right before my eyes.

More spring surprises . . .

I think yellow is the first color of spring

the forsythia is also in bloom

HaPpY SpRiNG!

photo's by

Tuesday: Top Ten and a Teaser

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by

Jamie Ford

"So Henry found himself stepping off the bus three stops early and wandering over to the Panama Hotel, a place between worlds when he was a child, a place between times now that he was a grown man." 

Location 1018 on my kindle

I am reading this book as part of an on-line read a long hosted by Molly at the Bumbles.  Join us if you like.  She will be hosting a live chat this Friday at 8:30 Eastern Time to discuss the book.  Reviews can be linked up at this post. 

teaser tuesday hosted by Miz B at Should be reading

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the Broke and the Bookish






This week is a Top Ten Rewind
I chose to make a top ten list of books I'd like to have if I were marooned on a deserted island

Lets see, I'd have my kindle with me so these are 10 books and or collections I have loaded on my kindle that I'd love to read over and over on a deserted Island.  Oh and yes I'd need an electric eel or something for recharges :)

1. SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the WIld, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea
2. The Essential Seafood Cookbook
3.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4.  The Books of Bayern
5.  The complete works of the Bronte's
6.  The complete works of Jane Austen
7.  The Shannara Series
8.  JRR Tolkien complete works
9.  Christ and the New Covenant by Jeffery R. Holland
10.  The LDS Scriptures

that should keep my mind busy for a year don't you think--I hope by then I'd be rescued.