Below is the review from my first reading. An actual paper book. This time it was the Audible version. I didn’t realize I had read it before. Rob McQuay’s narration was brilliant! I enjoyed this read as if it were my first time, obviously.
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I haven’t felt this way about a book in a while. I wanted it to continue. Bill Bryson wrote with such a light touch that you felt you were walking beside him. I loved how he threw in well-researched information not only about the AT but about the ecology and history of people.
I may want to read this again someday, so I will have to go out and buy my own copy. This one is a BookCrossing copy that will soon find someone else to thrill. 297-4877803 To find out where it lands.
Joe Spieler (Narrator), and Kate Udall (Narrator) mostly Mr. Spieler, tell the history of water, dams, resources, and politics.
I’d love to say it was exciting. Unfortunately, as informative as it was, it was hard to stay with it. This was a library, Libby, audiobook. I needed to finish as others were waiting for the book so I listened every chance I could. Still, having been married to an employee on the California Aqueduct and lived up and down the state of California, I was able to follow a lot of the history as it unfolded in the way of how politics played into everything.
What I appreciated most was when Kate Udall started reading near the end of the science, ecology, and climate changes play a part in the most important element for life besides air. I feel this is a textbook everyone should take the time for. Whether you agree with it all or not, this is still a lot here to chew on for a while.
This book will stay with me for a while. Erin Spencer (Narrator) made me feel like I was right there, on the trail, soaking wet or extremely tired. Sometimes a narrator is so good that you think it has to be the author as they seem to maintain the cadence of the written speech as if it were their own. It was fantastically done.
That means the writing was natural and felt genuine. This was a journal of sort of the hiker, Carrot Quinn. She was honest and told the good and the bad of her travels. There were times that I laughed out loud at what happened. And there were tears of seeing the incredible scenery and tears of hurt along the way.
I have to admit I want to do this. But it seems so far away from possible when just getting the dog and I out for our mile walk is tough. A windy day will keep us in. Rain is my dog’s least favorite. She won’t go out, yet I have the raincoat and boots and plenty of umbrellas. Snow is my favorite, but my dog can’t handle it very long, even with coat and pad coverings, so we walk around the yard. So much for my trek.
So it is fun to live vicariously through those who do the long hikes or marathons. Inspiration helps with daily life and gives hope for more.
This was a lot more fun than the last book I read. I really enjoyed hearing Lulu Miller tell her story and someone else’s while showing what had influenced her life.
I wanted to be a marine biologist in my way younger days. So this book was up my alley in many ways. Of course, that only lasted for ninth grade, and I learned that math was required for that and being an astronaut. Still, the love of the non-existent fish (and space travel) lingers in my life.
My friend recommended this, and I was able to find it on Libby. I didn’t want to do anything but listen to this story, so I got it done far quicker than most books. Lulu Miller did a great job weaving her life with one she admired. I felt like I was with her experiencing everything with her.
If you get the chance to read/listen to this book, I highly recommend it!
I recently went to the eye doctor. Yes, the one that didn’t give me new glasses as he is setting up cataract-removal surgery for me. I can’t wait! It will be so nice when I can read all books again. Until that operation happens, I guess children’s books or Kindle and Audible are my only way to read. As the doctor and I discussed how I couldn’t even see the big E with my left eye, I told him how important it was that I be able to read. “I’m a writer!” I said as I pointed to my 2020 NaNoWriMo winner’s T-shirt. He pulled out his bookmark to prove he not only wrote but actually had published his masterpiece. I couldn’t wait to get it and read it.
Luckily, this book is a wonderful picture book. The poodles pictured in the book are the doctor’s own. He enjoyed taking them on hikes and snapped pictures. A story evolved with the pictures, as with children’s books, the writing is large enough for most of us to read. And the illustrations are adorable. Don’t think for a minute it is just a bunch of poodle pics. The story is fun. The poodles are secret agents solving nature puzzles. I can’t wait to see what they get up to in volume 2!
I just read and reviewed How to Die In Space. Wormholes were the thing Mr. Sutter said was the least likely item out there. Yet how would Star Trek, Farscape, or even Doctor Who get around without them? See? Case in point! They have to exist!
A little more serious. I do believe in the power of prayer. Not like I learned at church, but what I have absorbed metaphysically. When I pray, I feel I take the time to put my mind onto something or someone; I find the energy flows and have seen results. Often, I find my prayer worded so that I need to revise on occasions to be the most loving outcome for all. No, I cannot be the one that brought about the result. That means whether my hope went one way or the other, the result is out of my hands. Love is in charge. In that case, then, I believe, God/Goddess is love.
Do animals have morals? Exclude human beings from the equation please.
Here is the question that John Holton and I differ on. And from the mere observable point of view watching our cats. I suggest, like every group, there are terrific and rotten and variants between.
I had a cat who took in some other cat’s kittens. Kimberlina raised these kittens, caring for them like they were her own. With four kids in the house, she became mother number two. She would lead me to see naughtiness in the works. Many other cats we’ve had were not as morally beautiful. But in cat-world, we believe she was a saint.
Meet Kimberlina, Kimby for short. She’s the big one on the right. The kitten is a foster my son, not the one pictured, but the one who worked at a pet store brought home knowing Kimby would be good at taking care of it. Kimby came to us when she couldn’t even hold up her head. Her eyes were closed. We couldn’t find anyone with milk for her, so we used plain yogurt, and she seemed to like and thrive from it. We had her, I think, for 17 years. Through divorce and a million moves. (Exaggerate much?)
In fact, this very balcony was where she decided to see if she could fly. We were on the second story. Talk about scared! But the kids (who were late teens and early adults) found her and brought her home. She hid under my bed for a couple nights. One night I couldn’t handle it anymore. I whispered out to her. She came out. She shook it out. Jumped up on the bed with me and seemed just fine for another six years. Gosh, how we all miss her! It’s been 20 years, and we all still talk about her with tears just below the surface.
Thanks for the memories!
Is there inherent order in nature or is it all chaos and chance?
Wow! Nature prevails over the chaos and chance, I think. Chaos, like forest fires, may kill everything in the area, and yet before long new life exists in the burnt areas. Look at Chernobyl. Nature has managed what we humans haven’t. The above chaos is manmade. But hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, meteors, etc., can kill everything off, but Nature brings life back.
Where is your least favorite place in the world?
I’ve not been very far in the world. But I bet I can universally narrow this down. Offices full of cubicles. I can’t think of any I could ever handle again, no matter what country or planet it resides in. I have met some really awesome people in that work environment and am still friends with them. But I couldn’t survive another moment in that kind of place.
GRATITUDE SECTION (Participation Always Optional
Feel free to share something about the seasons that makes you smile!
Growing up in Southern California, we had Summer and warm everything else. So when we moved here in Outback Oregon, we have most of the seasons. I’m smiling at the upcoming summer is showing its face. The following is probably done for a while.
But this is today:
This last picture is the same mesquite bush that was full of snow in January’s picture. Sadly, we still need to drip water at night. But I was in T-shirt while taking the greenery above and only a little chilly. Yay! Warm is coming!
It’s funny what happens when you start researching a book you are writing. I have an elephant in my story, and he tells another character that his favorite book is… Well, that meant I needed to find a book for him to refer to. I looked up elephant books on Amazon, and this one came up. I chose the Audible version because I had a credit waiting for my next listen. I am not sure it is my character elephant’s favorite book. But I did enjoy it as my night read.
Simon Vance did a great job narrating this autobiography. His voice is believable as the author’s own, I suppose. I don’t know what the author sounded like, as my guess is the author passed before finishing the book. That was a little jarring.
The author shared his experiment by having a place for a herd to come and live. He shared his getting to know the elephants’ personalities personally. All in all, I did enjoy the story. I just need an elephant book more personal to the elephant and not the human. I did have my guy like Dumbo. But I need more.
We live in the desert outback of Oregon. When you picture Oregon, you probably see green trees and oceans. This is mostly sagebrush and sky. I love it. There is room to breathe and did I mention sky? Many of us don’t have grassy lawns, between critters and the amount of water it would take to keep it green, it seems silly to attempt. So instead my family and I have dedicated to saving bees and inviting hummingbirds into our yard. I think because of the heavy snows of the winter we have a lot more vegetation than usual. More butterflies. And just yesterday I saw a Mourning Cloak. I realized I hadn’t seen one of those for decades.
And then this little sweet book comes into my life. How adorable the grasshopper and caterpillar are! I love how the author explains why the caterpillar needs to eat so much and about the pupa stage. The pages are colorful with butterfly backgrounds and the Rangoli designs on each page above the main characters. Those are inspiring me to try my hand at drawing them.
This book is great for the early reader but great fun for a read aloud and learning about everything from caterpillars to India and lots of art to play with. All while learning to read. I would have had a ball reading this with my kids back in the day.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
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Welcome to my personal blog site. I see myself as a free thinker, life explorer, and wisdom collector. Some of my favorite subjects are psychology, philosophy, relationships, society, reading, writing, technology, and lifestyle.
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Darswords 
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