Extreme Prey

 EXTREME PREY is a transitional book in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series. Sandford has retired Davenport  from  Minnesota’s BCI ( Bureau of Criminal Apprehension)Its a real organization that helps small towns solve comp complex murders and other crimes' the towns police for does not have the resources& expertise to deal solve the crime. Davenport is the top gun, brain,& a very interesting personality, Sandford always surrounds his protagonist with a cast of  of very interesting characters which the reader  and follows from book to book in the Prey series. Then their is the the location. It is the small towns in southeastern Minnesota  That is  exactly the area where where I live. Actually  it been decades since a murderer o  :)Knowing the scene of the crime whether a road a building or whatever help the reader to relate to the story. I like that. For example if there  is a shooting and the victim is still alive the will a quickly be rushed north to Rochester Minnesota a large city and home of the world famous Mayo Clinic. Yes I've be in their emergency room and hospital many times though never for having been shot.!

 An efficient and unremarkable treatment of a story that keeps threatening to leap the gap from paranoid fantasies to...

A national book review  website headlined a  Extreme Prey with the words paranoid and fantasies...I' m not a fan of either of those words when it comes to people I know. Mental illness is a serious and difficult medical problem

So how does a detective/mystery book become unremarkably paranoid fantastical &threatening perhaps even a  clinker? well here is the plot. its simply because it the book was published before the F.B.I. director  reported to Congress that far right groups in the U.S. were the greatest  threat to our country for terrorist attack's. That Those attack's against American democracy of course occurred a few years later with the  assaults' on the nations capitol' ' That a plotted coup to overythrow a free and fair election, instigated by a con artist president  traitor.  on  A number of unhappy Iowa farmer have lost the due to bankruptcy. .This of course involve most likely the  economic cycles determined by the president the greedy bankers, most likely Jews and perhaps also alien's from a newly discovered planet Some 0f the farmers have coalesce   into a far right protest group who argue Among themselves about free speech  (protest )V. (direct action ?) As a Presidential campaign approaches and Iowa is is the first state to select 

FurBureBthe conclusion of 20r15’s GATHERING PREY was somewhat unexpected but not a total surprise. One would not expect to find Lucas unemployed for long, and this latest title provides a vehicle for switching his law enforcement gears and yet again renewing an always fresh and exciting series that has never shown signs of becoming staid or slowing down.

Danielle Steel,In his father's footsteps

 Catch ing up to trout birder   a .K. A.RAY.   With my months ago diagnosis of early early phase Alzheimer's my son having moved to Oregon due to the heat in Arizona, decided that it was time for me to sell my home In Spring Valley and moved to the towns nursing home and memory care facility.He    felt that since I was likely like his mother who was in  a more serious stage and was also violent that twas time for me to move on    That was a    error of judgment. so the move was made after selling my home and moving into the the senior housing part which means I don't need assisted living and that leaves me free to come and go as I want except for the fact that with Alzheimer's I lost my right  to legally drive my car which means I can't go any placefar awayUnless someone for example would drive me toMontana where I can trout fish up in the mountains and grizzly bear country Yes I've been a risk taker all my lifeAnd I've had a number of near your death experiences But the risks I take are always prudentGo back in the dayI brought my son's with me as they were old enough and this was at the beginning before there was pepper bear spray But we knew what to do and what not to do in at that time    she lives in Oregon and I live in Minnesota    much more recently with the loss of Mrs T. living alone as a widower in a senior facility seems almost unbearable     then I met a woman named Pat who had similar life experiences  to mineis with ' it's been great and not so great     she doesn't like Minnesota cold i don't like Oregon rain turning into ice with my vertigo                                   who loves dictators.

But the main problem is there are about several hundred women who live in the facility all nice little 

elderly widowsAnd I'm an elderly gentleman along withfive other males in the complex buildingsAll the activities hereAre oriented towards what women like to dowhich includes a coffee hourfor gossipingAnd after that playing bingoWhereEverybody whether they say bingo or not can win or getI half inch long candy bar.fierce competition at its burnt worst. WrongI recently asked the activities director hereIf she could possiblyFigure out something that a few men could play with outHaving to loseto winYes it's my deaf ear that makes it impossible for me to distinguish a seafrom a Dand a lettersWhat I can do here is what I've always done which is read a lotAnd I just finishedtwo books One by Danielle SteelAnother by

 shelby foote you may remember him as the narrator or one of them on the long ago series on television of the Civil War that was the one where the picturesWe're actual photographs from the Civil War eraNo I can't think of the guy's name who did those specials for several years like that.. I'll stop here now and begin working on my two book reviews starting with in his father's footstepsBy Daniel Steele. Hopefully I'll be able to get it done In a few days unlessSome other problem in my life crops up unexpectedly.,

sincerely trou Ray living in senior housing and fighting off Alzheimer's With a pill that's slowing the process   good faith that modern medicine at some wonderful clinics including mail Cleveland Houston and other places who are now sending messages to the CDC which say that they've made some progress on dealing with Alzheimer'sAnd  doctor Dr Kate in Rochester my neurologist says that's right  Mayo Clinic has a cureBut it has a side effect that needs to be fixed before it can become a prescription medicine and the. I'm now taking a pill which this is T help Pioneer at mail it slows the process of brain decline down and it has for me that's good andicure which iscomingwill happenHopefully sometime in the near future

cure is getting closer and closerIf you have friendsWho have thisNow fatal disease got off of disease Tell him there's hope and it's getting very close

DeaDLineBY JOHN SANFORD a Virgil flowers novel

A puzzling abductions case leads Virtual flowersto the investigationof a very different and shocking kind of crimeAnd to a small town--sense of justiceThere are plenty of fictional cops in private eyes with anger issues,women troublesand drinking problemsAnd then there is Virgil Flowers...." the New York Times book reviewOf course some of you remember from my reviews of days gone by glad there were two Minnesota mystery writers whose books I was addicted toThey're great writing for sureBut then the fact thatThe scenes of crimeportrayedwere placesThat I was very familiar withthroughout the Gopher State wield into world-famous smell clinics emergency room on a stretcher well i've been there and done that myself. William Kent Krueger's protagonist does his work in the far north of Minnesota's wildernessand forestsJohn Sanford sends theVCAThat is Bureau of Criminal Apprehensiona stateorganization of crime fighterscenteredIn MinneapolisOff to small towns in southern MinnesotaThe idea there isThe small town policeDo not have the experiencefacilities and equipmentto deal with big time crimeAnd of coursea small town on the Minnesota Iowa borderIs where I lived all my adult life the way I grew up in the Twin Cities. Sanford has two protagonists who work for the bCA. First in the prey novels davenport smart rich and sophisticated. Whereby there are plenty of fictional cops and private eyes with anger issues, woman troubles and drinking problems and then there's virtual flowers- the New York Times book reviewSo cutting to the chase leads Virgil flowers to the investigation of a very different and shocking kind of crimeinvolving a school boardof all things the settings in the crimes of course seem much more appropriate and added to all of that where the hunting dogs who are stolen and complicated the mystery even more reminding me of Sherlock Holmes and the homes of the Baskervilles

Monday, june 5th 1956

 Elvis Presley sang his new hit single " hound dog" on the Milton Berle show  and scandalized viewers with his suggestive hip movements in the public outcry that followed other variety show hosts including Ed Sullivan denounced his performance Sullivan swore he would never Invite Presley on his own show but that autumn Elvis did appear on the Ed Sullivan Show cameras only recorded Presley from the waist up. On the home front is the young boy then there was a big disagreement between my parents. My mom is a good Presbyterian agreed wholeheartedly that Presley's performance was truly obscene. My father of course probably having a beer On that Sunday evening was not bothered at all. However this incident had a big impact on my parents expectations for my future.As an only child  For some years until my wo brothers appeared on the scene There were a great expectations for me. my mothers favorite musician was Liberace Who so happened to be gay. My father did not approve of that at all. Whenever he said  bad things about Liberace my mom always replied that Liberace was laughing all the way to the bank And my father was a banker. So being an only child till my two brothers showed up some years later there were great expectations for me my mother was quite sure someday I would play the piano Carnegie Hall And my father was sure That I would be president of the first national bank of St Paul The largest bank at that time in the Twin Cities. I'm I did not become any of those things and failed my parents so at the University of Minnesota  I chose to become a teacher And my father asked me I f I planed to be poor all my lifewell in the end I wasn't  met my beautiful wife who   was also a teacher in Hicksville and there we stayed thereFor the rest of our lives together

A distant mirror the calamitous 14th century by Barbara w. Tuckman

Considering the bad times we are in now in this country politically and worldwide with climate change i wanted to find something that might be as bad or even worse to cheer me up that it could be worse.Tuckman's bookShows that there was something worseProbably far worth worse although the planet itself wasn'tthreatenedIt is now by global climate change The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images on the one hand a glittering time of crusades castles cathedrals chivalryan exquisitely illuminated books of cathedrals and chivalry on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony a world plunged into chaos these are the years when the black deaths struck in the great plague killing more than a third of the pop entire population between India and Iceland, and returned four times during the rest of the century when free booting companies of Briggans terrorized Europe with impunityLike The Vikingsand & ...... When a hundred years of war seem to have no beginning and noend7fine belligerent pho&e efforts to end it acquired a life of its own when chivalry Defined the ideal that it formed a nurtured nobility was crlumbling under the impact of new weapons, new tactic .When a wave of peasant and proletarian revolts sept through Europe, evoking panic from fierce repressions by the ruling class....papa schism the rent the Christian wol tells it all at every levelrFrom family life to see battles and d Mrs Tuckman gives With only one political party actually having solutions to our problems and the other. It makes no difference which political party wins if there is only one which has all power that is the road to dictatorship regardless of which party wins if there is no agreement on truth we are doomedWinston Churchill saidThat democracy is the worst form of governmentexcept for all the restThis book isa clue as to how bad things could getAnd they were horrendousWe're not there yetBut we could be

Ritchie Valens happy birthday 1941-1959

My age and I remember him very well la Bambafor starters.He was the self-taught rock star from CaliforniablendingLatin American musicwithrock and roll, tragically at age 17 into his career Valence died in a plane crash with fellow musiciansBuddy HollyThe Big Bopper

he was inducted into the rock and roll Hall of Fame in 2001\ not very far south from Spring Valley where Barb and I lived for many years was clear Lake Iowa and there are the annual celebration and dance night went on in memory of theplane crash perhaps that was the night did Don McLean said in American Pie that was the night the music diedThe music died

Finest Hour Battle Of BRITTAIN part 2 book review

Well this book with belt to what I asked for and inspiring book about a hun a country down and out which appeared to have no chance of saving itselffrom an overpowering innovatorNazi GermanyI wanted to book They couldn't make me believe againThat the United States of AmericaCould fight back fromAll its current problems and prevailIf you look at all the problems we face nowFor many of us they seemEven insurmountabledrugs going rampantAgain after a failed war on that subjectglobal warmingdisbelievedanswer problemBy those that now do not believe in science is being the trutha political party that refuses or is unable to deal with problemsof most any kind because it's a cultfollowing the layerand cheater presidentWho brought backracismas something that was okayand divided our countrySim on your list seemingly hopelessly with his lies and eagle..The longstanding party of no the Republicansare unableEven to function is a viable political partyAnd perhaps if they were a political partyfunctioning with the Democrats could solve some of our problemsBut that looks hopeless. That was a brave and wise and strong leader Winston Churchill with words that remind one of Shakespeare in the Bible inspired a nationand ultimatelyAmericato stand up and fight in World War IIThe American people we're more than a little dubious about fighting in another European war. And the British Army trapped and rescued by the Navy at Dunkirk gave Britain Shirley defeated the hope of defending against a German invasion of the islands.Church will ask the Americans for helpBut for RooseveltIt was a complicated problementering a war without the support of the American peoplewasNot a good ideaBut when Britain fought back and said it would never give upand the American people saw and heard what was happening when the Germans began bombing the citiespublic opinion changedAnd we sent helptwo Great BritainAnd Roosevelt andChurchillbegan building alliances against the GermansAnd theyJapaneseWon their ownAmerica into war after Pearl Harbor. This book covers all of thosebackgrounds complications quite well much of it is well knownBy those of us who follow history There are fewer items revealed such asThe Prime Ministerof Canada andThe president of the United StatesHad a meeting where they discussedSomething thatWas not brought to Churchill's attentionThat was sotheoretical and unification militarily of Canada and the United StatesBoth leaders had a fear that if Britain was defeatedAnd the British Navy fell into the hands of HitlerThe United States and CanadaWhat have their navies potentially outnumbered by the NazisThe Nazis also would have hadThe French NavyAfter France was defeated by the Germans. Later when Churchill found out about thatHe toldCanada and the United Statesthat the British Navy would never under any circumstances fall into the handsof Germany. That was a part of the history of World War two that I was quite aware unaware ofho hadBeing a history teacher i must admit that well this book follows chronology month fire month even day by day at point but it falls follows many many different stories of different people in that time period and nowI'm required to say that I havemental illness which is called MCImiles of cognitive impairmentWhich means in play English I'm above average forgetfulWhich is some of you ofMy age no isfairly normal problem among us senior citizensAnd the authors hereinclude many famous names in historyBut alsoleaders military people and others who are not well known at all but told the authors their stories because they happen to be thereAnd we're still alive when the authors talk to themThat adds a new angle and interest to itBut for meWho has difficulty remembering things like names and datesHey it's gets a littleTire some when you have to turn back the pages and remember who the guyWho is speaking actually isA few pages laterSo it didn't ruin the book for me but itMade itA tad tedious staff to turn back the page and find outWho the sky was and what his position wasFor example in the government or in the military or whateverOther than thatBuckwheatWonderfulTook me a tad longer to read itBut it was worth the effortI guess I'll just say I highly recommend this bookIt's not a newly published one againBut if you have a good libraryYou can probably find it easily

finest hour The battle of Britain part one introduction

 I needed something to cheer me up perhaps a good book. Going back some years to the rise of the right wing tea party in spite of the reelection  of Obama for a second term.  The surprising follow-upof a  con artist  who revealed at his inauguration that he was a racist and later proved to be a liar only added to the gloom and doom Now apparently we have a stalemate with a political party that RepublicansPutting all their chips on the maggot people. Fix news expanding and promoting the liesand supporting the white racistshaadded to the chaos And the attitudesagainst democracyAs demonstrated in the attack on our nation's capital.

Being a retired teacher naturally I looked back in historyFor something that might encourage meNot to be soWill me aboutMy country's futureGiven it's present problems

The words of Winston ChurchillJune 1940 let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and it's commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say this was their finest hour. Part one tim Clayton and Phil Craig. Companion to the PBS series.

Part 2 to follow next my book review   

The Frozen Hours by jeff shaara

 It was often called the Forgotten War but it wasn't forgotten by author Jeff Shara. my brother-in-law ray Smith  joined  the Marines immediately after graduating from high school In MississippiShortly before the war in Korea began. some years later on the Great Mall in Washington DC i saw a general of the Marine Corps be honored at the memorial to the american soldiers of nurses who died in Korea On the same day I also saw the new Holocaust Museum Earlier that spring and the Lincoln Memorial for  the third time. also the famous wall commemorating the fallen from Vietnam on the mall. Author 

Jeff Shaara followed in the footsteps of his Pulitzer Prize winning fathers history of the battle at Gettysburg called the Killer Angels. Jeff has continued that tradition.  His historical accuracy of  American Military  conflicts Is faultless  And he tells a good story Which makes it interesting .

Let me assure you as a history teacher this is not a dull book of dates and facts and figures it's the story about the people who were there and who fought& in many cases died. the author tells this  very well. he brings He brings the story to life By telling What individual people did. Of course in a war as in this case there were millions of people who fought. ;  more recently only a few are still alive to give witness to the author  it's now labeled as the forgotten war I'm sure you've heard of it But what really happened. maybeYou do not not have a clue or may have forgotten One of the things that Makes me think that it was forgotten isThat we didn't win The war And we didn't lose it as well  there was       peace treaty it just Ended Witha  ceasefire no wonder it's forgottenThere's an old saying that I have no expeience with but  perhapsas they used to say it was like kissing your cousinNot really something you likelyThought was the high point in your love life. President Truman did not have a dramatic opening to the war like president Roosevelt did   dramatic opening like japan almost totally destroying our Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor Truman called it a "police action" maybe like a small Civil War that was supposed to have had election but it didn't. The Soviet Union occupied the North And the United States occupied the South political complications no doubt But hopefully not world war 3 .The world or the United Nations On the Southern side of the could it become a worldwarinvolvingcommunism \versus freedom.?or Russia versus Ukraine

What were the issues? And would they determine the direction of the story and who were thePeopleon both sides who would carry this storyBy telling what they saw and what they didout of the millions of soldiersWho fought on both sides?Lots of questions Indeed.   General MacArthur an army general and the Navy led the attack against the country Japan which sank much of our navy in a sneak attack against Pearl Harbor. The American peoplewould not have hesitated a secondt o going after Japan first. But  the commander in chief franklin Roosevelt  and America's spies the believed  Germans were already well underway researching some-abombs 5 years later Douglas MacArthur was doing a good job in Japan still with some occupying American troops turning Japan into a non-military democracy. simply they were not American troops We're not training for war and We're not well supplied with updated military equipment. they were not prepared for a wa rin Korea MacArthur seemed to have his job well in hand. In America the issue wasWhich party was to blame for the communists taking over China. MacArthur seem to blame blame The State Department run   by the weak liberals. So cutting to the chase now who are the other individuals groups and  that we're described by the author and of whom   thiscomplex story atomabelieving thatSome progress was being madeAnd perhaps a super powerful with our British alliesunder attack and Europe already conquered by the German armies explosion abmb could be createdThe priority had to be put on defeating Germany firstJapan was already conqueringislandsAn American connection to the PhilippinesBut Japan did not poseThe threat the germans  did Germany had conquered a EuropeAnd it's alliesbut not Great Britainyetaboutnn5 years after the war ended a different war was in the air the Cold War and President Truman again had to make a choice With the Cold War in progress now against former AllyThe Soviet Union Was it wise to take onwar That riskedDrawing in Communist China and the Soviet UnionWho wereAllegedly supplyingCommunist dominated North Korea\ conquer us in a possibly expanding warwar.But MacArthurWas in command of the armyfrom Japan where he's still residedWhen the Korean War broke out the army that was close byWas still in JapanAt that point Japan did not have its own armya small American army was there supervising the piece in Japan andSince it was an occupation armynotReady to fight a real warand not ready to Have all the equipment it neededto win. The weather that year was a challengefor both sides. Many froze and lost  limbs  of the conflictBut thenWas finally pushed back and lost this capital. General MacArthur with brilliant tactics is he often showed in war turn the tide of the war and the American Army supplemented by british and a few otherUnited Nations allies turned the tide and pushed north The yalu river border between North Koreaand China. There are several other soldiers and officers will you probably never heard of waffle narrate the storyAt every other level.Most are realA few are made upbeing soldiers who exemplifiedThelower rankingsoldiers and officersWho tell their storiesSo you canSee howWhat was happening toMost of the ranks. You cannot understand what turn who had been ordered by ed the battles in Korea from Sure disasterous loss to as a hidden Chinese army trapped in surrounded the Marines this book does not tell the story of all the battles in the ups and downs of a very long war it focuses on the first Marine Division and Oliver P Smith commanding Generalit was Marine General Smith who turned sure defeat from a vast nearly out numbered numberedmarine division trapped in well belowfreezingto a fightingEscape from the trap temperatures

macArthur to reach the line of the Chinese bordersIn the far north o f North Koreahours tells the story of Frozen chosen south of the Yellow River and China's bordersof the Korean peninsula and the hands of a brave band of marines battling both the elements and the determined implacable full defending their borderof the history of China this war and a marine author named Manchester who wrote the death of a president by about john Kennedy's assassinationand his wonderful biographyof Douglas MacArthurand his own experiencesFighting as a marineIn the battlesat Guadalcanaland elsewhere against Japan in the Pacific if you have any questions about my views on this book obviously I enjoyed it and thought it was well written but don't hesitate to ask if you want more details orWhat I saidAbout the book. To avoid total boredom in my present situation i've got lots of time to read and write book reviews nowIf spring ever gets here in Minnesota I'll be able to go outside once again without fear of falling on ice and breaking a hip since I don't haveThe legal right toDrive anymore. Most of my hobbiesLikefly fishingwhere I have a bad balance problemAnd don't feel going safeAll in their grizzly bear country of Montana as I and my two sons did for yearsI've always read a lot and done book reviews But as I said no I've got more time to do that doing things around my house such as removing tall ice stems in front of my sheds and so on where I'm downsizing for that hr

North of Hope by John Hassler

 Regaining some hope in my new residence of senior living after initial week of no heat in my bedroom where I had to wear my winter coat to bed.  things finally got better and I have  improved my outlook on my apartment. I it now Although the food here i Okay sometimes &  not very edible at other times.In the midst of all of this had moved some books here as well as donated some to our short of cash  public library. in the    chaos I found  the book north of Hope . It was a gift to my son Ted from the author at St John's College In North Central Minnesota.St John's was a Benedictine Catholic School The Benedictines  are a gentle caring and loving order often focused on nature protecting animals and educationcc&  peace These were values that My son Ted honored And he made a good choice in choosing That college .  Famous novelist  hassler  was Ted's English teach and the book was a gift

looking back on it now I think the book was a golden oldie . Sometime in the late '50s   when many novels lurched into tackiness and obtuseness I migrated to historical fiction And later poetry. The New York Times said it best "when a writer good enough to restore your faith in fiction  established himself as a contemporary literary master it wrote "He's surpasses his own previous work both in scope & intensity. I would add high praise for any author indeed high praise for an  author  indeed.

Now on to judging the books merits and deficiencies of any. I must admit that anytime i read a book by a Minnesota author i'm bound toLike that for several reasons One is I immediately Know where the location of the story actually is as its identified Probably because I've  already been there. more than 20 years in the priesthood Father Frank Healy is going home emulating a 19th century missionary Named father zell, & is bringing Catholicism to the Ojibway  Indians living on the basswood reservation in the North woods. Naturally I have canoed down the boundary waters,Fished and Hunted those woods many times with    myt wo sons       We camped &canoed there Many many times.If the action in the book is in that area  I'v e seen  and  Remembered it 

libby the protagonist priests want to have girfriend  during their growing up years. but Frank  sees that Libby's life is unraveling as she slowly becomes dependent on him the dedicated priest now debating his next step  i n life libby has been pondering the happy family life she never had in her violent childhood home, and her search for love has born bitter fruit : again I have related to this story of faith failure and depression having lost my mother my wife and my son alzheimer's bipolar and my owncognitive impaimentand  Alzheimer's i can add a few samples of ups. A grizzly bear eating lunch in the high country of the old Stone Park bordering Montana the grizzly bear bluff charged me thinking I was about to steal his elk lunch. Of course you don't know if the male bear is going to bluff charge or notHad it been a female I would have been doomed if she was protecting her cubs. No bluffing for a female like thatThen there was thepillThat I took as an example for pain reliefOn myinjured  KneemThe consequence after I ate all the pills wasSomething called Stevens JohnsonsindromdromWhich at first look like alight case of sunburn and gradually grew into a monster of swelling body parts. Mayo Clinic said after a day and and part of an evening in the emergency roomWhere all myvital  systems were collapsingthat I had misseddeathby just a few minutes due to thte Bextra ally pill in a list of long examples On a rainy morningI drove into townvisit a friend who had recently lost his wifeWe talkd f0r a  lengthy period of timeAnd when I decided it was time to go homeI went out into his driveway to see my car had aboutseveral feet of snowcovering a bunch oficeI slept on the driveway fell and hit my headBut managed to get up from that and start my car upDriving through town there waslittle evidence of the width of thestreets but again I managed to make it through with my large SUV plowing through drifts here and there.Reaching the highwayOn the way to my homeThere was a little sign of traffic on the highway except for a few tracks heading into the town that were obviously largtrucksThe problem was immediately evident that I couldn't see theshoulder of the highway which means I couldn't see where the highwayended so I tried to stay in the middle since there walittle evidence of cars but there were some tracks that were obviously slow movingtrucks. Unfortunately I drifted too far to the rightAnd while I didn't go into the ditch I got stuckOn top of the shoulder where we're large driftSo now I'm stuck on the shoulder of the highway

Fortunately I'm right across fromMy neighbor's houseAnd  thought well I'll go in and see if I can call a tow truck to get me outSo looking to the left and seeing no cars coming east from Spring ValleyI decided I could safelycross the highwayThat was the mistake since in the middle I slipped and fell right in the middle of the highway Again checking to my left there were no cars going east and checking to the right I sawa semiComing around the curveProbably about 20 mi an houAnd I was laying on the ground falling from ice I am immediately went to stand up and fell a second and third timeIs he real closer and closer to meCome on manup I guess not it's lockeI'm coming, giving up i tried to roll over to the shoulder since I couldn't stand up androllijg lelftinj reaching the shoulder stop because I could feel the rocks and pebbles underneath me the semi had drifted also to the right and believing I was safe i lay thereAnd he missed me by about a footI would have been flatterer than a pancakeIf my arm hadn't pulled out of the way. In conclusion this is a great story which portrays human weakness and triumph no sentimental musings hereIt's about real peopleand human greatness as well as defeat and sorrow. I liked it a lot. Publishers perhaps in 1990 you may have to find a dust covered in your public library or as I did is a gift from the authorto my now deceased son who is now trout fishing in heaven with God. Ray in senior housing in Spring Valley

New home and life going well

So dear friends and bloggers it seems my diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and stage ones Alzheimer's find somebody doing quite well in my new home in Spring ValleyI actually don't need to be in assisted livingFor a while at least yetsince my diagnosisIs stage 1 Alzheimer'sandI'm takingA drug thatMy wife helped discover at theMayo clinicsResearch Centernamed after Abigail Van BurenWhere Barb discovered or helped discover a pill that slowed the processofmental decline downNow that pill is the prescription medicineapproved by the CDC called MemetineAlso helpful in my case is the fact that my fatherand all his siblings lived well into their 90sAnd often died at that point of heart attackfar lessobjectional to me thenThe last stages of Alzheimer'sWhere Barb Mrs T got very very violent. A heart attack and an older ageCould be a lot worsewith otherproblemsI also do haveWhat my father called the shakes and now known as benign familial essential tremors. That's not fatal eitherThough it can be very annoying when I spill coffee on my lapAnd look like I didn't make itto the bathroomin timeThe facility here where I'm staying is very niceFortunately you are unfortunately depending on your point of viewIt's mostly widowsWho lost their husbandsI of courseI lived my wifeWhopassed on just before the covet hitWhere IAnd those moments had to shelter in placeand learn to be very lonely without my wife. Later my son encouraged metoJoin a dating site which apparently is the modern way of finding a date for manyAnd I found severalWhich didn't work outAnd thenI decided not to dateAnyone living further away than 30 mi to Rochester where are there a lot of nursesIt's about 30 mi away and I will be visiting Oregon and later this summer she will be checking out Minnesota again and I'm pleased to begin to revive my blog has trunk burgerWho knows maybe I might find a little time to do book reviews again It's all good for me  Ray

New home and life

a recent diagnosis of mile the cognitive impairment and first stage Alzheimer's has left me without the ability to legally drive and a new home in the seasons at Spring Valley'scare facility and senior apartmentsalong with assisted livingandMemory Care if necessaryAt this pointI am in senior livingStill quite functionalIn the early stages of Alzheimer'sThis means I will eventually be following the path of my beloved wife BarbNo one here wants this Mrs T for Trout BIRDERmy blogging alias for many years. Since I don't have the legal right to drive anymore my travels and adventures will no longer be possible but if you would like to carry on with her friendships over the years indicate that and I will provide thename and locationof my present  So that you canCall me and we can stillcommunicate from my apartment  ray also known as  troutBirderder

Raise favorite love songs

Rays favorite love songs 

1. And I love you so       written and sung by Don Mclean I sang it to her holding her hand and the lying next to her in bed that night. And she repeated those five words three times opening her eyes and speaking for the first time in a week.

2. Perhaps love by John Denver

3. I will always love you sung by Whitney Houston        yes  did and she kept her word

4. Memories by Barbra Streisand  &Robert R,    mostly   my life now…. And tears

5. Send in the clowns sung by Judy Collins and recommended by M. A. B. Because of who we were and how we were and we laughed at ourselves and with each other

6. Unchained Melody by the righteous Brothers the lack of trust was a chain but our love grew and set us free 

7. Only You by the Platters        for Barb

8. Evergreen by Barbra Streisand     the best years

9. The last farewell by Roger Whittaker Barb and Ray at Cottagewood memory care

10. The Rose by Janis Joplin Ted and Deanne sang it at the high school spring concert and got married after college

Whimsical 

One moment in time   song by Dana winner

each day I live I want to be a day to give the best of me

I ‘m only one but not alone my finest day is yet unknown

I broke my heart for every gain I faced the pain I rise and fall

yet through it all this much remains

I want one moment when I more than I thought I could be

when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away

and the the answers are all up to me

give me one moment in time when I racing with destiny

then in that one moment in time I will, I will feel eternity

I’ve lived to be the very best I want it all

no time for less I’ve laid my plans now lay the chance here in my hands

give me one moment in time when I’m more than I thought I could be

when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away

and the answers are all up to me

give me one moment in time when I’m racing with destiny

then in that one moment in time I will feel, I will feel eternity

you’re a winner for a lifetime if you seize that one moment in time make it shine

given me one moment in time when I’m more than I thought I could be

when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and all the answers are all up to me

given me one moment in time whenI’m racing the with destiny

then one moment in time I will be, I will be, I will be free I will be, free

Songwriters Battis John/Hammond Albert Lewis

love

 The world is a beautiful place and terrible place deeds of horror are committed every minute and in the end those we love die if the screams of all the Earth’s living creatures were one scream of pain, surely it would shake the stars but we have love it may seem a frail defense against the horrors of the world but we must hold fast and believe in it for it is all that we have                                                               have

places I remember

 There are places I remember

                 all my life, though some have changed

                 some forever not for better

                  some have gone and some remain

                  all the places have their moments

                  with the lovers and friends I still can recall

                   some are dead and some are living

                   in my life I've loved them all....

 

 

                   Ray turned his car into the driveway after a morning of grocery shopping and PT exercise as he entered his house from the garage

                    I felt different somehow. The silence in his home enveloped him. His home had once been filled with noise and laughter and the sounds of family life,

                    now all the silence was deafening. It had been this way for the past year but today was the first day he noted it. His girlfriend had taken him island .and then said goodbye to him & paradise    he had some music playing on the computer more to break the silence than anything else. The loss of Barb had drained his soul. Now he had gone back to his dresser and taken out his wedding ring putting it back on' this twisting it on his finger as he sat eating his supper. Plainly he thought it unlikely that he would ever find ever again a woman to really love forever and ever again. Sheltering in place during the Covid . He slowly learned to avoid loneliness itself keep busy in the garden the often said tending his native wildflowers and then that special woman appeared on the Internet and coontacted him from Salem he asked her if she had burned any whichbut sheet took it correctly as a joke and then pointed out she lived in Oregon where his son had recently with his family had moved and miraculously there she was to love. I will be flying out from Rochester's airport to Portland to see my grandchildren and son for Christmas small world indeed and definitely not lonely is lately

 

 

 

Mrs. T

 Mrs. T was actually my wife Barb but in the blogging world on the  Internet I was Troutbirder which actually identified two of my hobbies. I had met Barb in a small town in southeastern Minnesota where she was already teaching. The guy I had replaced to teach senior social studies And history was married  with a flock of kids so Barb  not being the bashful type was told by all the single female teachers to talk to the superintendent and make sure the Next teacher of senior social studies was single. That turned out to be me. I was a well-known and in thee community for several years as having been requisitioned for the job by Barb. it turned out to be a perfect match since we both grew up in St. Paul and eventually decided on weekends when we went home to drive together. She also  that first year came up to my room telling me that another social studies teacher wouldn't loan her a filmstrip projector and she wanted I said I sure do and here it is for you to use. Actually I don't think I ever got it back but that afternoon she also mentioned that if I didn't that there was a high school basketball game piting our school against Chatfield and I said I knew nothing about it and didn't even know where Chatfield was. What ensued was our first date and as they say the rest was history we got married a year later.

57 years of live adventurous travel over Followed  I coached basketball Barb wasNot into sports much except when our boys played I encouraged her to join me in golf , tennis even bowling no way even ping-pong the way you do it at all these games she said and I responded it's  not about winning or losing it's about being together and playing nope but then she made up for it With a simple thing. we began with a tent and eventually ended uup with a camper but she loved camping all over the country even all the way to Alaska and loved the campfire and  meeting new people, doing photography, she   took the majority of all the pictures I posted for Troutbirder. There were occasional problems such as a thunderstorm which brought trees down and in Hey campground and flooded the our tent. She and the kids abandon the tent and slept in the car. And then there was the time in glacier national park where we got to the campground late and there was only one spot left. we got the tent up in the dark.  that morning after we got up we walked around the tent to see if there were any tree limbs Down and there were along with the huge metal Cage trap that was baited for grizzly bears!!! Barb thought "We all could've been killed. Any campground in the  dark she was terrified of bears as a matter of fact it 2:00 AM in the middle of the night I was often recruited to make sure she could get to the campground Toilet safely with a flashlight watching out for bears. But put a camera in her hand and it was like when Clark Kent took off his shirt and became Superman.

We were touring the Teton national Park in Wyoming area on the back road in the middle of nowhere and there was a part of

a car house blocking the road with the door open. I had encountered that experience before in our town when there was a citywide garage sale. Looking about carefully I saw a guy walking through the tall grass to the left sort of half leaning forward and looking again noted that  there was a very large grizzly bears doing about the same thing as the guy was with his camera leaning forward and walking slowly through the tall grass the back door slammed and Mrs. T camera in hand was moving quickly to catch up and follow the guy with the camera my brother and I juumped out of the car and both fields stop to no avail this is T was using selective hearing at this point okay I'll admit it I didn't rush out afterword for a rescue maneuver. It looked worse when the bear reached ace small wooded area he kept going my wife afraid of the deep dark woods stopped turned around and came back someplace in this computer and a vast file of bare pictures of all kinds is one of the rear end of a very large bear going into the woods. It's listed in the file as Teton bear and Mrs. T showing some common sense.

And then she invited a bunch of bears into our home. Actually there were a few of the many different Christmas presents for young kids' might not get any acording toThe county anyway Mrs. T was both fearless and foolish when it came to wild animals and her camera. somehow she survived for this activity for years her specialty however was not bears but alligators. in Florida particularly the ones that were somewhat curled up they\ could straighten out instantaneously and their jaws would go from being 10 feet away from my wife to about 2 feet those days were when I unfortunately developed a heart condition probably do to a number of vessel Scares when my fear Quota  grew over the top. I saw  kinderrgarten class once As the teachers had them all walking tied together with a rope I could  and should I'd done that myself with my wife And her

camera in the wild but when she came to me she was again  Fearless

 I bravely took this picture

 

 

Madison's gift five partnerships that built America by David O Stewart

 

Madison’s gift  -five partnerships that built America by David O Stewart

this one is a gem folks. Published in 2015 you put the title and author on your search engineAnd can get the book for five bucks. I found mine for two bucks at the goodwill in Rochester Minnesota also if you have a big enough local library they might have it still for free.

In a popularity and awareness ranking of the well-known names of the founding fathers of our Republic James Madison would likely be at the bottom of the list. He was quite short bald and certainly not the tall Studley athletic military man that George Washington was. Nor a powerful orator and debater Like Hamilton . It was Jefferson  the brilliant, writer politician and who wrote the Declaration of Independence. The fourth partner was another military man, friend and sometime opponent James Monroe who had Madison’s back when a defenseless, broke &  not very united group of states  took on the mighty English  Monarchy for a second time. Madison was president and when the English  destroyed the new American capital city including White House and burned the new capital building down to the ground  in the war of 1812.  In the history texts on that war Madison gets much of the blame for all the defeats as he was not much of a military leader but instead it was his late to marry widowed Dolly Todd who gets the positive notice. Nor amazing persona like his wife Dolly lit up everyone came into her presence and could influence crowds of people . IA beautiful talented and amazing woman the author gives Dolly Madison In an  extra chapter His account of her partnership and support of James

 In a nutshell what made this small modest not very visible man so important?  It was his brain and his ability to pair with the more Outgoing men and one woman aforementioned To   discuss advise suggest and help them use their skills and his insights and organize a bunch of bickering former colonies/states into the only Republic I. E. Democracy existing at that time in a world run by kings and queens. To Find A Republic one would have to go back to that of Rome and for democracy to the ancient Greeks in Athens.

As I write this introduction and review I wondered to myself what it was that brought me to pluck this particular history book off the  shelves at the goodwill. The books aren’t categorized there particularly but there’s usually a lot of my favorite escape reading which would be fiction specifically mystery detectives stories. The author of the Madison’s gift David Stewart was unknown to me. Of course a former history teacher I knew the names of Many of the good Historians. The American Revolution and the founding of our Republic is a fascinating subject to say the least Republic, democracy destroying our national capital all of the above are in the news these days and under threat. It was then that I wondered what James Madison had to say about these issues as he debated what form a stronger more viable American system would require to survive and prosper. The pros and cons were debated at the convention in Philadelphia, Just as they are now.  the Constitution was developed and sent to the various states be approved or turned down Washington presided to keep order . Each state had a choice to make And the approval of a strong constitution became a fierce political debate. Lincoln's words before the Civil War were appropriate here  With " a house divided A nation cannot stand"

Each chapter in the book is based upon one of the five partnerships that Madison made with the leaders that built America. Which is to say the Constitution that is under attack  by A  Recent former president Ext president and White extremist groups that lead the charge I can’t stress this enough that reading this book would be well worth your time  Two of the founding fathers wrote  serious of editorials called the Federalist papers which Advocated ratification of the new Constitution. They were Madison and Hamilton. The House stood and still does.  slaveowner Madison predicted that a crisis in the future would eventually them merge as political parties did and sectional differences over the issue of slaveryThere are a number of quotes from Madison's speeches and letters in this fascinating book. I think many of them are relevant to today's political divisions in . For those reasons this excellent history is well worth your time.  Make the effort tto find it in your public library and on the Internet

Picture perfect

 

Ok its another golden oldie and one of my favorite authors Jodi picoult.

one of my favorite all-time authors . The title is picture perfect.

 Jodi often describes human interrelationships involving difficult moral or societal choices. Like any good mystery they are usually resolved at the end.  and most of the events in the this story actually reflected the headlines recently  practically word for word. It was all there and I found that amazing to say the least. The book was written some years ago. The headlines are current  In that they focused around a famous  celebrity  husband who may have been physically abusing a less famous Woman He charged the woman with slander and his reputation. According to some reports woman didn’t fit the image of a helpless woman and he the celebrity  star was very popular he won a slander lawsuit apparently based on his popularity on television. Jodi’s book was published in its paperback form which  in 1995. Her story was centered around a super famous handsome movie star who abused his wife Cassie who he loved beyond all boundaries.

Cassie the protagonist is a lower ranking teacher in the graduate school at UCLA. As the story begins she awakens in a Los Angeles graveyard her hair crusted with blood and suffering from amnesia. A Sioux Indian policeman from a reservation in the Black Hills of South Dakota has fled that reservation and obtained a job as a policeman in the Los Angeles. William Flying Horse, a new  to the city  and about to start a job with the LAPD, finds her and takes her in. Days later, when her husband comes to claim her at the police station, no one is more stunned than Cassie Barrett to learn that not only is she a renowned anthropologist, but she is married to Hollywood’s leading man, Alex Rivers.

Perhaps it might all seem like one of those Harlequin books with a Studly  looking man and scantily covered women on the cover men on the cover and women but it’s not both Cassie and Alex had  very traumatic childhood’s with flawed parents and this leads to difficulties for  both of them. When she makes a mistake he loses his temper and beats her and she loves him as he does her and doesn’t know how to handle it. Like any good mystery writer write does the author draws you into the plot. It all seems like the perfect marriage each one has their good points. Cassie seems to have it all: a romantic Bel-Air mansion, a husband nominated for a long list of Academy Awards, and a celebrated career of her own. It’s the picture of a perfect marriage. But as Cassie regains her memory and settles back into her glamorous life, after   recovering most of her memory she learned some frightening things.  A frightening pattern of hurt, denial, and broken promises. Torn between fear and love. Cassie wrestles with the he loves her he he loves her not, but he really does love her but over the top. Really does he loves her not she loves him too much and I couldn’t wait to see how this low worked out at and ultimate questions: How can she leave? Then again, how can she stay? I don’t usually do this but I stayed up till three in the morning to see how this mess turned out.     Alex with   baby whose life was threatened when she was pregnant  beat her again. Cassie fled to finally but feared that her husband would with all his money would be able to find her. She finds a safe place in South Dakota the Indian reservation of the Sioux nation where an Indian massacre took place in my lifetime’and the story continues from there. Picture-perfect Some of you may remember being a history teacher I prefer straight chronology in stories. Picture-perfect jumps around a bit but there are not a ton of characters and the call always makes them stand out and are memorable. It’s perhaps one of America’s best mystery writers best novels and it would be worth your time to go to your library and see if they still have it some years after it was published.

 

North West Angle

 Visiting Rochester Minnesota for my anual physical at W.FM.C. (World famous Mayo Clinic  And was informed at age Eighty my "vitals" were all very good, I decided to head to  the nearby Goodwill store and find some bargain books . If it were tapes or even sheet music they  would be "golden oldies". Now I would be look for famous Authors  of best sellers I may have missed in the past. Hard covers for 2 dollars per, Paperbacks  at a buck, "bodice rippers A.K.A Harlequin. Fifty cents. 

    Putting my glasses on as if walked along the hard cover novel shelves I spotted the Wiliam Kent Krueger. Perhaps Minnesota most revered best selling mystery writers. I had met him severa years previously when he  was touring small town rural libraries  giving book talks. I was quite sure I had read all of the series of books featuring sheriff Cork'OConner but not judging a book by its cover I turn to a random page and rea it not recognizing a single thing.....oops Mrs. Troutbirder MY English TEACHER WIFE AND FORMER EDITOR now residing HEAVEN  WOULD NOT APPROVE.

     Cork O'CONNER obviously Irish but also native American  has retired from his job as county  Sheriff  in the wildernesses of far northern Minnesota's canoe country including its  lakes, the Canadian border, and gigantic lake Superior. as a PI now he an and his grown daughter, Jenny, get stranded by a gale on an island in Minnesota's Northwest Angle, an area of the state cut off from the U.S. by 60 miles of Canadian wilderness and the vast Lake of the Woods. 

Having left the rest of his extended family on their rented houseboat, Cork andJenny are exploring one of the islands in the Lake of the Woods along the US/Canada border when a derecho — a weather phenomenon that packs hurricane-force winds — suddenly strikes them. Seeking shelter, they discover a cabin in which a young woman has been brutally tortured and murdered. Once the storm passes, they hear the weak cries of a baby outside, apparently the dead woman's son, now abandoned. But before they can be rescued, a man with a rifle circles the island in a cigarette boat. Cork implicitly understands this is not a friendly visit, and arranges to move Jenny and the boy to a nearby island for their safety. They are eventually reunited with their family, but it's clear the baby boy is important to someone — and that someone won't hesitate to kill to get him back. All the while Jenny bonds with the baby and does everything  she can to try and keep him  safe. This part is basically a survival story with the likely murderer stalking them with a rifle . I know this area very well taking my sons there many times on canoe fishing adventures adventures 

 

Northwest Angle is, simply  a great  novel of suspense. There is some mystery of course as we[[ since a rather strange ultra right wing religious group is up to something suspicious s in ther barricaded fortress like church. The characters, the setting, the danger — real and imagined — are in perfect order here. This is not a whodunit in the traditional sense, but a "how is it going to play out"-type of mystery. par that was a bvit teioud was Jenny ponder her relationship with her boyfriend  and her potential for beina a moe.  one were to find fault here, it might be in the pacing, which at times tends to be overly introspective — in particular, Jenny pondering her relationship with her boyfriend and her potential for being a mother — 

The wisdom of Henry Meloux is on display in several exceptionally well-written scenes, and is one of the hallmarks of this series. 

This fine series just keeps getting better. Inspired I think I might head back up there this summer after seeing if my new girlfriend wants to go walleye fishing with me :)

For some great reviews click on the follow lin to my friend Barry Sumy first Weds of the month  BOOK CLUBS, SHE EVE PUTS MY REVES UP AS WE IN SPITE OF MY BAD GRAMAR YOU KNOW i MISS BARBS EDITINT FOR ME............

https://barriesummy.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20Review%20Club

Ukraine exchange student

 Anna cam to the high school where I taught for 25  years in 217.  She stayed with our friends John and Joanne  who had dairy farm/ Often on Saturday morning Mrs. T and I would meet them for breakfast at a café in a nearby small town. Anna smart beautiful and articulate in English charmed everyone.

  When the unprovoked attack by the Russians against the Ukraine first happened  Anna was in the Univerity at the capitol of  Kyiv. As the bombs grew closer she and many other students sheltered in the basement finally making Molotov cocktail bombs to hold off the Russian tanks. Finally after several weeks as her volunteer father fought as a soldier in the bombs grew closer and closer on I made a decision to leave Ukraine with her mother and younger brother. By train. They fled to the Czech Republic. There she once again she ended up living as a refugee in a farmstead much like her experience in Minnesota. They are now in a small town north of Bratislava, Slovakia Anna and her family have their own space, living on the second floor of the farmhouse and it's really quite wonderful she says there is also now a large population of displaced Ukrainians in the nearby village she noted that they had all gotten together to make Ukrainian Easter eggs and thought it was good for them all to connect talk and do something positive together

   Anna knows that one set of her grand parents lives in a village overrun by the Russians apparently according to her father their apartment is still standing, others are rubble.

Anna asked to say a big thank you to those dear people of Minnesota  who remembered her, and were praying and thinking of her, and her country she noted it. She noted it is an awesome thing to be cared for by people on the other side of the world an!!!Anna's final semester of college has started and will be entirely online. Her classmates are literally her classmates are literally scattered across Europe/ she never seems discouraged in spite of the Russians deliberately bombing civilians she wrote it's always been that way we have always been invaded, or to keep Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. That goes back a long time ago. We do have something everybody needs, the capacity to grow food Stalin said it, can be no Russia, without the food of the Ukraine. And why now? And now Putin wants   to the country of Russia into the Empire of Russia. And he turns the terrible methods of his idol, Stalin, from mass civilian murder, to the forced relocation of people to the north of Russia. Ukrainians have been through this all before.

One of the many things that I have learned and the word has learned is that nothing comes out of Moscow that should ever be believed. Words just by time for what is a really happening underneath was One again Anna reported  "everyone I met in America so kind that is why I do not despair. As to her future plans Anna said our next move will be back to Kyiv brave young brave brave young college student returns to her school hometown and country where men and women young and old are standing together to defend a nation and its democracy against authoritarianism 'because of the war in a faraway Ukraine has become personal because of Anna. But............There is something else in my own  country different in detail but very similar in potential   consequences A political party whose base cult like believes a lie that the recent presidential election was stolen. There was a attack on our national capitol     instigated and  the cult leader of former president. Policemen were murdered and a vice president and leader of the house were threatened to be killed. Democracy came very close to being over throat by a Dr. Goebbels Hitler's Minister of propaganda showed repeatedly that a bald live repeated often enough and loud enough can work to create a fascist totalitarian system