What happened to January??

The gravel road, Tin Cup Junction Road, runs straight north from directly across our driveway.  The straight road is just short of a mile distance when it abruptly bends to the east and carries on to State Line Road; total length just shy of two miles.  

The road is quiet with nary a vehicle to get in the way of a dog walk.  Rooster and Ruby charge ahead, smelling smells, digging for mice, and depositing smelly piles of dog pooh along the way.  "Good dogs, good dogs - leave your poopers here," I praise them.  It's a country road.  Picking up dog poop is not required out here (thank goodness!  I'd need a shopping bag to contain Rooster's piles). 

We walk to Robinson Lane, just after the bend, which is the one mile mark.  There we turn around to gather in the view now looking south and notice the other smells the south wind carries to our noses.  There are three farms we walk by, one old garage near the road smells of wet wood and musty dark places.  The dogs always chace each other and play hard when we turn around and head back south. 

I walk in my tall leather topped Schnee boots.  The soles are "air bobs" and create punctuated patterns in the snow.  On ice, these boots are a death wish, but with snow, they grab and go.  Every now and then, a patterned piece lifts to the sky.  Hence this picture.  You can see Ruby standing in the distance in a hole, fuzzy, but that is her! 

I just finished a remarkable book.  Not usually drawn to history accounts, I was attracted to the review of this book, the review written by Ryan Holiday, an enthusiastic reader who shares his reviews on the plethora of books he is reading.  Usually on a montly basis.  I strongly recommend adding your email to his email list.  Click on his name above to find him.  

Anyway, his review of "Dead Wake:  The Last Crossing of the Lusitania" by Erik Larson piqued my curiosity.  He finished his review saying, "I won't spoil this book, but I will say the more I read about Woodrow Wilson, the more I hate him."  Now this guy is kind of a Chill Guy so when he said "hate" it got my attention and I figured I better read the book.  

(The link above is for an audible book.  I checked this book out of our local library.)

I did not grow to hate Woodrow, but I did greatly enjoy the book.  Larson builds characters so well.  I felt like I knew them all as they sailed in their ginormous ship.  The same company that built the Lusitania built the Titanic - which incidentally sunk two years prior.  It was not, however, a torpedo that sunk the Titanic.  

There is a problem with books of war, however.  As a child, we were put to bed at news time, 10pm.  Off to our rooms, lights shut off, but ears wide open.  When the news was over, Dad would watch the black and white war movies and the sounds of whistling bombs dropping from noisy fighter planes carried into my restless brain as I listened to the roar of planes, the explosions of bombs, the sounds of war.  Dreams of war have plagued my sleeping hours all of my life.  Rarely do I recall those dreams, but this book stirred those memories. 

As I paged through this accounting of the Lusitania, one night I awoke at 2am from a dream of being wrapped in a blanket hiding under something so the overhead planes searching for me would not find me.  War, talks of war, and more war.   Five stars for this book, a very good read. 

His wife weighs in on his January 21 missive with some of her favorite reads for 2023.  Once again, my curiosity is interested in the title "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs," by Jamie Loftus.  This link too is for an audible book but I got our library to borrow it from another county in Wyoming (which costs $2) and picked it up last night after exhaling a big breath when I closed the book on the Lusitania.  

Okay, there is a dramatic difference in writing between these two books!  Loftus writes like she has taken some of the meth from the Haunted Meth House herself!  She is ragged and all over the place!  I like her.  The font is smaller (Mike says there is larger font in history books because old people read history books - baaaaah!), her writing is manic and impatient.  I am certain I will never eat a hot dog again (well, maybe I need to try a Costco hotdog....) and I haven't even gotten to the slaughterhouse chapter yet.  This one is going to be amusing and entertaining.  My dream cycle is certain to shift....!!

And here, a picture of my very good friend, Rooster, after our afternoon walk as he prepares for a nap. Sleepy eyes! He is such a joy!!