Current Summer Reading

Summer Reading

Last summer I listed what I was reading at the time and I decided to share what I am currently working on. As I have said before I enjoy reading multiple books at the same time, and this year is no different:

Winesburg, Ohio By Sherwood Anderson. The introduction to this edition claims that Anderson offered little cohesiveness to the short stories in this, his most acclaimed book. I have to agree, and add that they are about strange people that, so far, don’t have much of a relationship with each other. Still, it is an interesting read knowing that so many great writers that came after him claimed Anderson as an early influence.

The Metamorphosis, In The Penal Colony, and Other Stories By Franz Kafka. The last time I read Kafka must have been well over 20 years ago. Many of the stories in this volume I have not read before. A few are only a paragraph long, others really have no discernible plot, while some are otherworldly and masterful.

Earth, My Friend By Peter Townsend. Townsend was a RAF pilot during WW 2 who decided to travel around the world in the 1950’s and write a book about it. This could be a boring read to some but I am enjoying reading about his adventures.

Eerdmans’ Handbook To The History Of Christianity edited by Dr Tim Dowley. This has been in my collection for a long time and I finally decided to read it. I think it will take awhile to plow through it.

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald. This might be my third or fourth attempt over the years to read this one. I find myself not caring for any of the characters and and loosing interest, but I am going to try to finish it this time.

Listening Point By Sigurd F. Olson. When my son returned from working as a canoe guide in Canada a few years ago he mentioned being introduced to the work of Mr Olson. After remembering that I am finally reading this book that has been in my collection for years.

Smiling through the Apocalypse, Esquire’s History of the Sixties edited by Harold Hayes. Featuring articles by Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, William Burroughs, Tom Wolfe, Terry Southern, Saul Bellow, Rex Reed, Malcolm Muggeridge, Peter Bogdanovich, William Styron, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr, among many others. My favorite article so far is by Gay Talese titled “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.”

The Wild Blue Yonder

The Great Waldo Pepper

A single engine airplane has been flying over the vast fields that surround our acreage. My guess is it’s a training plane or a very adventurous solo flier. The same thing happens each time it appears overhead. First we hear it, then locate it up in the sky. It begins the same aerobatics each time, a steep vertical climb until it can not go any higher, the plane turning over and beginning a plunge straight down, wings spinning, cutting the engine as it drops faster, plummeting toward the ground until the engine restarts and the plane evens out, flying horizontal again. Along comes a barrel roll, some normal flying, then flying upside down, then the vertical climb and plunge again. For around half an hour it repeats these maneuvers until it flies off to the north from where it came, only to reappear in a few days and do it all over again. If I am outside I can’t turn away from the show, I have to watch it flying about. The most thrilling part is when the engine is cut and the plane begins twirling straight down to the ground and you are convinced it will crash into the corn or bean fields and send up a huge Hollywood explosion until, bbrrrrrrr, the engine starts again and the day is saved. Maybe my fascination with all of this goes goes back to a favorite film of mine when I was a kid in the 1970’s called The Great Waldo Pepper. The air scenes in the movie used real aircraft, which gives a realistic dimension missing from films using models or CGI. A young, handsome Robert Redford is in the staring role as a barnstorming pilot during the 1920’s. Now, years later, I can look up and watch my own Waldo Pepper.

Website Review: Download

Download

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Loaded Cauliflower

Loaded Cauliflower

Yet another delicious keto friendly recipe for this month. When we tried this dish for the first time I don’t think there were many leftovers. This recipe came from Crafty Morning.

Ingredients

Four strips of bacon cooked and diced

Four green onions, diced

One head of cauliflower

Avocado oil

6 ounces of cheddar cheese

Instructions

Cut the cauliflower into florets and boil or steam until tender. Coat a baking sheet with avocado oil then spread on the cauliflower and gently smash it down. Top with bacon, onions and cheese and bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

The Roundup

Our garden so far this year

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Explore our world of symbols by category, alphabetically, or simply search by keywords.”

The Dough Roller “is a blog about money. How to make it, give it, save it, and spend it in a way that moves us closer to financial freedom. We discuss everything from asset allocation to zero coupon bonds, from savings yields to real estate investing, and from raising financially fit kids to raising financially fit parents (yes, even our parents need raising now and again–at least mine do). Your comments are what make this blog interesting and are welcomed, encouraged and greatly appreciated.”

The Lesson

Jimmy and I went to school and scouts together for a few years, and lived just one block apart. I remember thinking he was an okay kid, we would hang out sometimes, and go fishing down at the river in the summer and sled the neighborhood hills in the winter. The biggest difference between us was I was average looking while he was beautiful. He had golden curly locks, a turned up pixie nose, and sharp jawbones that made him look like a hero. The girls in elementary school liked him just fine. One day during gym class we ended up facing off in an arm wrestling contest, laying on the floor, with a crowd gathering around us. I don’t know why it became such a big event, but it did. There ended up being thirty or more kids gathered around us as we began our contest. Jimmy and I locked hands, arms tensed, and began. Nothing happened as we started the contest, both of our arms standing straight up. I pulled, he pulled, one of us would lean a bit, then the other, but the battle remained a stalemate. I began to notice the kids getting louder and cheering…all for Jimmy. I began to glance around at our (his) cheering audience, then back at Jimmy, our faces grimacing and our arms straining. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy! They wouldn’t be happy if their hero lost, so I gave them what they wanted. Down my arm went, up went the whooping and cheering, with the kids gathering around Jimmy while I stood back and watched. A few kids gave me their condolences, and that was that. I felt like I did the right thing for a while, until the “what-ifs” kicked in, and I began to feel worse than a looser. I was a quitter. Jimmy and I drifted apart and as the years went by there would be, for fun, many more arm wrestling matches with lots of other people, most of which I won. I learned that it felt much better to try and fail than to quit. Ignore the crowd and do your best.