For the Birds

I am trying to write a sequel to my novel that is getting published. The only problem is that I keep getting distracted. By my bird feeder. I love watching the birds. I don't have any fancy birds that come to my feeder, but I have a lot of sparrows. Yesterday I probably had close to 15 birds at one point.

Over Father's Day weekend we went to Summerfest up in Logan. It seems that every year we go into a booth that has something that really just grabs our attention. This year is was a fellow who does bird carvings. This really hit home for me this year because of how much my grandmother loved birds. Standing in the booth looking at the birds Moose pointed out that he had two red winged blackbirds carvings.

Living up here we love the red winged blackbirds. We will drive by the fields and see the birds perched on the fence posts. We decided to spent our anniversary money to get it. Granted if there had been a sandhill crane we would have been torn over which one to get. We love living up here. It is so peaceful.

What's in a Name

SCENE

Wife and husband laying in bed talking.

Husband: Did you know that "The Ultimate 10" is actually 14 teams? That seems silly.

Wife: The Hundred Years War lasted more than 100 years.

Husband: That is reasonable. They just rounded.

Wife: Okay. What about a Baker's Dozen?

Husband: It's thirteen but after the Baker eats the one to test it there is only a dozen left.

Wife: Then why is it also called the Devil's Dozen?

Husband: That's because it makes the Baker fat.

END SCENE

The Monuments Men

by Robert M. Edsel

I read this book because I had seen a preview of the movie. The movie looked interesting and when I saw the book on the shelf I thought I would give it a try. The librarian told me that she had really enjoyed it which was another point in its favor.

The book is a historical non-fiction about the events of WWII regarding the art and monuments of Europe in the path of the armies. It follows quite a few characters as they do their darndest to save the art. It is a history with lots of dates and names, but I wasn't bogged down by it. I am not a big reader of histories or biographies, but this one I finished in about a week and a half because I was so fascinated.

What draws me in: Mr. Edsel does his research. I hate reading histories where I can't tell what is factual and what is artistic license. There are excerpts of letters, and documents that he draws from. He read journals and books from the soldiers involved. He did what he could to make sure the book was a true as possible.

Even though the book is filled with history (of all things) it was interesting. I didn't feel like I was slogging through the boring stuff with occasional nuggets of interesting things. I am ashamed to admit I don't know many specifics of WWII. I can name off important people and the various countries, but I really had no idea what happened. It is explained in the book and it was interesting. In order to understand the severity of the situation, Mr. Edsel explains what was going on so we could appreciate the enormity of the Monuments Men situation.

I liked that he gave not only the Allied side of things, but also the Axis side. I didn't know about all the decrees that Hitler had regarding the art. I found it fascinating (as I have mentioned before).

What kicks me out: It is historical. There are lots of people and lots of dates. For some people that might be a turn off. It would have been for me if I hadn't seen the preview and had a direct recommendation. Here is your recommendation. "It is really really good."

Conclusion:
Should you read it? Yes. If you are a history fan? YES! If you are an art fan? YES!!

Should you buy it? That I leave up to you. I probably will buy it, if only to have a reference to go back to for dates and information about WWII in general, not just about the Monuments Men situation.

Yummy

SCENE
Wife is looking through her text messages.

Text from Husband: I'm sorry. I accidentally took the butter for lunch.

Wife: (To herself) Not a big deal. He'll be hungry for dinner though.

Several hours later. Husband comes home from work.

Husband: I'm sorry. I took the butter.

Wife: It's not a big deal, but I'm sure you're hungry.

Husband: No. You don't understand. I didn't realize it was the butter, until after I microwaved it.

END SCENE

Funk Prevented

We almost had another funk Tuesday. It could have been like Friday where he is non-responsive for hours, doesn't talk, just covers his head with his blanket until we coerce him out of his room to take a shower at 8 after which he just goes back to his room and stays there the rest of the night.

Tuesday night we told him he wouldn't be able to go camping on Friday. Tech began to shut down. I more proactively tried to get him involved in another activity. He snapped at me and covered his head. I gave him ten minutes to work it through in his room. And then I got him out of his room. Do you know how?

Mwahahahaha!

There is a new rule in our house. A rule of etiquette. If someone knocks on your door, you answer it. Granted it takes about a full minute of knocking on the bedroom door, but it makes him get off his bed and open it in order for me to stop. If he doesn't come out but shuts the door again, I just keep knocking.

I wasn't going to let him stew. We had addressed the problem head on, gave him time to think about what had happened and why, and then we got him to keep moving.

My knuckles hurt, but the funk was prevented. We ended up having a nice evening together.
Yay!

Use What You've Got

SCENE

Husband calling wife from work.

Husband: I am going to the doctor today after all.

Wife: You're still not feeling well?

Husband: No. I took my temperature. I have a fever of 101.

Wife: I didn't realize you took the thermometer to work.

Husband: I didn't.

Silence

Wife: How do you know your temperature?

Husband: I used my multi-meter.

Silence.

Husband: I washed it first.

END SCENE