Commonwealth

I would not have read this book if it weren't for my book club however, again, I loved it. I am not a good predictor of things I will like apparently.

The book is written by Ann Patchett. I read Bel Canto years ago and really enjoyed that but the plot of this book sounded uninteresting at first. Two families are joined when the parents have affairs and blend the families. Sounds awful really.

The book was one story but it feels more like a book of short stories. The action takes place in many different eras from the 1970's to today. The characters age 50 years and somehow Patchett manages to tell you so much about them in a short period of time. It was an easy and entertaining read.

The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017!

Ryan has known about this eclipse since he took an astronomy class in 1994. So we were always going to go see it. As the date approached, I considered staying behind because I heard reports of insane traffic. I hate traffic. Anyway, I am glad I did not do that. I would have missed a great deal.

I didn't understand why so many people wanted to see it. Now I do. However, I cannot explain it. It's one of those experiences that cannot be captured in words or even photos. You have to experience the total eclipse to get it. We all loved it.

We journeyed first to Hood River and stayed at the house of some friends who were not home. The drive was easy and as usual, we listened to Harry Potter (book 6 this time). We woke up early Sunday and headed to Corvalis. We ate lunch in a park then visited their amazing aquatic center (complete with giant slides). We ate dinner at a place called Caves that had at least 100 different types of beer. Then spent the night with friends of friends. These friends of friends were also not there when we arrived.

We woke up early on August 21 to get coffee and find a good spot at a park. It turns out all spots were good spots. The sky was clear. Ryan created a giant pin-hole camera with the hope of filming the eclipse using his phone (it didn't work). The sky gradually got darker, street lights came on, and the temperature dropped. At the last minute, Jack had to go to the bathroom. Luckily there was one nearby but he stayed in there so long, he almost missed the complete eclipse. We rushed back to our spot and used our glasses to watch the moon slowly cover the sun completely.

When it happened, it really was amazing. We no longer needed the glasses. We could see stars. People whooped and shouted and shot off fireworks. Again, I cannot explain why it was so remarkable.. but I will never forget it. Ryan and I agreed we'd try to see another one.

We visited the pool again rather than immediately brave the traffic. We took back roads back to Hood River and arrived by dinner time to go to a great pizza place there called Solstice. Everyone was abuzz with talk of the eclipse. It seemed to be a collective religious experience.

big pinhole camera. it worked well but ryan's phone was confused and filmed nothing

watching the sun

Corvalis is a nice old town with some interesting historic sites and good restaurants

Giant of the Senate

I listened to Al Franken's memoir about his election to the Senate and his career thus far. He spends a small part of the book discussing his 35 year career as a writer in Hollywood. I didn't know he was one of the original writers from the first season of SNL. He worked there into the '90s. His work for progressive politics began when he started as a host on Air America as well as the books he wrote about Rush Limbaugh and conservative media.

The book is funny, entertaining, serious, informative, and sprinkled with hope and despair. It ends just after Trump's inauguration. Franken reads the book and I feel like this makes the story even better.. like so many book written by celebrities. My favorite of these was listening to Amy Poehler read 'Yes Please'. The audio productions are unique.

Inspiring story.

Central California coast

I do not often rave about family vacations. In my experience, they can be fun but are almost always tiring. I am pleased to report an excellent and restful family vacation was had by all when we visited Ryan's family in California.

We visited a beautiful beach every day. The kids played happily and were in good moods almost the entire time. My theory is that kids are happiest when they play independently outside all day every day which is what they did on our vacay. Ryan was happy because he went to the ocean every day. I was happy not to manage the unhappiness of the members of my family. Everybody wins.

On our way to 4th of July fireworks, we walked along a bluff seemingly followed by an enormous whale (as opposed to the tiny whales?) who was swimming near the shore. The sun was setting. It was beautiful.

We ate good food. We enjoyed seeing Ryan's family. Ryan's dad took the kids fishing at a local pier. He has a metal detector and the kids were thrilled to hunt for treasure. Ryan's parents have dogs and Sonia was so happy to play with them. All good things.

The Princess Bride

I thought this would be a good book to read to the kids. I started reading it and decided it wasn't.

I love the book because of the style in which William Goldman writes. He is irreverent, self-deprecating and genuine especially for someone who experienced so much success. The story is fun .. adventure, intrigue, suspense, love.. but in the end, I don't want to read it to my kids because the female character, Buttercup, is a total dud. I can afford to be selective about my female heroines because there are many great ones out there.  Buttercup of the book is weak-willed and rather dull especially compared to all the other great characters in the book -- all men. Fun beach read though.

Girl Interrupted

I often check out books that my local librarians display at the front of our library. The theme last month was books that had been made into movies and Girl Interrupted was featured with it's accompanying DVD.

The book was a bestseller and I understand why. For such a depressing topic, an 18 year old girl is institutionalized for 2 years, it's oddly funny. Years ago, I heard a American buddhist monk speak about a job he had at a psychiatric hospital. He said at the end of 5 years of work, he knew the only difference between him and the patients was that he had the keys. Susanna is hospitalized in the late '60's but it isn't clear that she is insane. She isn't sure either. Her values were very different from her ivy-league educated, conservative parents but was that mental illness? Where is the line between misery and clinical depression? Who decides you've crossed it?

A great memoir.

The Orchardist

Like the book Ocean at the end of the Lane, the Orchardist isn't just a great story, it's a beautiful experience just to read it. It takes place on an orchard near Wenatchee at the turn of the century. There are so many lovely details of that slow and forgotten way of life... one where you work just to survive. It also reminds me of Anna Karenina in that it's about deeply flawed good people and it seems to capture the richness and pain of the human experience. As a parent, I have so much compassion for the hero. Like all parents I know, this man tries so hard.

I read this book for my book club and it is by far, the favorite of all the titles we've read.