… the latest version of the footwear that is universally agreed upon as hideous: the newest crocs can be purchased already decorated with girl-y flowers! There are all kinds of additional trim that has been designed to add on to those holes across the front: cartoon characters, plastic jewels for adding color and sparkle, personalized photos of family, pets, any subject of your choice. But recently seen in the internet: these with the colorful posies already applied, ready to open the box and hit the streets!
We thought the floral design was printed on – but it looks so much like actual embroidery, it’s hard to say: it almost appears that part that has the specialty detail added is a separate piece that was sewn on. More cushy on the inside, on the top of your foot as well. It is hard to believe there are people who work in jobs that require hours of being up-right who have the tolerance to wear them all day – but who knows?
You will also notice, the shoe appears to be more waterproof than the older, standard model: no perforations around the edge of the sole. Good for keeping socks dry, but not so great for people who want ventilation, those who go wading or wear them at the river/beach. For some, it might just be standard, daily foot-wear. For others, with a long history of employment that requires being vertical for hours: there just is not the support feet, ankles, legs, muscles, tendons, ligaments need to maintain health.
… by Pam Jenoff. Jenoff is an attorney, a law professor teaching at Rutgers University. Living in New Jersey with family, she finds time to write, as an author of a number of best-sellers of historical fiction. Judging from the titles of other books she has published, many have to do with events during the WWII era in Europe. It seems reasonable to think that once you start doing the research, digging into events recently declassified and made available for public perusal, there are any number of directions a story could take.
The two main characters are Hannah and her cousin Lily. They are both Jews, living in Europe in 1942. You see what’s coming, right? Terrible terrible things that happen to millions of innocents due to the demands of a psychopath who wants to take over all of Europe. Hannah is from Germany, after loosing all her family, hoping for asylum in America. The US refuses to have the boat come into port, it is diverted to Cuba, then sent back to Europe. Hannah cables her cousin, whom she has known since childhood, to meet her when she disembarks in Belgium.
Lily is a native of Belgium, feels safe from the Nazis, a mother of a young child, wife of a beloved medical professional. The Nazis slowly put more pressure on civilians, citizens of Belgium, forcing Lily’s husband to quit his practice. Hannah begins to volunteer as a Resistance worker after a chance encounter with Mateo, then meeting his sister Micheline, the head of a cell. Micheline’s code name as the organizer of the group of Resistance workers is ‘Sapphire’, thus the title of the book.
Hannah gets entangled in a relationship with Mateo, only to later discover her cousin Lily knows him from a past relationship. Plot has twists and turns as the Resistance plots to help downed airmen escape, travel across France to freedom in Spain. Germans make more demands, limit movement, as the civilians and especially Jews are confined, deported, taken to work camps.
The book is a set of CD’s at found at the library, although available in print. It is a well written story, with much detail about life in dire circumstances, horrors of work camps, deprivation, brutality of Germans. The author has other books in print that focus on this era, including “The Orphan’s Tale”. Having worked in the Pentagon, and served as a diplomat with the State Department, she has devoted time to reading and researching life in Europe during the WW II era.
… by Tony Hillerman. This author, deceased, (1925-2008) wrote a number of books that follow the same characters, a pair of law enforcement workers who live in the southwest US. The copyright for this title printed inside the front coveris1998. The number of books listed here by Hillerman numbers twenty, although there are likely more from his prolific pen over the years. Googling indicates the total is near thirty, including some non-fiction, compilations and books for youngsters.
There is a large population of Indigenous people in this area, where they live on property set aside as reservations for the Native Americans. As usual, the US government provided these tribes Hopi, Navajo and others with land that is practically useless: rocky, mountainous, infertile, dry sandy desert, unsuitable for growing crops or sustaining livestock. Though the terrain is harsh, often foreboding, the natives acclimated to lack of rain, stony landscape, desert conditions, they carry on with traditional ways as they have done for centuries.
Details about the land, people, life-styles demonstrate the authors’ knowledge and familiarity with the indigenous people: relationships and genealogy, acknowledged to keep families intact. Influences of ancestors, historical oral traditions passed from one generation to the next as the elders teach and train younger tribal members. Prayers and blessings observed by the traditionalists with the goal of maintaing their folk-ways and ceremonies handed down over the centuries.
The geography of the landscape with hundreds of miles of barren lands, mesas and mountains at the edge of the horizon, rough unpaved roads leading to remote homes, hogans, abandoned farm/ranch land prove the author’s love for the raw land and inhabitants.The retired Joe Leaphorn, and the acting Lt Jim Chee take on another in a series of challenges. Traveling to remote trading posts, abandoned homesteads, climbing rocky cliff faces, following nearly invisible tracks across the rocky landscape in search for evidence.
Actually not the first time I read this book. But reuniting with the main characters was like rejoining old friends. I might not have read all his books, especially the few published as non-fiction, but think all ones with the pair of law enforcement men are familiar enough to be able to guess the outcome by the time I would get half way in.
… by international scoundrel and thief Frank Abagnale, with the assistance of Stan Redding. The book was copyrighted in 1998, optioned to become a movie and languished for years before actually becoming a screenplay, with Tom Hanks cast as the FBI Agent tasked with the capture of the as the pursuer of the blatant impersonator. Cast as the imposter, ner-do-well was Leonardo di Caprio as the man who became known internationally as one of the most daring con men in modern times.
Abagnale was a high school drop-out. His parents separated, he chose to live with his dad,while siblings stayed with their mother. Starting down the slippery slope when using a gas credit card of his father, to fund his outlandish life-style, he assured his dad he would pay the debt. But found a life-style of excess to be so tempting, he became addicted to luxury, always having cash on hand, beautiful women to woo and escort, living in style in New York City, unable to reign in his desires.
Surprising to discover how easy one might slip into another dimension, impersonating people with education, skills and experience he had no knowledge of: becoming a Pan Am co-pilot, with all the benefits that accompany such a position of prestige. He hitched rides across the globe, endeared himself to other employees, took advantage of their payroll with bogus, doctored payroll checks. Eventually having checks printed for his personal use, taking them to banks, wearing the uniform of the pilot, letting people assume he was a pilot. Kiting checks across the US and Europe, bankrolling a lifestyle he could never afford. The true definition of ‘paper hanger’, as he used the stolen uniform, false identification to enjoy the life of wealth in exotic locales across three continents.
The book is about the size of a paperback,less that three hundred pages.
At the end of the publication, there are several pages of questions posed to the author, with his responses. If you believe what is printed, you will find him repentant, having mended his wayward behavior and happily settled into a family lifestyle. Hard to believe someone who spent years jet-setting from Miami to the Mediterranean and partying with the beautiful young airline employees who traveled the skies would be content as a husband and dad. Although he was recruited to work with the Treasury Dept., and also an in-demand public speaker, for him to settle into a life of raising a family some where in the mid-west does seem like a stretch of the imagination. Abagnale is also the founder of a secure documents company based on the east coast.
… by Sue Grafton, inventor of Kinsey Millhone, fictitious private investigator. Grafton hit upon the idea of using the sequential letters of the alphabet to generate the titles of the numerous books written with the lead character living in southern California, getting herself into various scrapes in the course of her employment. After becoming an orphan at age five when her parents were killed in an auto accident, and being raised by a no-nonsense aunt, Millhone applies for training to become a police officer. Eventually disillusioned, and after a short stint of working for an insurance company as an investigator, Millhone decides to become self-employed, developing skills to work as a PI after fulfilling licensing requirements.
Living in the fictitious town of Santa Teresa near the Pacific coast, Millhone rents a small apartment from a friend, who is a retired baker. Currently, she has taken an assignment working for a woman whose husband, in law enforcement, recently died. In a small remote town up in the mountains, miles from her comfortable space and friendly faces. Where she is a stranger, and all the townspeople are suspicious of an interloper. The wife is not satisfied with the official autopsy/claim his death was ‘natural’ and feels there must be details she insists upon knowing. The plot thickens when the townspeople refuse to share information as Millhone asks questions, reveal personal data about the dead man and circumstances surrounding his last days.
Grafton writes in a way that provides small details guaranteed to leave the reader with a feeling of being ‘unsettled’, dark overcast days, slick icy roads, being followed by questionable vehicles, breaking-and-entering in Millhone’s personal space, cold icy winds and spitting snowflakes. Little things that make the reader look over a shoulder, anxiously wanting to pull a collar up high around the neck for warmth, protection, safety. Creepers who follow along the street at a slow rate, keeping a close watch, but not near enough to identify…
Concerned for her own safety, and nagging paranoia about the effects those people who seemed to be protected by law enforcement could have on others. She is accosted in her motel room, leaving little doubt she is being watched and warned, with the ones that should be willing to protect seemingly doubtful of her motives. Attempting to gain the support of the police, they seem to close ranks and be unwilling to provide the support needed to resolve the problem.
The reference to ‘noose’ in the plot:how two men were killed, found in a remote wooded area with ropes around their necks, the other end tied to a rock that was thrown over a tree branch, causing the victims to strangle.
… by Sue Grafton. The author of the ‘alphabet’ series, a set of 27 books, all identified by the sequential letters of the alphabet as the author assembled the story line for her plot. With the lead character a fictitious female private who lives in the fictitious town on Santa Teresa in southern California. After working with law enforcement for several years, then as an investigator for an insurance company, Kinsey Millhone chooses to go into business for herself. Fulfilling the requirements to become a PI, fully licensed and independent.
The main character, consistently present through out the series is Kinsey Millhone, self-employed as a private investigator. Living in a fictitious town in southern California:close enough to the Pacific that she can go for three mile run along the beach front. With fictitious neighbors, friends, geography and a few truisms thrown in to anchor the stories. Millhone’s parents died when she was a small child, causing her to be the ward of an unmarried aunt. After a aw enforcement, and working an investigator for an insurance company, she apprentices herself to qualify as PI.
In the “S” book, she is hired to investigate the disappearance of a woman, Violet, who vanished decades ago. Talking to family, friends, neighbors, police she becomes convinced of foul play. Violet’s daughter, seeking closure, struggles with the idea that she was abandoned, although the title of the book comes from the idea that the mother just ran off, simply vanished, leaving no trace, no note, never making an effort to reconnect, after being gifted a new automobile. The unlikely discovery of where that vehicle might be found leads to someone thinking Millhone needs to be silenced as well….
… by Sally Hepworth. After reading a different publication, more requested from the local library. this work of fiction published in 2019. Others by this author include: “The Family Next Door”, “The Mother’s Promise”, “The Things We Keep”, a tome with a French title. As well as another read, reviewed and reported here about three generations of midwives.
Lucy and Oliver are a young couple with three small children. Oliver’s parents are Diana and Tom. The older couple are well established in their community: socially, financially, respected. Diana manages a nonprofit that helps immigrant women who come into Australia to escape hardships, usually pregnant, often with small children but without the support system and caregivers necessary to manage childbirth, delivery, caring for infants and youngsters. Diana is a hard woman to love: opinionated, focused, unbending in her convictions. When approached by family members for support, she is dis-inclined to prop others up, desiring they learn to depend on their own wisdom, council, resources. This creates constant discord: animosity within family.
Diana’s daughter Nettie is infertile, has been trying for years to conceive, start a family. Nettie has struggled financially with the constant emotional and financial expense, and resentful that her mother has the resources and refuses to support her efforts. Much emotional and psychological turmoil going on here.
The author fleshed out the characters well: interesting story line with well-developed people that have busy lives. The story is told well, with the individuals interacting in daily lives, sharing personal histories with conversations that sound remarkably like we all have. Stories and experiences from average lives in normal households.
Suddenly: Diana is dead. Questions abound. Diana might be a suicide. Diana’s death might be murder. Diana claimed to have cancer. Diana had become a member of an ‘assisted suicide’ group. Evidence collected by law enforcement is inconclusive. Family members are questioned….
… found in pet shelters. Amazing pups who obviously really want to be useful, just need someone to show them what their job is! Taught by people who help the animals develop the ability to locate the hidden nests where sea turtles lay eggs on the sandy beaches just above the shore line. The female sea turtles’ reproductive task completed, after covering the holes they dig with their flippers, they then laboriously return to the salty ocean. Abandoning the dozens of small leathery eggs and disappear back into the deep water.
The canines trained for this work were first seen in an online article. Passed along as a an unusual way for those often neglected, throw-away, neglected dogs to become useful: and don’t we ALL want to feel like we were made for a purpose? Media outlets in recent years have promoted the dangers to sea turtles in fishing nets, well as land-baseed predators, like un-leashed dogs, coyotes, humans, that might up the nests and consume eggs before they mature to hatch. Plus dangers once those tiny creatures do get to the waterline, when so few survive to maturity and reproduce. And then there is climate change across the planet, which many deny as bunkum.
The world is right there at your fingertips when consulting Dr. Google: One story found in ‘People’ magazine, and another came from ‘National Geographic’, considered a well-established, reliably documented source. Such an unusual and unique approach, people who have funding to do environmental and conservation work on this particular challenge of supporting wild-life are writing research articles about the success of the task.
The reports indicated the dogs could be trained to identify the residual odor left behind when the sea turtles deposit their eggs after digging nesting holes in beach sand. This process, when done by the trained canines is not fool-proof, but far quicker and with much better results than the tedious efforts produced when humans are doing the same work, searching on two (human) feet at a much lower pace. Numbers quoted in the article for a dog named Dory on the Atlantic coast in Florida completes tasks consistently.
This is Magpie, a mixed breed rescue. Working the beaches of South Padre Island on the Texas coast.
Magpie, seen above in the article from ‘People’ magazine was selected from a number of rescues, and trained with grant funding from Tito’s Vodka. The sea turtle breeding season starts in April and lasts through September, with Magpie starting her ‘job’ as soon as she was trained: finding many more nests in that time period than the humans had previously discovered. Trainers expect she will also help with locating injured turtles during the ‘off season’ when not detecting the ‘chambers’ filled with eggs below the sand. The turtles, after completing the task of laying eggs, often cover the holes they dig so effectively they are often invisible to humans, but the scent easily found by the trained dogs.
…by Jeanette Walls. This author also wrote a book that has been on New York Times best seller list for a number of years, a memoir of her growing up years “The Glass Castle”. Other published narratives have been requested from the library as this book was so well written, such a fascinating tale.
The story here told from the first person point of view, is about her grandmother: Lily Casey Smith. Her family lived in west Texas, on ranch land that was inhospitable, infertile dry, not welcoming to crop farming or livestock. Her family consisted of parents, and two siblings. The family first lived in a sod house, dug into the creek bank, made of blocks of grass dug up from the near by open pasture land. Then went to an abandoned wood frame house nearby, took the two room shack apart and rebuilt, with reclaimed wood, scarce in a place with very few trees, little timber for construction.
The story opens with Lily forcing the younger siblings to climb a tree when she believes a flash food is imminent, too far away to return home.. Spending the entire night wrapped around the limbs and trunk of the tree before they return to their parents. She worked with her dad to train carriage horses they would sell as a matched pair,in the late 1800’s, she learned self-sufficiency, as would any youth of that era. From a very young age, parents encouraged her independence: from tasks a simple as gathering eggs, some for family use ,others taken to a nearby general store (taking the eggs for the shop owner who bought for a penny apiece and resold for two cents.)
Her parents sent her to a Catholic boarding school, where she excelled: a capable student, finding life there with the nuns one of ease compared to the hardships of ranch life. The Mother Superior cautioned her than the only options for educated woman were secretarial, nursing, or teaching if she did not marry. Her dad failed to pay tuition, causing her return to the ranch. Her only option, but she wanted more from life than the drudgery of hard work from before dawn to dark, training horses with her dad and the struggle of life in bone-dry, infertile ranching.
As a teenager, industrious Lily sought employment, desiring paying work after years on the ranch where she was taking more and more responsibility. Home schooled, she applied for and got a position as a teacher: a tiny one room school in Arizona, five hundred miles away from the east TX home. No housing, no promise of permanent work, she got on her pony and rode. Alone, camping out at night under the stars. A good, capable teacher, her supervisor assured her he could find more positions. Deciding she should attempt a college,to get a teaching degree she told her famly she was moving to Chicago. She met a young man, married, they lived in a boarding house, where she found out her husband was a bigamist.
Another of the books read soon after cognitive skills and comprehension began to return following weeks of inertia as an inpatient in the local hospital, then rehab program. The author wrote beautifully, fascinating tales of her life and family experience, as she was growing up as well as lives of the interesting characters she encountered throughout her travels.
… that could have easily become major if not for having a ‘back up’ plan. Someone went to a near-by chain drug-store/pharmacy after discovering reading glasses were advertised on sale and came in the door with a pair of eye-glasses for everyone! Not one to readily pass up a bargain, after years of being trained to shop the BOGO adv. at the nearby supermarket: hard to walk past a bargain!
People who had been cautioned that vision starts to decline when your eyeballs have a birthday after four decades cannot live in denial for long. Unable to read the small print on the pill bottle. No longer, even with squinting or standing right next to the light source able to decipher the font on back of the carton.
To make facing the reality of that slippery slope, the decline continues. A person can go into the store, stand at the rack, look at the choices, discern the necessity for magnification by studying the eye chart and make a decision. Walk to the cashier and pay for your new ‘readers’. Only to discover over time the magnification is insufficient. You are going to need something a little stronger to read the daily hints for the crossword puzzle printed in the newspaper. Bumping up from 1.5 to 2.00, then sadly- whatever comes next as you find you cannot recall which room you left those readers in…
These are off the rack at chain drug store. Used in a pinch when the lens fell out of the prescription ones
