A new calf

Most unexpectedly (for me) one of the Highland Scottish Cows bore a calf today. This is (I think) Mary Ann, who has a half-grown calf that is ailing. He lies in the pasture all day and flicks his ears. The poor little thing must have ear mites or worse. wish the farmer would take action and do something and am debating stopping by and mentioning same. Nothing like a nosy busybody, is there?

The calf with the ear problem is lying on the right, and the brand new calf is a darker brown and lying with his/her mother licking him. Cow mothers are very attentive, at least for a while. We fed them scraps today, and Maggie's baby will eat out of my hand which is unusual for the calves who tend to be more skittish.

The pair of ducks seems to be nesting close by us in the slough. The big obnoxious black birds appeared a few days ago and ate all the suet, even the suet in the feeder for small birds. Their beaks are so long they can reach in and eat it. Major bummer. Do not like those birds.

I had to refill the thistle seed yesterday, and noticed the trillium is blooming, and about 30 solomon's seals are coming up. Bleeding heart is also abloom, and some of the wildflowers look healthy, but the creeping phlox is a train wreck. Spare and no blooms. My heath really looks good. Maybe photos tomorrow.

I would ordinarily be arriving in Gerlach, Nevada right now, had the fates so decreed. Instead I'm leaving Thursday and coming back on Tuesday for a much shortened trip, and the fun stuff like Soldier Meadow and Squaw Reservoir will be what doesn't get done. So it goes, in the words of the immortal Vonnegut.

The Corrections just blew me away. I finished it last night and haven't read such a tour de force since The Poisonwood Bible. God what a joy a long novel that's really fun to read can be. One of life's great pleasure. Hallie Ephron has a new book out: 1001 Books for Every Mood: A Bibliophile's Guide to Unwinding, Misbehaving, Forgiving, Celebrating, Commiserating (and I'm looking forward to getting some good suggestions from that. There must be delights of good reading I probably overlooked or was never assigned. Just like Sinclair Lewis's Oil, also a great novel. I've had a good reading spring and late winter.

Submitted a short story to Glimmer Train and an agent wanted 3 chapters of Festival Madness. No great hopes, because I don't think FM is going to be her thing, but I'm sending them anyway.

Maybe if she likes it, she'll recommend another agent. I have the feeling it's more of a man's book. Crazy, huh?

Onward,

Grapeshot

The Porthole View

Gone are the days of tiny portholes. Now cruiseships have picture windows or even balconies. I noticed lots of balconies, very few populated. They are like decks. Most people never use them.

Anyway, we had a sea window, good for taking in the view while changing clothes, waking up, and so forth. It also revealed how little darkness there was in this part of the world so close to the solstice. The shot you see was taken Day One, when we were cruising north out of Vancouver. The scenery gradually segued into totally spectacular, but it was good to have it happen gradually. This day we saw lots of big fish jumping. Don't know what they were. I got my fill of salmon, cod and halibut, all delicious. The salmon were beginning to swim upstream and we saw one river just loaded with them.

Many of the rivers are fishless, due to the glacial melt and all the sediment and lack of oxygen in the water. Lots of silt, little wildlife. Some of the glaciers are really filthy, and others have beautiful blue ice. We saw some calving, and the thunder was stupendous, and it made a satisfying splash as well. One never grows too old for a really big splash.

Glaciers are abundant, and we had a map showing how they had shrunk in the last 100 years. The decline hasn't all been recent.

Not cooking (but eating) for two weeks has me all inspired. Last night I cooked a chicken breast in wine with an anise bulb and lots of lemon. Flavor was subtle, not licorishy. We also tried broccoli with garlic and toasted Panko crumbs, another winner. Cucumber salad with tomatoes and herbs from the garden. Lots of good veggies and lean meat.

Tonight is shrimp on the grill with grilled eggplant, zucchini, portabellas and red peppers. Yum! I'm making a diet rice pudding. Weight is starting to come off. I measure out the damn granola in the morning. Never seems like enough.

Worked on the ending of Festival Madness, and now it seems kind of tepid, so I have more work to do. Endless revisions--what else is new?

I am reading a Donna Leon book, my first. Nothing happened until mid-story. Lots of running around Venice and drinking of coffee and grappa. I like it all right, but am not sure what the big deal about her is. A perfectly nice little mystery in a Venetian setting.

Did I mention the agent told publishers are only buying "cozy-cozies" and thrillers from "new" writers. My next book is "Twenty-Five Years in Informations Systems," in which I tell tales out of school. Non-fiction. Then it's 1928 California, but not in the crime fiction genre. After that, well, we see.

After a rocky start, I am really savoring The Warlord's Son, and read little bits of it so I don't finish too early. Great stuff about Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sounds so authentic. I have to get back to Proust sometime this summer.

In the meantime, The Sunday New York Times and the Boston Globe await. A full day's work, at least.

Cats were estatic to see us. Annie escaped the house yesterday and ran all over the neighborhood for 5 hours. Bad cat. The garden is spectacular. Photos anon. I have everything weeded. My $2.50 miniature rose from the supermarket this winter now has 5 blooms. The geraniums I carried over the winter have fat, colorful flowers. Sometimes frugality pays off.