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

A Feeding Flock of Robins

While running back and forth between the hospital and home, I haven't been inclined to write or even watch much TV, but I have, nonetheless, continued to take sustenance to my friends, the Highland Scottish Cattle.

A few days ago I noticed a humongous flock of robins in the pasture, and they continue to be there day after day. Must be something to eat. Maybe worms thrive in the cow patties, or some other delectable (in robin) goody is to be found.

Yesterday the cows ate the old Easter tulips. Speaking of tulips, the very bad rabbits are eating mine already. I am somewhat at a loss what to do. They did this last year, and totalled them. I won't plant anymore. The rest of the bulbs did not sprout up this spring. I'm still not sure about the muscari. Major bummer. Thanks a lot global warming.

I finished the novel, Oil, an excellent novel. Was prepared for more violence at the end. Suspect the movie went overboard showing the gore which was not described in any disgusting detail. The movie, of course, was There Will Be Blood.

Onward,

Grapeshot

Oil, A Novel

I am half-way through the novel, Oil, by Upton Sinclair, a novel from which the movie "There Will Be Blood," was taken. Although I was an English major and certainly knew of Sinclair and his muckracking books, I had never read him. Always sounded too much like sermons.

This is (so far) a wonderful novel, and I am enjoying it so much, with great characters, a compelling portrait of California in the 1910-1918 (so far) time period, and what a treatise of the discovery and drilling for oil. I wonder if Sinclair spent time as a roustabout in his early years. It's really interesting, as I am inclined to like learning about something when I read, even in fiction, maybe especially in fiction. Why, otherwise, do we read?

So far the book isn't too muckracky, although now I see that coming on. Something that amazed me was that Sinclair knew early on (1925 or before) that the peace treaty concluding World War I would lead to another World War. You have to respect someone with that kind of knowledge and foresight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair

I'm reading the book for insight into California in the early years of this century, and that it has in spades. Now I feel obliged to read The Jungle, his most famous book about the meat packing industry in Chicago. We lived there when they still had the "Stockyards" and there was a neighborhood called "back of the yards." For years The Cattlemen's Cafe was the place to eat. All long gone, now.

Au Revoir,

Grapeshot