Books read:
- These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
- On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Trails walked:
- Barnhardt Trail in the Mazatzals (Mar 6th)
- Hassayampa River Wilderness (Mar 19th)
- Salida Gulch near Prescott (Mar 27)
Song of the month:
"The true harbinger of spring is not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of the bat on the ball." - Bill Veeck
Spring has arrived in the desert. Here that means spring baseball, wildflowers, art festivals, and crowds of visitors wearing the caps of their favorite teams. For me it meant food poisoning, which also meant a week indoors with no hiking. One very positive and strange (to me) event occurred during my delirium on the first night of my recovery: I had the most real and powerful dream about my father who had passed away unexpectedly in December of 2016. This differed from other dreams I've had of him since his death. His appearance is difficult to describe without getting really emotional. He was not like a person you normally see in a dream, all fuzzy and gray, but more real, like he was really there in front of me. I just remembered feeling pure happiness in seeing him. So, food poisoning does have its merits (other than as a diet solution). Someone just reading this blog might assume that I'm an old white guy since I love hiking, reading, AND baseball; and they wouldn't be completely wrong. However, I've loved these things since I was young. I remember in college, during spring break, when everyone was headed to Mexico or the beaches to party, I headed to the Gila Wilderness for a week of backpacking. And I have really fond memories of my dad and I sitting in the living room on Saturday afternoons watching the baseball game of the week with a big juicy sandwich and a coke. I guess I have always enjoyed the slower aspect of life, and in today's fast world, I seem to gain even more enjoyment from this pace.
I added a "Song of the Month" category. There is so much great music in the world that it's impossible to listen to everything you might enjoy. Dar Williams has been around a long time and she's seriously underappreciated. Her song, "The Babysitter's Here" is perfect and I highly recommend it also. Iowa (especially the version from her Many Great Companions album) is a beautiful song about the joy and pain of true love. It has a magical chorus that you will be humming to yourself. I couldn't get this song out of my head lately and that seems to happen every time I hear it. Click on the YouTube link above to listen.
My first completed book this month was These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore. This book reminded me of how much I love reading history. The author is a US History professor at Harvard. She begins the book in 1492 and ends it with the 2016 election. Initially she was going to end it at the 2009 Obama inauguration, but decided that the 2016 election was too important to be left out. This is the American History book that we SHOULD have been able read when we were young. It's the American History we all know, but with additional realities added, such as the plight of the Native Americans, the complicated story of African Americans, and the struggle for equal rights for women (and for all people). It's a terrific telling of history and should be required reading in schools because it includes the history of ALL Americans, not just those with the resources to record their own history. It addresses the complications of the times and the compromises that seemed necessary. It also highlighted the wasted opportunities....like when Alexander Hamilton suggested to George Washington that he free his slaves once he became president. He refused...mostly due to the difficulty he had seen during the Constitutional Convention to get southern and northern states agreed on a constitution. Also, did you know that eleven of George Washington's fake teeth were pulled from his slaves' mouths for his use? Kind of a new way to think about our founding father. And I have a new outlook on how African Americans may think about their role in American society. Great stuff to ponder....
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| Arizona Trail (see symbol at the bottom) |
Another advantage of food poisoning: full days of nothing but reading and sleeping! And with the books I chose this month it was necessary. Lonesome Dove weighs in at just under 900 pages (same as These Truths above). I didn't think I'd be able to find any western novel nearly as good as Cormac McCarthy's border trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, Cities of the Plain, and The Crossing) and Blood Meridian. And I still haven't, but Lonesome Dove comes pretty darned close. I had been seeing this book pop up on some "best of" lists, and then saw that it won the Pulitzer prize in 1986, so I went at it (that's cowboy talk). It starts out in a small Texas border town called Lonesome Dove in the 1870s. These two retired Texas Ranger heroes (Woodrow Call and Augustus McRae) are operating a livery stable. One of their past Ranger buddies shows up and tells them about the beauty of Montana and that there were no cattle there. So Call decides they are going to steal back cattle and horses from Mexico (where for decades they had been stealing each others' livestock back and forth) and run a cattle drive to Montana to be the first cattlemen there. But it's so much more that just a cattle drive. It's about friendship, growing older, family, love, survival. Terrific storytelling. Some might be put off by the language used about women and minorities, but you have to consider the time frame in which it took place (good or bad). Like reading Mark Twain. The descriptions of the states and territories they crossed during that time are beautiful and heartbreaking. The battle atrocities between the Native Americans and the pioneers are nearly as brutal as McCarthy's (but nothing is as brutal as Blood Meridian). After reading the book, my wife and I decided to watch the TV miniseries starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. I know that this is a beloved show by many, but my goodness, other than Robert Duvall's performance, the acting, editing, and directing was really bad. Was all TV acting that bad in the 80s? The story matched the book fairly well though, so this, along with Duvall's performance makes it worth watching.
I've not hiked much in the Wickenburg area so I decided to change that. I picked a hike in the Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness. Hassayampa, besides being fun to say, is an old Native American word for "river that flows upside down." This is mainly because, normally, most of the 100 mile river flows underground between the bedrock and the sand. Normally doesn't apply to this year. The drive is a big part of the adventure. You follow Constellation road northeast out of Wickenburg and bounce along dirt road, rocks, arroyos and river beds for around 20 miles until you reach the Williams Family Ranch which is where the trailhead is. As you roll along the many hills in this area you pass both abandoned and working mines. Gold was found near here in the 1800s and modern day miners are still working to find their fortune. We saw a tour group out of Wickenburg exploring one of the mines. Once at the trailhead we were greeted by the ranch's horses which were very friendly and curious. We also saw goats, chickens, and cattle. I had read that you should sign your name at the trailhead register so that the road continues to get graded, but this is all we found in it:
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| Trail register (funny prankster) |
A quarter mile into the hike, HB and I have a decision to make: Cross the river which was raging and wide, or scramble up and over rocks to stay on the same side of the river. We chose the 2nd alternative which was a mistake. That scramble took a lot out of us and turned out to be totally unnecessary because we eventually had to cross the river anyway in order to make any progress. A total of 10 river crossings and 2 miles later, we were drenched, tired and stopped to eat lunch. We reached a point where there was no room to walk on either side of the river due to thick mesquite, so the only alternative would have been to walk in the river for several yards upstream and we decided that wasn't going to happen with the river at that level. The water was up to my thighs and running fast for many of the crossings, and we had to take great care not to step in the many areas of quicksand under and near the water (it almost took my shoe several times). It was a fun adventure for us old guys and we headed home tired and satisfied.
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| One of the many mines along the road |
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| Those crazy miners... |
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| The first crossing we avoided, but later easily made on the way out |
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| Rapids |
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| Nice scenic bend in the river |
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| One of many crossings |
I've always believed that one's opinion of a book, in many cases, depends upon your age when you read it and/or your mindset at the time. Some books come along at just the right time for you to love it, while others just miss their time. For me and this book, it was the latter. I read
On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac.
There are some differences between the novel everyone knows as "On the Road" and this Original Scroll version. The scroll version uses the real names for Kerouac's friends while the regular novel uses aliases. Also the scroll version is bit more R rated than the PG version that was published. I have to say that I was not crazy about the book. I mean, I can see how some young person reading this in the late 1950's or early 1960's would see this as a revelation and want to emulate the life. I thought that the behavior of Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarity is his alias) was awful and hurtful to others. I didn't see it as innocent pranking. I doubt that I would have enjoyed any of their company even in my younger days. I guess the deal was that they were this Beat generation that was anti-authority and anti-establishment and they were smart and philosophical and took drugs to expand their minds and all. But I've read enough to know that really smart people can produce just as much philosophy and mind expansion without doing so many illegal and hurtful things to innocent people. Stealing, beating, vandalism, and likely worse. I can understand the shock value for that time. But it seemed to me just a bunch of spoiled kids out on joy rides, thinking they were changing the world. The only part that I found interesting at all were the depictions of their travels in Mexico. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Mexican people and the scenery, even if much of the "excitement" occurred in a brothel strung out on booze and drugs. So I guess this book came along at the wrong time for me, because I know that for some, it was like a bible for living.
I remember when this movie came out not long ago and wondered if it was created from a book, and of course it was. I read
The Book Thief this month and of course I loved it; it was about a girl who loves books! There was a lot to love about this book. First and foremost, it was narrated by Death. That was clever and refreshing. It's the story of 11 year old Liesel whose mother (for unknown reasons at the time) dropped her off to live with foster parents in Nazi Germany before World War II. Liesel's foster family was poor, but they were good people. Her foster father, Hans, is an exceptional human being and her foster mother, Rosa, is exceptional in her own course way. Liesel eventually makes friends, including her best friend Rudy, and they have their own childhood adventures. But soon the war impacts everything and everyone. They hide a Jewish man in their basement with a backstory from Hans' days as a soldier in World War I. Some of the townsfolk fully support the Nazis while others, not so emphatically, so there is always tension among the townspeople. And there is Liesel, who is so good and kind and smart that even Death is impressed. Liesel is the book thief and she is so enthralled by them and so poor that she has to resort to stealing in order to read them. It's a story of love, friendship, war, hate, reading, words, loyalty....The story was moving along nicely and enjoyably until the parade of Jews came through town on their way to prison in Dachau....that's when the family's life takes a turn for the worse, mainly due to a fatal bit of compassion on the part of Hans (and later Liesel). Yet another movie to watch!
The last week of March was a warm one in Phoenix, so HB and I decided to head up to Prescott where it was about 20 degrees cooler. We've done several great hikes in the Prescott area which I would highly recommend (Granite Mountain, Groom Creek, Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Park, and the hike to the big juniper tree which was saved by the Granite Mountain hotshots the week before they all perished in the Yarnell Hill fire). This week we walked the Salida Gulch Loop trail which is near Lynx Lake. It's a very pleasant walk through the hills around Prescott with some nice views of Granite Mountain and the Bradshaws. We hiked the loop counter clockwise (or as they hilariously say in England, anti clockwise). The second half of the loop was much more interesting as the trail wound in and out of gulches and along a small stream which is normally dry, but had water this year. The highlight was a large, flat rock near the stream with several 700-1,000 year old Hohokam petroglyphs. Since this hike was only 5 miles or so, we headed over to the Lynx Creek Ruins to check them out also. It was just over a half mile walk from the parking lot and there are some interesting interpretive signs along the trail. But the ruins themselves are a bit disappointing. The views are nice from this hilltop ruin, but there are so many more interesting examples of ruins in the state.
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| Salida Gulch creek? |
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| 700-1000 year old Hohokam ruins |
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| Old man / Old writing |
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks got lots of buzz and won lots of awards when it came out in 2010 and now I know why. The author (Rebecca Skloot) spent 10 years researching and writing this book. She is well qualified, with a
B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction (I don't think they taught that at NMSU...). Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer, originally from Virginia, living in Maryland. She'd had a tough life, abusive husband, physical ailments likely due to past inbreeding (cousins marrying cousins in the small Virginia community of Clover), poverty, 5 kids...Then she gets cervical cancer. She dies a painful death in 1951 at the age of 31 but not before doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore harvest some of the malignant cells from her cervix. At this time in history, cell research had been going on for some time, however nobody had managed to keep cells alive long enough to divide (reproduce) and study. For some still unknown reason, Henrietta Lacks' cells (named HeLa from her first and last names) were able to not only survive, but to thrive! They divided, divided again and again and again. The doctors that harvested them began sending them out to researchers around the world where they proliferated even more. With these living cells to study, researchers eventually found a polio vaccine, developed cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and much more. Researchers today still use her cells. The author dug into Henrietta's past and interviewed her remaining family; and what a family! Generally poorly educated, mostly very religious and/or superstitious, fun loving, street smart. Some were in jail, some were very sick, most were upset that Henrietta's cells had been harvested without her consent (it was standard operating procedure then and really still is, legally, if not ethically). Some felt they deserved monetary compensation, some were just happy her cells had done good in the world. It's a great story and the author is part of it, with her tenacity, focus, and ability to deal with the many interesting personalities of the Lacks family. I've heard there was an HBO movie made by, and starring, Oprah in 2017...will have to check that out....
Until next month. Happy Reading and Rambling.
I've always believed that one's opinion of a book, in many cases, depends upon your age when you read it and/or your mindset at the time. Some books come along at just the right time for you to love it, while others just miss their time. For me and this book, it was the latter. I read On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac. There are some differences between the novel everyone knows as "On the Road" and this Original Scroll version. The scroll version uses the real names for Kerouac's friends while the regular novel uses aliases. Also the scroll version is bit more R rated than the PG version that was published. I have to say that I was not crazy about the book. I mean, I can see how some young person reading this in the late 1950's or early 1960's would see this as a revelation and want to emulate the life. I thought that the behavior of Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarity is his alias) was awful and hurtful to others. I didn't see it as innocent pranking. I doubt that I would have enjoyed any of their company even in my younger days. I guess the deal was that they were this Beat generation that was anti-authority and anti-establishment and they were smart and philosophical and took drugs to expand their minds and all. But I've read enough to know that really smart people can produce just as much philosophy and mind expansion without doing so many illegal and hurtful things to innocent people. Stealing, beating, vandalism, and likely worse. I can understand the shock value for that time. But it seemed to me just a bunch of spoiled kids out on joy rides, thinking they were changing the world. The only part that I found interesting at all were the depictions of their travels in Mexico. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Mexican people and the scenery, even if much of the "excitement" occurred in a brothel strung out on booze and drugs. So I guess this book came along at the wrong time for me, because I know that for some, it was like a bible for living. 
I remember when this movie came out not long ago and wondered if it was created from a book, and of course it was. I read The Book Thief this month and of course I loved it; it was about a girl who loves books! There was a lot to love about this book. First and foremost, it was narrated by Death. That was clever and refreshing. It's the story of 11 year old Liesel whose mother (for unknown reasons at the time) dropped her off to live with foster parents in Nazi Germany before World War II. Liesel's foster family was poor, but they were good people. Her foster father, Hans, is an exceptional human being and her foster mother, Rosa, is exceptional in her own course way. Liesel eventually makes friends, including her best friend Rudy, and they have their own childhood adventures. But soon the war impacts everything and everyone. They hide a Jewish man in their basement with a backstory from Hans' days as a soldier in World War I. Some of the townsfolk fully support the Nazis while others, not so emphatically, so there is always tension among the townspeople. And there is Liesel, who is so good and kind and smart that even Death is impressed. Liesel is the book thief and she is so enthralled by them and so poor that she has to resort to stealing in order to read them. It's a story of love, friendship, war, hate, reading, words, loyalty....The story was moving along nicely and enjoyably until the parade of Jews came through town on their way to prison in Dachau....that's when the family's life takes a turn for the worse, mainly due to a fatal bit of compassion on the part of Hans (and later Liesel). Yet another movie to watch!
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks got lots of buzz and won lots of awards when it came out in 2010 and now I know why. The author (Rebecca Skloot) spent 10 years researching and writing this book. She is well qualified, with a B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction (I don't think they taught that at NMSU...). Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer, originally from Virginia, living in Maryland. She'd had a tough life, abusive husband, physical ailments likely due to past inbreeding (cousins marrying cousins in the small Virginia community of Clover), poverty, 5 kids...Then she gets cervical cancer. She dies a painful death in 1951 at the age of 31 but not before doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore harvest some of the malignant cells from her cervix. At this time in history, cell research had been going on for some time, however nobody had managed to keep cells alive long enough to divide (reproduce) and study. For some still unknown reason, Henrietta Lacks' cells (named HeLa from her first and last names) were able to not only survive, but to thrive! They divided, divided again and again and again. The doctors that harvested them began sending them out to researchers around the world where they proliferated even more. With these living cells to study, researchers eventually found a polio vaccine, developed cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and much more. Researchers today still use her cells. The author dug into Henrietta's past and interviewed her remaining family; and what a family! Generally poorly educated, mostly very religious and/or superstitious, fun loving, street smart. Some were in jail, some were very sick, most were upset that Henrietta's cells had been harvested without her consent (it was standard operating procedure then and really still is, legally, if not ethically). Some felt they deserved monetary compensation, some were just happy her cells had done good in the world. It's a great story and the author is part of it, with her tenacity, focus, and ability to deal with the many interesting personalities of the Lacks family. I've heard there was an HBO movie made by, and starring, Oprah in 2017...will have to check that out....