Historical Fiction

Now that I've lived a long time, and see what the pundits try to spin from our past, I look askance at much of what I read.

The best case scenario for me, is that it sometimes drives me to other sources to try to determine what really happened. I'm nearly to the end of an interesting book by Mary Doria Russell called Dreamers of the Day which is set in Egypt and Palestine right after WW1.

Part of what I'm learning is that due to the arbitrary divisions and agreements that were made at that time, we have a permanent state of unrest in the Middle East. Not to mention that the enmities there are almost permanently ingrained.

One of the characters in the book makes the observation that if a person says they understand the politics of the middle east they are surely deluded because the politics are very complex and have ancient roots.

I'm ashamed to say that I don't have the patience to read biography or history in any systematic way, so I have to learn what I can through fictional accounts. This fictional account I can recommend as a real eye opener. It has some interesting things to say about the manipulation of the American electorate before the First World War, too. I'm pretty sure that we-----accustomed as we are to advertising----are just as easily led today.

What are you reading? Are you enjoying it?

Comments are welcome!

Friday Fragments

You know Friday Fragments, hosted by Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin' Time----

Here is the home place for all snippets, odds and ends that don't quite make a full posting. We are all thankful for a place to store them. Link up and see.

1. Today is GoodGuy's first golf outing of the year. Time for those on the home front to watch all the Chick Flicks that have been displaced by baseball. Since he will travel far there's lots of movie time.

2. I read a neat post this week written as a response to a writer's challenge. "If Your Mom were a Blogger."

That idea cracked me up. My mom was a faithful letter writer, but never disclosed how she felt or thought about anything. Menus, guests, the dead and dying report were all letter fodder, but never a word about controversy. This was not because she lacked opinions, or was dumb. Neither of those things were true. It's a puzzle to me.

3. Are these things true? Everyone considers himself above normal. Every man considers himself an excellent driver. Everyone is insulted if accused of having no sense of humor.

4. We have had daily cat visitors to our back deck. Two cats (at separate times) came right up to the back door to peer into the back shed. They don't appear to be thin or undernourished. Maybe they are neighbor's cats just out for a stroll.

5. Tony, our biggest, least likely cat caught a bat in mid-flight on Wednesday night. Of course then he wanted to play with it. An adrenalin rush if ever there was one. (Head shaking.)

I have to post this quickly before it all disappears again.

Parallels

This will not be about geometry, I solemnly promise. All I remember about taking the class was

our "ready to retire" teacher telling us daily that we were the dumbest class he ever had. Perhaps if he'd spent more time teaching us, we'd have understood it a little better.

Instead this is about opportunity presenting itself when we are open to acting upon it.

While we were visiting Iowa, we went to see the lovely farm where they filmed Field of Dreams. You remember-----"If you build it, they will come."

And yesterday I read a Swedish proverb which says, "Those who wish to sing, always find a song."

And last week I read this Buddhist saying; "When the student is ready, the master appears."

All this redundant advice has me wondering what I should be seeking to learn next! So I'm keeping a listening ear, and a sharp watch for the next learning or serving that I should do.

Feel free to make suggestions and comments.

The Background "Music" of my Life

While I was working the other day, I barely noticed the sound of the baseball game GoodGuy was watching on TV. But later I got to thinking.

When I was a little girl, we would try to change the station from the baseball game while my dad was dozing on the couch. His eyes would pop open and he'd say, "I'm listening to that!"

On Saturday nights, I could hear the Gillette jingles playing before the boxing matches started. He was one of the most peaceful men I know, yet he really got into listening to "the fights".

Of course, all football season we watched all the games we could. There was a time when they didn't play every night of the week, and we couldn't always see our teams. When I was a young bride we spent a time in beautiful Virginia. We could never hear a Big Ten game or a central division pro football game. It was a period of excruciating deprivation!

While my kids were growing up every month there wasn't snow on the ground I could hear, "Thump, thump, thump,................thump, thump, thump" of a basketball outside the kitchen window. Both my girls played basketball at school, and the boys played at home for fun with their dad.

Once they got into school, we got to see girls' basketball, boy's football, plus one wrestler, two track runners, and meals at all times of the evening during all the sporting seasons.

GoodGuy was a golf coach when he was teaching, so now I have learned to appreciate golf, and he's a baseball, football, track, and tennis fan. The team doesn't seem to matter---the play's the thing. So I tolerate baseball, love football, endure track, and enjoy tennis.

I can't imagine what life would be like without television and the ability to watch sporting events! And we don't even follow pro basketball, or hockey, or Nascar! I never realized what a big part sports have played in my life, even though I'm not an athlete, don't own a cheesehead or face paint, or have a season ticket to anything.

If you're a fan, you know just what I mean. If you aren't a fan, I think I can hear you yawning. (Leave a comment anyway.)

Tractors Anyone?

Had I been alone, reading the "Things to See" brochures, I wouldn't have paid any attention to the Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa. And I would have missed some good clean fun!

The display on my new header is quite near the end of the displays upstairs and it gave me a good chuckle. With three little boys under my roof at one time, I felt that the whole house was filled with vehicle replicas during that period.

Not only are there displays of American farm toys, but there are replicas of tools from all over the world. There are huge models of farmyards during different decades, and an awesome model of a fair, with the midway and the barns with pigs, cattle, and all the other neat stuff town folks like to see at the fair. There were little cars in the parking lot, and little people admiring the exhibits. I love that stuff.

Many of the farm implements shown had been models that salesmen showed to dealers, and weren't really toys at all. They were very intricate and exactly to scale, showing all the features of the real machines.

Dyersville also boasts a beautiful basilica which we admired from the outside, and it has a big antique mall. I don't do antiques, but I'll bet it's a treasure trove for people who like to find great old stuff.

So now you know why my header has changed. I'll enjoy my trip to Dubuque a little longer this way. LOL.

Gather Round

Do you take cream in your coffee?

Oh, you drink diet Coke for breakfast. Hmm.

Saturday Stuff

This is one of those days already. I have written a whole post, which disappeared. I have tried to link up to a group----can't happen for some reason. I am out of time and out of patience, with much to do.

If you would like to see an unusually patient young man, saving a baby hummingbird, check this out. http://www.wimp.com/babyhummingbird/.

The goats for others comment count goes on. Today we are at the number I will post on the gadget. I still have to count it up. I'll post this before it all vanishes again into the ether.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!