"Puddles Weblog edited by Thomas Hollyday

Friday, February 18th

Review of Three Junes, by Julia Glass

In Three Junes, winner of the National Book Award in 2002, Julia Glass has published an excellent study of a family, of three sons, one of the sons a homosexual, and their relationship with their parents. The father, after the death of his wife, a fanatical pet lover, also finds a new and younger love and his relationship with this woman is explored. The gay brother has his own relationships which are depicted well and with an attention to detail. The places of the book, Greece, Scotland, and New York City are entrancing and kept me reading. It’s a character study, not an adventure yarn, but you should make room for it.
tom on 02.18.05 @ 10:54 AM EST [link]

Wednesday, February 16th

Understanding History with Ivor Noel Hume

You can’t know about history unless you understand the science of archeology. The best way to start is to read one of Ivor Noel Hume’s books on his exploits digging up colonial Virginia. I like Martin’s Hundred for a start, my edition 1982, from the University of Virginia Press. Know Williamsburg? He dug up most of it during his career. He’ll tell you about the tools and the concepts of sterile areas, places that have not been touched, so that the layers of the uncovered refuse can be identified and placed correctly in time. He’ll tell you how to identify a piece of crockery or a chunk of clay pipe. Most of all, he’ll give you a way to debunk the omnipresent and unproved legends of Chesapeake history with the only scientific way to tell the actual truth of what really happened back then.
tom on 02.16.05 @ 08:00 AM EST [link]

Tuesday, February 15th

The Evolution of an Independent Home by Paul Jeffrey Fowler

The Evolution of an Independent Home by Paul Jeffrey Fowler, Chelsea Green, 800-639-4099, is a book for everyone interested in building a house the most energy efficient way. Even if you don’t want the whole package, you can pick up tips on some of the items. His place is passive solar, solar electric powered. He goes through site selection, power evaluation, and actual construction complete with telling us all the mistakes he makes. He even tells why he tried to not use plastic under his floor and paid the price. Enjoy.
tom on 02.15.05 @ 08:18 AM EST [link]

Monday, February 14th

Review of Blue Horizon, by Wilbur Smith

Several years ago a good friend introduced me to the work of Wilbur Smith and I must say the stories are spell binding. In Blue Horizon, St. Martins, 2003, you find yourself as reader deep in South Africa living with the settlers and the local tribes, finding your way by primitive means out of dangerous situations where you are stalked by vicious enemies. It’s a cross between the famous Count of Monte Cristo with its attention to the kindness and treachery of local tribesmen and a modern western saga with its sense of adventure and an individual against the odds and you’ll love it.
tom on 02.14.05 @ 09:46 AM EST [link]

Sunday, February 13th

Brooke Meanley’s Birds and Marshes of the Chesapeake Bay Country

I like to refer to Brooke Meanley’s Birds and Marshes of the Chesapeake Bay Country, 1975, Tidewater Publishers, all the time as I study the area. According to him, the Chesapeake supports the “largest breeding osprey population in the country. “ I would not be surprised. Every time I make a trip down to the Shore to see my relatives, I note the nests some of them still in their traditional places and may of them now protected. One thing for sure, in the summer when they are nesting you don’t want to bother them or you will find out quickly just how mean they can fight.
tom on 02.13.05 @ 03:13 PM EST [link]

Saturday, February 12th

Wildlife Conservation, Zoos and Animal Protection, A Strategic Analysis

Wildlife Conservation, Zoos and Animal Protection, A Strategic Analysis, edited by my friend Andy Rowan, formerly of Tufts and now with the Humane Society of the US, Tuts, 1995, has put here all the arguments for and against keeping animals in captivity. We have a lot to think about, even with the great zones set aside in the African countryside. What is best for the animals that are in danger of being eliminated from the rolls of existing species. Should we protect them or let them live out what lives they have left in the freedom of their own habitat? How much should we be the judge and jury? Zoo fans, look out. Some of the arguments in this book may not be to your liking and then again some might. Read it and let me know.
tom on 02.12.05 @ 11:50 PM EST [link]

Wednesday, February 9th

Review of Black Wind, by Dirk Cussler

Dirk Cussler, Clive Cussler’s son, co-wrote Black Wind, ISBN 0-14-305740-5, available on Amazon.com, the latest of the NUMA adventures I have had the pleasure to read. Here again is the combination of underwater technology and entrancing historic mysteries which are carefully solved by the author. In this case, I learned about the former Japanese militarists and their World War Two strategies and how these came to threaten today’s America. Pages of fun interspersed brilliantly with the slapstick conversations of the Cussler nautical heroes and, of course, the wonderful women. Perfect for light reading as always. Cussler’s scuba team has not failed me once again.
tom on 02.09.05 @ 03:13 PM EST [link]

Monday, February 7th

Chesapeake History and Lore

Chesapeake Gardens and Houses, the Eastern Shore, with photography by Taylor Lewis and text by Catherine Fallin, Simon and Schuster, 1993, has got to be one of the prettiest books on Maryland that I have ever seen. When you leaf through this book at various sittings, and it’s definitely a book for reviewing many times over, you get a tour of some of the best preserved antique houses and gardens as well as the finest of the new structures to grace the riverfronts of this Maryland region. Put it on your coffee table and invite conversation every time guests come over, I don’t care what part of the United States you are from. smile
tom on 02.07.05 @ 11:27 AM EST [link]

Friday, February 4th

What to do if you find a hurt wild animal

I repeat here a good procedure on what to do when a crippled wild creature is found. Dr. Mark A. Pokras, Director, Wildlife Clinic at Tufts University of Veterinary Medicine, has given the following steps. He notes that “it is illegal for unlicensed people to hold and care for wildlife.” So the first step is find a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Names are at http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/veterinary_science/twrid/html/ or contact the association at 707 864 1761. The second step is to try to get babies back to their parents. Third, keep sick or injured animals warm, quiet and in a dark place. For feeding baby birds, don not use birdseed. Try dog or cat food softened with warm water. Fourth, be careful not to get a disease from the creature. Wash hands and wear gloves. If the creature is pregnant or immuno-suppressed, talk to doctor about further precautions about handling wild creatures. (Ed. If you suspect rabies, stay back from the creature.) Pokras is quoted in Pet Doctor, Country Journal, November-December 1998.
tom on 02.04.05 @ 12:21 PM EST [link]

Thursday, February 3rd

Review of Jim Windolf's Interview with George Lucas in Vanity Fair

Perhaps no other saga has affected all of us more than the thirty-three years of the Star Wars movies. Jim Windolf interviews George Lucas in Vanity Fair, February 2005, and gives us a viewpoint which I recommend to anyone interested in our current generations. In “Star Wars, The Last Battle, “ he points out the mythological sense of the episodes and the relevance of the tales to the stories that we knew already, the fairy tales and the western sagas that we grew up knowing, the legends of the hero versus the evil of the world, and the pervading darkness of the deep forest which gave us a childhood sense of the dark side that was so far from the sunlight and the good. In fact, Darth Vader may even be the hero that “makes a deal with the Devil” in the best sense of fiction writers over the centuries. Why Vader does this and why he may be not so evil is analyzed in this incisive interview. Buy a copy.
tom on 02.03.05 @ 11:42 AM EST [link]

Wednesday, February 2nd

Review of Kent Haruf's Plainsong

You should enjoy Kent Haruf’s Plainsong, Harper Collins, 1999, if you love country people and their simple stories. To me, all types of people have their common simplicity and Kent Haruf uses the people of a Colorado small town to illustrate this. He shows us cattle ranchers, school teachers and teenagers who are beset with the same problems of growing old, of growing up and of finding love that we all face. His treatment of the characters and their answers to their everyday problems gave me a lot of inspiration. Try his book. You may find more than you are looking for.
tom on 02.02.05 @ 04:14 PM EST [link]