Friday, August 08, 2008

Belated Wahoos, July in Review, Pat's News and The UFO

Welcome to the Wahoo! for Things That Aren't Dead Issue! Because we've had a drought, this year, almost nothing in the garden survived and the critters are not as easy to spot. But, a few things are alive and I think they're worth celebrating.

#1 Wahoo! for my little moss rose (note that she's surrounded by some yucky brown stuff, yet still perseveres):

We interrupt this wahooful post for an exciting bit of information about Patricia Wood that should have been announced last week:

Lottery has been declared a semifinalist for the 2007 Cabell First Novelist Award! Wahoo for Pat!!! Note that she is in good company. The Ocean in the Closet was another of my my 2007 favorites and I'm sure most of you recognize at least a few more great titles.

#2 - Wahoo! for undead tomatoes. No, silly, they're not vampire tomatoes -- although they've got an odd, fang-like protrusion at the bottom. We won't theorize about that, right now.

The Emergency Wahoo Broadcast System sirens are going off, again. What now? Oh, another important announcement! The August issue of Estella's Revenge is available for your reading pleasure! Well, that is definitely important. We now return to our regularly scheduled wahoos.

#3 - Wahoo! for these hardy little ladies (impatiens)! They're sickly (note the spots on the leaves), but alive. Alive is good.

#4 - Wahoo! for the hydrangea that I had already mentally buried! It's back! There's not much there, and it probably won't bloom for a while, but . . . again . . . alive is good.


And, finally -- July Reading in Review:

1. In the Clearing - Robert Frost - Some annoying rhyme and rhythm, a few bits that made me laugh out loud, a little spiritual epiphany and one truly funny, opinionated free verse. Worth reading.

2. At Home in Mitford - Jan Karon - A fun romp around the village of Mitford with Father Tim, friends, neighbors and one hilarious, irreverent little sort-of-adopted boy.

3. The Questory of Root Karbunkulus - Kamilla Reid - Fun fantasy; a few too many creatures and some lame dialogue mixed in with some excellent weirdness and plucky adventure.

4. Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery - Can't believe I waited so long. Excellent! Canadian! Must read more!

5. Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer - World ends, people die, winter is miserable. The writing was duller than expected but the storyline fascinated me. I love this kind of "what if?"

6. The Rabbit and the Snowman - Sally O. Lee - Pretty picture book with a story that I thought was sort of silly. But, Debi's kids loved the story and hated the illustrations. So there, grownups!
7. Legerdemain - James J. Heaphey - Real-life spy adventures set in 1950's Morocco. Loved it!

8. Will Storr vs. the Supernatural - Will Storr - Things that go bump in the night and breathe loudly nearby convince Will of their existence. Loads of fun daylight reading.

9. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella - Amnesia's never been so fun.

10. What if . . . ? - Steven N. Lee - Taut action and suspense that didn't quite pull together but still made for thought-provoking reading.

11. Washington's Lady - Nancy Moser - Fictionalized account of Martha Washington's life. Loved it!

12. Queen of Babble - Meg Cabot - Fun character's jaunt to England and France to find romance, lose it, and find it again. But, she should have mentioned Zingerman's, since Lizzie was "from Ann Arbor". It's just not right not to mention Zingerman's.

13. Unnamed YA galley - Ouch. It's hard not to tell.

14. Down to a Sunless Sea - Mathias B. Freese - Thought-provoking, difficult reading (and kind of depressing) but worth the time. Should have gone on medication, first.

That's it! 14 books - 3803 pages worth. As of the end of July, I'd read 76 books - 18,702 pages. Not bad for a poky reader who had a couple of really awful months.

And, now, the answer to the UFO question . . . what was that weird black and white and red thing? Several of you are going to say, "I knew it!" The UFO was a red-headed woodpecker. Here he is, before he took flight:

Once you realize how vivid they are in flight, they're quite easy to spot in their natural habitat. Very wahooey. I love watching these guys. They're so pretty they almost don't look real.

One final wahoo: Wahoo! for surviving another year with Huzzybuns (and vice versa . . . not getting kicked out, or anything to that effect). Yesterday was our anniversary. 26 years without any serious spouse-inflicted injuries on either side! Would you believe I married at the age of 3? Pretending to be 29 gets harder every year.

Wishing you many wahoos!

Bookfool, 29 and then some

25 comments:

  1. Happy anniversary!

    I LOVE hydrangeas, so I'm happy to see the bright little green leaves--what color is the flower part?

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  2. Thanks, Laura!

    The flowers are just boring old white (because that was all I could find, locally) but I love them, anyway. :)

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  3. WAHOO for you! that was a fun read. My hub calls them peck-headed woodwreckers... and congrats on the anniversary. and one being 29? Me, too, but with a few extra years of experience...

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  4. Care,

    Your husband sounds fun. :)

    Thanks! Really, you've been married longer than I have? That's unusual. My husband said there's only one person anywhere near him, at work, who has been married as long as we have . . . and he's 10 years older. There are quite a few, though, who're really proud of the fact that their second and third marriages are working!!

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  5. Anonymous5:07 PM

    Of course it's unusual, who else married at 3? I ask you. :)

    I knew it was some kind of bird!

    Here's to undead tomatos! (and roses)

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  6. Carrie,

    Well, a few arranged marriages, but most don't take place at 3.

    You were right!

    Love those moss roses -- they can stand pretty much anything. I'm pretty sure the tomatoes have been the same size for a month.

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  7. Congrats on the 26 years! I simply cannot imagine staying with one person that long. Probably why I'm single, huh? My sister's anniversary is today but they've got you by a year. I cannot believe my sister has been married for 27 years!

    The pictures are great and I am constantly amazed by how nature manages to keep growing in spite of horrid conditions.

    Congrats on the excellent month of reading!

    cjh

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  8. CJ,

    Thank you for the congrats (and thank you for the compliment on the photos and thank you for the comment on the reading -- it was definitely a good month)! 26 years is a big chunk of time but it's gone really fast. I'm sure if you'd found the right person you'd be surprised at how the time flew. Congrats to your sister!

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  9. Thanks! This made me happy to read. My boat is still on jacks out of the water and I have no fingernails left from cleaning and scrubbing and my WIP? Well lets just say it's percolating...

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  10. I love your alive pictures. They are very wahoo-y.

    Congrats on your anniversary! I hope you have many more happy years together to follow.

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  11. If you want us to believe you got married at 3, um, I guess we can...? Congrats on 26 years!! My parents are divorced (were married 17 years...this year would have been 29), so I'm always so glad to hear those amazing numbers and love stories. And, thanks for the picture of the poppets! They are little cuties, aren't they? And glad you're flowering...I think we lost the two baby trees in our front yard from the heat. :( We were in the 90s yesterday and glad for the heat break--how sad is that?

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  12. It is inspiring that yall have made it so long and still love each other. My favorite aunt and uncle are probably getting a divorce soon and they have only been married for around 13 years. It is not her choice. ;) I love moss roses too. I have two hanging baskets of what mama calls bleeding hearts but we have been debating just putting moss roses in the two front flower beds and letting them take over because they are pretty and low maintance. :)
    P.S. Little Baby is a boy.

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  13. So many good things to comment on! Congrats to you and hubs for another year of marriage.

    I LOVE moss roses!!! We have some that are eeking by in the heat, thank goodness.

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  14. I knew it! Well, ok, not really, but now that I see the woodpecker, it's easy to see that that's what was in the first picture. I love those vivid colors!

    Happy anniversary! Here's to many, many more.

    Back to the beach... ;)

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  15. Pat,

    I'm glad I made you happy. Goodness, how long is the boat going to be out of the water? That must be a job and a half. Sometimes things percolate even when the keyboard is right in front of you. Enforced percolation happens. LOL

    Nikki,

    Thank you! I wish you two another fifty years together and really, really wish I'd been the one to say, "Yuck. Is this a kissing movie?" :)

    Trish,

    Four years from now, it's going to be even harder to explain how I married before birth. :)

    I love hearing about people who stay together, too, although my parents were married till death did them part. So, maybe I'm just following their example (and that of my in-laws -- still together).

    Glad you liked the poppets (yep, I did that for you and Laura)! They are cute, aren't they?

    We lost a lot of plants, this year and the trees are alive but very sickly. Yeah, it's kind of depressing when temps in the 90s feel like a nice break!!

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  16. Brittanie,

    Thank you! I'm sure my husband would love to hear that we're inspiring (he'd laugh, actually). Sorry about your aunt. Divorce sucks.

    Moss roses are great, aren't they? You know it's been a pretty harsh year when even the moss roses threaten to keel over, but still they're soldiering on.

    He's a pretty boy, that big baby of yours. :)

    Andiloo,

    Thank you, babe. We got through 26 years by practicing loud love. Nobody can say we don't communicate. Hahaha.

    Me, too, love those moss roses. I may do what Brittanie's thinking about and rip up some higher-maintenance plants in favor of more moss roses, next year.

    Les,

    You had the right idea! I think red-headed woodpeckers have slowly become my new favorite birds because of that vivid coloring. They take my breath away.

    Thank you! Have fun at the beach!!

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  17. I am glad to see that there are some survivors in your garden despite the drought. My backyard didn't fare well at all this year. And look at all those great books! Definitely a week's worth of Wahoo's. :-)

    Happy anniversary, Nancy!

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  18. Happy Anniversary!! 3 is awfully young to get married! Congrats to you and Mr. Bookfool for another year!

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  19. Anonymous9:26 AM

    Happy (belated) anniversary, Nancy! :)

    And, gotta love that woodpecker! He reminds me of the old cartoon, "Woody Woodpecker". :)

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  20. You had some great July reads. So glad you enjoyed Anne of Green Gables. Those books are such a delight, as are the Father Tim books. I was thinking about them the other day and should re-read them all.

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  21. Wendy,

    I think we're lucky to have anything blooming at all. This has been an odd weather year.

    Thank you for the anniversary wishes!

    Stephanie,

    Thank you! I like your wording: "You and Mr. Bookfool". :)

    Hi Jenn,

    Thanks for the anniversary wishes! I loved Woody Woodpecker, but it's been such a long time since I saw those cartoons that I wouldn't have even thought to compare Woody to our local woodpeckers. Funny! :)

    Carl,

    July was definitely a good month. Anne of Green Gables and At Home in Mitford both surprised me. I don't know why I put them off for so long, but I'm glad I finally got around to starting both series. They're definitely worth rereading!

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  22. Happy Anniversary!!
    Great pictures and what a wonderful list of books that you got to read last month! Such a busy woman you are! lol

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  23. Thanks, April!

    It was a good reading month, but when I read that much it's usually a sign that I need to go for a walk. ;)

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  24. Wahoo on your anniversary! Wishing you many more years!
    Those Poppets are just too cute.

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  25. Thanks, Iliana!

    And, the Poppets thank you, as well.

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