New Mexico 2010: Birds

Dave and I are not birders, as such, but for years we’ve been hearing about Bosque del Apache, a National Wildlife Refuge about 90 miles south of Albuquerque. If you’re there at the right time of year — December, not October — you can see huge flocks of birds take flight at dawn. And the rest of the year? You’re likely to see some interesting birds, just not as many all at once. So Sarah at Adobe Nido packed us each a breakfast, we set the alarm for 5 a.m., and we arrived at the refuge just a little before 7 a.m. Here is some of what we saw:

I could post more pictures from Bosque del Apache, but we saw lots of other birds on this trip, too. For example, the day before we went to the Albuquerque Zoo and saw these budgies in the Australia exhibit:

 

And we saw this beautiful Steller’s Jay along the Pecos River:

There were others: ravens, hawks, more Steller’s Jays, and hummingbirds. These were just the ones that interested me most.

Next up: Other animals

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of Been Here a Thousand Years, by Mariolina Venezia

This brilliant book, written beautifully by Mariolina Venezia and translated at least as well by Marina Harss, may be the best book I’m not going to recommend based on the animal issues. That is a big part of this blog — the reason for its existence, in fact — and I can’t ignore it. I so wish it hadn’t been an issue.

Been Here has been compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ masterpiece, 100 Years of Solitude. The comparison is apt. Both are family sagas, both have an element of magic and charm. I almost prefer Been Here, which features the women more and which is both gentler and more coherent. This is the story of the Falcone family, stretching from the mid-1800s to 1989, and the tiny southern Italian town of Grottole. Many characters pack the tale, but I never felt as if it was hard to keep up or remember who was whom.

Now … the main purpose of this blog is to provide book reviews for animal lovers. Part of that involves warning potential readers about scenes that may be upsetting because of what happens to the animals. On that basis, this book is COMPLETELY UNSAFE for animal lovers. It’s not that the animal violence permeates the book, but where it happens, it’s bad. Bird lovers are never going to be able to read it. But the scene that really upset me and stayed with me for days involves a pet pig. If you are going to read the book anyway, I suggest skipping pages 115 to 119. It was awful. I read the rest of the book wondering if there was going to be more of that.

I don’t know if I’ll read anything else Venezia writes. Aside from the animal issues, it was a good book. But I was bothered by some of the scenes for days.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of Lost and Found, by Carolyn Parkhurst

For reasons having to do with a project that stuck me in the thick of very bad rush hour traffic, I dusted off this audiobook, which was given to me a few years ago. I occasionally work on projects that plunge me into traffic hell for several days at a time, and I may turn to audiobooks in the future instead of stewing about the traffic. Lost and Found was perfect, because it had multiple narrators and therefore had an episodic feel to it. Blair Brown was great as a narrator, though there was one moment where I thought “a real teenager would say it differently.” But Brown had to read 10 hours of this stuff, mentally occupy a number of male and female characters, adopt several accents and a range of ages, and otherwise patiently do a number of things that I simply can’t. This is one of the many reasons she’s a famous actress and I am not.

So, the story: Lost and Found is an Amazing Race-like TV show in which teams of two travel the world collecting objects and doing various tasks in the style of reality TV shows. It’s a little more interesting than the Amazing Race itself, and the production people are a lot more manipulative. We get to know several teams: Laura and Cassie, a mother and daughter with some big issues; Justin and Abigail, a “reformed” gay man and lesbian who are supposedly now straight; Juliet and Dallas, former child actors; and Carl and Jeff, brothers from New England. Carl is a bit too good to be true, and aside from Abigail, who was another all-positive character, I loved and hated everyone else at various points. So Parkhurst wrote strong, multi-dimensional characters. There was one huge implausible action on Laura’s part — not the glaringly obvious implausibility, but another one — that made me think Parkhurst was asking too much of her readers. We can only suspend belief to a certain point, and even science fiction has internal rules. And it did disturb me for a long time. I kept expecting Laura to correct her mistake. But otherwise, it was a pleasant diversion and not a bad way to spend several hours in traffic. I will recommend it as an audiobook, and it’s probably a decent beach book as well.

As for animals, the contestants haul around caged parrots that are swapped out by parrot wranglers so that they come to no harm. That’s not quite realistic, either, but I’ll give Parkhurst a pass since the birds come to no harm. I am declaring this book SAFE for animal lovers.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of Summer World, by Bernd Heinrich

We have become accustomed to thinking in terms of “the environment.” But to me, Bernd Heinrich’s Summer World is not a book about the environment. Rather, let’s go back to a term used more frequently a few decades ago and say that this book is about ecology. That strikes me as a much more accurate term in discussing this thoughtful book of one naturalist’s observations.

Summer World is retired biology professor’s memoir of his recent summers in New England. He spent much of the time outdoors, looking at bugs and leaves and tadpoles and all sorts of little flora and fauna that the rest of us ignore. This book made me realize how much I don’t see, and that it’s possible to miss the trees for the forest.

In fact, Summer World made me want to go for a very slow walk in the woods, with a notebook and a small magnifying glass, looking at the ground, tree bark, leaf edges, and insect flight patterns. Summer World made me want to pay close attention to annoying little insects. Summer World made me think about what happens to ants over the winter. Summer World made me want to re-walk several hikes at a much slower pace. Summer World was a revelation.

This is an intelligent, thought-provoking, insightful, and important book. It is not a beach book — Heinrich does not use a 10-cent vocabulary, nor does he do all of your thinking for you. I like that about it, and I can’t recommend this book strongly enough.

As for animals, this book is about animals in their natural environment, so there are good things and unpleasant things, which we always see in nature. It is therefore MOSTLY SAFE for animal lovers.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti, by Annie Vanderbilt

This is another one of those books that came to me by means I don’t recall, though I suspect it was when I was looking for another book. I read so much that I have to follow these odd little paths off to the side.

Madame Olivetti is a typewriter. So really, this book is about Lily, a middle-aged widow who travels to a home in France that she inherited through her late husband’s family. There, Lily writes her family history, including light and frothy parts, serious parts, and everything in between. The stories are more serious than the cute cover and Lily herself would lead a reader to believe. Vanderbilt has written a series of linked vignettes, including two of Lily’s lost loves, infidelity, death, the joys and frustrations of marriage, and thwarted ambition. There’s also a fair amount of sex and, to my great annoyance, several characters with the same names. Like I’m going to read this in one sitting so I can tell which Paul is which, or I’m not going to have to reread a paragraph to determine which Justine Vanderbilt is talking about? Vanderbilt doesn’t even go with “old Justine” or “young Paul” or nicknames. This was an entertaining book, but it wasn’t compelling, and the name issue put my nose a bit out of joint. So I’m going to give this a provisional recommendation: it’s a good beach book if you want something light but not completely frivolous, and if the name overlapping doesn’t bother you as much as it bothers me.

As for animals, there is a cat character, Alonso, who catches and eats birds (referred to, not shown), and who Lily worries about at the end. Her late husband, one of the Pauls, raised cattle. There are wild birds, a cooked rooster, the occasional dog, horses, elk, mice, and insects. The book is UNSAFE for bird lovers, but probably SAFE for other animal lovers.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of When She Flew, by Jennie Shortridge

This most recent Jennie Shortridge novel is her darkest and, I think, her best. I feel like I have to disclose that she had the book sent to me after I’d reviewed a couple of her other novels. But we both understood that a freebie was not going to require a positive review. I’m too much of a contrarian for that. So really? I just liked this book a lot.

For the most part, this is the story of Jess and Lindy, and Lindy’s father, Ray. Motherless Lindy, a bright and sweet-natured 12-year-old, is living off the grid with Ray, a traumatized Iraq veteran. Specifically, they’ve created a home for themselves in a public forest. Ray sees to Lindy’s education, and her portion of the narrative shows that she is happy, though there are hints of the rebellion that is likely to occur when she becomes a teenager.

Policewoman Jess knows all about that rebellion — her daughter, Nina, hasn’t stopped rebelling, even though she’s now in her 20s and has a child of her own. In the rare moments she allows herself to think about their estrangement, Jess is in agony. So she immerses herself in her job. When Lindy and Ray are discovered, Jess is drawn into their situation and finds herself having to make some uncomfortable decisions about her own life in ways that affect theirs.

I thought this was one of the most heartfelt novels I’ve ever read. Shortridge tends to be a generous author, imbuing even her villains with a substantial degree of humanity. If anything, her characters make too much sense in light of who they are. But they are challenged — and everyone in When She Flew is challenged — they discover capabilities and stances they didn’t know they possessed.

I’m strongly recommending this book. If you haven’t read anything by Shortridge, I advise starting with this or Eating Heaven.

As for animals, there are a lot of birds because Lindy watches birds and cares about them. She and Ray even have a near-pet in the form of Sweetie-Pie, a barn owl who Ray rescued from a fox and who hangs out at their encampment. Blue herons play a big role, too, both literally and symbolically. For her part, Jess befriends Chris, a policeman from the K-9 squad whose partner is a German shepherd named Larry. Otherwise, there are assorted farm animals.  Since none of these animals come to any harm, I am declaring this book SAFE for animal lovers. Enjoy!

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of I See You Everywhere, by Julia Glass

This is a good book, and I’m recommending it, but it isn’t at all like Julia Glass’s first two novels, Three Junes and The Whole World Over, both of which I reviewed favorably. I See You Everywhere is much darker, and more serious, than Glass’s previous work. This isn’t a criticism, but it’s important information for anyone who might read this book.

It begins lightly, however, and at first I thought it was going to be one of those novels about sisters that makes me glad I have brothers instead (thanks for not being girls, John and Steve!). With rather unexceptional parents, Louisa is the older daughter who is expected to be good at everything (been there), who wants a more conventional life, and who’s not much of a risk-taker. Clem, short for Clement, is 4 years younger, wilder, uninterested in settling down despite the occasional love interest, and a devoted animal lover. Louisa becomes the editor of an art magazine after giving up on being an artist herself, and Clem makes her career as a field biologist, starting with oceanic mammals and ending up following bears in Wyoming.

So they have interesting lives, they bicker, and they turn to each other for comfort even though they don’t understand each other very well. Eventually, the bickering turns into their way of communicating, and they understand each other all too well. It’s an intriguing psychological journey. It’s also very sad throughout most of the book. Both sisters will break your heart at different times, one more than the other. Books don’t make me cry, but if that’s ever happened to you, it’s entirely possible here. You are warned.

And this is a beautifully written, well-told story with great depth. I strongly recommend it, but not for when you’re already blue or want something light.

As for animals, it’s heartbreaking on that front as well. When I read books for this blog, I stick tape flags on the pages with relevant animal activity. I ran out of tape flags while reading this book. Animals die in I See You. Some are mentioned in passing, a few are characters. And yet there are some lovely passages relating to wildlife, like the injured hawk whose mate was there waiting for her when she was released after wildlife rehabilitators helped her through a broken wing. There are cats, horses, seals, birds, animals grown for food, and bears. One of the few light sequences has to do with foxhounds, a devoted caretaker, and puppies, in which Glass shows her characters’ capacity for warmth and compassion. But the bears — oh, the bears will tear at your soul. That’s not to say they all come to a bad end, but they will break your heart nonetheless. After considerable thought, I am declaring this book MOSTLY UNSAFE for animal lovers. I still recommend it for animal lovers, but go into it with your eyes open. This isn’t a beach book.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of Murder with Reservations, by Elaine Viets

I’ve long thought of Elaine Viets as one of the better “brain candy” mystery writers, and I have enjoyed her Dead-End Job series quite a lot. When I finished this book some weeks ago, I did not feel enlightened, more knowledgeable, a better person, enriched, or any of that good stuff. Instead, I felt like I’d jammed strawberry-flavored salt water taffy into my brain.

Sometimes, you need a brain full of strawberry-flavored salt water taffy. This is a book for such times. Viets does her research on the dead-end jobs. She does the work herself or trails people doing the work or both. So there are job details. But this is still brain candy.

And what is Murder with Reservations about? Well, the Dead-End Job series tells of Helen Hawthorne’s attempts to make a living while evading her angry ex-husband, who has a fairly substantial court judgment against her even though she only destroyed his precious car after finding him in bed with another woman. And with Google, we can all find out everything about everybody, so in order to remain undetected, Helen has to take some low-wage jobs where she’s paid under the table. In this book, she’s a hotel maid in Florida, where she’s resettled.

(Actually, at this point Helen would be wise to up and move to Montana, with another name change and dye job. Supposedly, there’s a pattern to where “missing” people go when they’re on the run, and Midwesterners like Helen tend to go to Florida. Then again, Viets herself is a Midwesterner who moved to Florida.)

Anyway … the body of another maid is found in a dumpster, there’s a cursed room, and Helen once again learns that people occasionally skip out on these dead-end jobs because they’re dead. Of course, she has to solve the crime in order to keep the police, her ex, and the real criminals from finding out who she is. By now, she’s gotten really good at that. Except this time, the ex has finally found her.

Brain candy awaits — buy this book to have on hand for the next time you need something light and insubstantial to read. You’ll likely enjoy it.

Now, since this blog is for animal lovers, I must talk about the various animals that appear in the book. There’s a parrot, Pete, who’s a regular character. Pete comes to no harm and is often amusing. Similarly, Helen has a 6-toed cat, Thumbs, who will live to see another day. And the dead maid’s cat goes without food for a couple of days, but that is rectified. However, she also misses her owner, which is briefly poignant. Anyway, this book is SAFE for animal lovers. Enjoy.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of Agnes and the Hitman, by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

One of the first things I did when sitting down to write this review was to visit Amazon.com and see if Crusie and Mayer have another book in the works. Great news: they do, to be issued next year! Now, do you really have to ask if I liked this one, their second effort together?

I’ve already reviewed their first collaboration, Don’t Look Down, which I really liked. But that book felt to me like they were trading chapters or segments of chapters instead of writing the book together. Agnes and the Hitman, on the other hand, reads like it was written by two people sitting side-by-side at the same computer. On her own, Crusie writes highly irreverent and hysterically funny romance novels with a mystery or problem-solving element that keeps slamming the two protagonists together in spite of themselves. Bob Mayer writes thrillers and adventure novels. And together, they are an inspired partnership in which Mayer’s fast pacing and aura of imminent danger and pacing adds urgency and heat to Crusie’s hilarious, passionate, and initially reluctant lovers.

So, what’s this book about, anyway? Agnes Crandall is a struggling chef and caterer who has staked her entire reputation and net worth on pulling off a wedding that the mother-of-the-bride seems intent on sabotaging. Enter the Mafia-equivalents and Shane, the hitman. While trying to sort the various heroes and villains from among her friends, acquaintances, and business associates, Agnes falls for Shane, Shane falls for Agnes, an alleged $5 million fortune may or may not be in the basement, the wedding is imperiled, a bridge gives out, and someone tries to kidnap Agnes’s dog, Rhett. And that’s just the outline. Sample passage: “…being shot at by a strange man shortly after having angry sex, shortly after having tried to kill your fiance, shortly after having a dognapper point a gun at you was a bad night for anybody, even a woman as tough as Agnes.” Read this book — you’ll love it.

About Rhett: the purpose of this blog is to steer people away from books in which horrible things happen to animals and towards books in which animals are treated well. So, spoilerish though it may be to say so under normal circumstances, I must say that Rhett comes to no harm. He’s fine. The kidnapper says on page 6, “I wouldn’t kill no dog,” and he doesn’t. Rhett does have some interesting little adventures, but he mostly sleeps. In other words, he’s a dog. There are also flamingoes, which go bonkers when isolated from their kind. Flocking birds need to be in a flock. Rest assured that any flamingo isolation is temporary, however. There’s also an alligator, briefly. I am happily declaring this book SAFE for animal lovers. Enjoy!

A Weekend in and around Philadelphia

We just had an almost perfect weekend in the Philadelphia area. The trigger was our friend Joel’s birthday party, which was indeed the best part of it.

On Friday, we drove from the Washington ‘burbs up to Haddonfield, NJ, just outside of Philadelphia. We stayed at the Haddonfield Inn, which is where we usually stay when visiting that area. And we keep going back because we love the place. Friday night, we had dinner at Kitchen 233, which was new to us. I had the Angry Shrimp Pasta, and I loved it so much that if we go back, I’m having it again. Dave had salmon of some sort, which he also enjoyed. For dessert, the chocolate souffle is worth the 11-minute wait.

Saturday, we headed to Camden, NJ, and the waterfront, in order to visit the New Jersey Aquarium, now known as Adventure Aquarium . (If I have the story right, the state of New Jersey established the aquarium, then privatized it.) We really liked it. My favorite exhibit was the hippo environment, which stood out for several reasons. First, finally someone is acknowledging that hippos are aquatic animals! Yes, they’re mammals. So are whales. Hippos spend an enormous amount of time in water, and the West African River exhibit features them as the centerpiece. The two young females are frisky and playful, and a joy to watch. We also liked the birds in that room, because they were building nests all over the place, often flying overhead with pieces of straw.

What I didn’t like were the people shoving strollers into crowds, especially the woman mindlessly shoving her enormous SUV of a stroller into the legs of a cluster of people who had nowhere to go. Ninety percent of the stroller-parents used their brains and maneuvered around sanely, allowing their kids to see the exhibits without being rude to everyone else. The other 10 percent of the stroller-parents shouldn’t have been allowed to breed.

Saturday night was the big event, Joel’s birthday party at Marra’s in South Philadelphia. Joel paid for the whole thing and stayed away from the banquet menu, instead providing antipasti, mussels, pizzas, chicken cacciatore, and birthday cake for all of us. The food was excellent, and the server kept her cool with our large table of about 22 or so (we weren’t that demanding, but it’s still a lot of people). The best part, though, was that guests came in from all over — Dallas, Boston, New York, the Washington DC area, and Jacksonville, FL. Joel himself is living in California now, but wanted to party with his East Coast friends. And I knew most of these people from a fantasy baseball league they’d been in with Dave in the 1980s and early 1990s. It’s a good bunch, it was great to see them again, and I miss them already.

We drove home on Sunday, stopping off in Swedesboro, NJ, to have a quick lunch with some of Dave’s relatives. This was also the virgin weekend drive for Dave’s new Prius, which is definitely worth the fuss. At the time he first added gas, the mileage came to 52.07/mph. Not bad. Not bad at all.