A View From the Treehouse

Preface: I love Robert Thorogood’s series, The Marlow Murder Club. The characters are quirky and eccentric. (Or maybe I just wish I had a river to swim in outside my door.) This is the first time I have read one of his books on Kindle. I’ve listened to the “Marlow” books via Audible. This review…

Feed stores can be dangerous places to visit in the spring. Especially dangerous if you are inclined to swoop in and pick out tiny, cheeping and feathery things and bring them home with you. It sounds simple at first: they need food, water, warmth, and you will provide all the snuggling necessary to make your…

Spring has sprung The grass is rizz I wonder where The flowers is… Lester W Damron As I write this, it’s not Spring, but I was reminded of Spring and warmer weather this morning at 5:45 am when I sat down at my laptop and reserved a campsite for August.  Not just any campsite, and not…

Original. Unique. Those words are inadequate. She is sixteen.  I could have written some of this about her when she was ten. Or twelve. Or fourteen. I have suggested she is a living embodiment of Scout (from TKAM), and I stand by that description.  At once: witty, determined, laser-focused on the world around her, opinionated,…

“Tigers are easy to find, but I needed adult wisdom to know dragons. ‘You have to infer the whole dragon from the parts you can see and touch.’” —Maxine Hong Kingston The Woman Warrior To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is once again being challenged by a school district. It contains language that “makes…

“I don’t like spiders ‘n snakes, and that ain’t what it takes…” These are the words my brain sang to me when I woke up this morning. Just the one line because my brain is apparently searching for the rest of whatever this tune is. Apparently, I have recurring earworms this week. It began a…

News item: Man carrying flowers hit by car downtown. “near or in the crosswalk” Consider the “reporting” behind this story. “Hey, I saw some emergency vehicles near Main and Browne this afternoon. Does anyone know what happened?” “Some guy was crossing the street and he got hit by a car.” “Whoa. Was he hurt?” “He…

Orange cat swimming. Furious orange cat swimming. No—outraged, indignant, and drenched orange cat propelling his body with determination through flood waters.  Determination? Resolve.  This is a cat who intends not only to extricate himself from the sea that has suddenly engulfed his normally dry environment, but a cat who seeks retribution for this indignity and…

Two. “Just enough,” you said, “for dessert.” “Just enough,” you said, as I munched one and absently nodded my assent. Two hours. Just enough time to check us off your “list.” To regale us with details of your recent endeavors–highly successful. To provide detailed information about your sons’ lives and latest pursuits. To share pictures…

Last winter, Steve and I immersed ourselves in several serialized BBC adaptations of Charles Dickens’s novels. We also watched as much of Dickensian as the BBC made (this was my second viewing), but Steve got extremely annoyed because I kept hitting “pause” and then explaining…”Ok. Remember Bleak House?” Because he read Bleak House years ago.…