The Watersplash - Patricia Wentworth

'A watersplash is a shallow ford in a stream.'

In my opinion, Miss Silver is just as good as Miss Marple.  They share many similarities:  they both knit, they're both little old ladies, they're usually neatly but not fashionably dressed, they're observant and wise in the ways of human nature, and they're not obvious, so they're often underestimated.

In a village in England, a young man, long thought dead, returns to find that his wealthy uncle, believing him dead, has left his riches and estate to the young man's uncle.  Even though he's wealthy in his own right, his uncle is not sharing.  But then a rumor starts circulating, a rumor of a subsequent will leaving everything to the young man.

The thing is, one of the two witnesses to the will is dead  -  and the other drowns in the watersplash.  A woman who was nurse to the ailing and then dead man tells Miss Silver about the second will.  The woman has designs on the possible heir and wants Miss Silver's advice.  Miss Silver advises telling the truth to the lawyers.  But then the woman drowns in the 'shallow ford in a stream'.  Too much for coincidence, thinks Miss silver, and goes to the village to find out for herself.

There's nastiness in the village, a lot of secrets, and several people out to get what they can for themselves.  It takes someone like Miss Silver to unravel the web of deception.

This was a satisfying cozy English mystery.  Thank goodness there are many more Miss Silver mysteries for the chilly winter days coming up.

Other Uses for Books

We all use books for things other than reading, right?  Like end tables or bookmarks while reading other books.  I've discovered a new use, but now you'll all know what an awful housekeeper I am and how lazy I am.  I prefer to think I'm innovative.

Our top bed sheet always come out of the dryer with the top edge crumpled.  I think ironing sheets is a ridiculous waste of time, although I had to iron pillowcases at home.  But this top edge was annoying me.  So one day when I put clean sheets on the bed, I looked at the chunkster books on my bedside table and a little light went on.  Hey, it works quite well!  Top edge nice and smooth!

Do you have any unusual uses for books?

Please Save Our Wild Horses from Their 'Protectors'

I received the following e-mail from the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign  an organization I've been helping for years.  (I can't get all the links to activate, so you'll need to visit their web site via the link in the first sentence.)  Please, if you can, help in any way you can:  donations, calls to your federal legislators, calls to the White House.  We're losing a battle we shouldn't have to be fighting and the horses are losing their lives. No one is stopping the Bureau of Land Management in their campaign to eradicate OUR wild horses and burros on OUR  public lands.  They're pimping OUR lands to private interests such as cattlemen and the oil, gas, and mining industries.  Are we really so desperate that we'll give up anything for money?  Especially considering how the government wastes our money  -  like spending hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to round up and stockpile horses that would cost us next to nothing to allow to roam free, as the law says they should.  How does it feel to be ignored by your own representative government?  Just who are they representing?  Please let them know how you feel. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ As we write this email, helicopters are scouring the beautiful Red Desert, chasing and capturing every last horse in a more than one-million-square-mile area known as the Wyoming Checkerboard. Today is expected to be the last day of this devastating Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup in which more than 1,200 wild horses will lose their freedom and families.  We’ve been fighting this assault on Wyoming's wild horses in and out of court for more than two years -- now we need your help to see this through. At least 13 wild horses have died in this unnecessary roundup, including young colts who crashed into panels and broke their necks, and elderly, arthritic and injured horses who were forced to run in pain and terror for miles in a traumatic helicopter chase before being “euthanized” by a bullet to the head. These are just some of the tragedies … all the wild horses were unnecessarily victimized by this rancher-driven roundup. In the end, the BLM removed 50 percent more wild horses than originally planned. This devastating action contradicts Americans’ strong support for wild horses and violates legal requirements for actions on public lands. We urgently need your help to right this wrong. We can’t stop now.  First we fought in court against the backroom deal the Wyoming ranchers cut with the BLM. Then we fought to stop this roundup. The District Court denied our injunction request. We strongly believe that decision was wrong. We need to prepare to appeal the Judge’s final ruling, which, based on her decision on our injunction motion, does not look good for the horses. We cannot let this travesty go unchallenged. If the BLM gets away with this in Wyoming we can expect more of these illegal actions against the wild horses in other western states. Would you please join us in this last stand for Wyoming’s wild horses? Every donation makes a difference. With gratitude, Suzanne Roy & the AWHPC Team The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign is dedicated to preserving American wild horses and burros in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. The Campaign is endorsed by a national coalition of more than 60 organizations. AWHPC's founding organization Return to Freedom (RTF), is a national non-profit dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary, education and conservation. RTF's American Wild Horse Sanctuary is based in Lompoc, CA. You are subscribed to the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign email list.Click here to unsubscribe.

Lawrence!!

On Thursday, Jack and I drove from Philadelphia to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, to visit our adopted steer, Lawrence.  We hadn't seen Lawrence since shortly after he was rescued as a calf in 2011.  You can read about his rescue here.  We were amazed and impressed by how much he's grown!  Our little calf is a big guy now!

Jack is 6' tall and I'm 5'5", so you can see how tall he is!  His caregiver estimated that he weighs about 2500 pounds!  Lawrence is sweet, and he was curious about us.  He enjoyed the head rubs and neck rubs we gave him.  We were covered in steer saliva when he was done inspecting us!

We're so blessed to be able to help support this wonderful guy and to be able to pet him and show him how wonderful he is. 

Lawrence has many steer and cow friends at Farm Sanctuary.  One of them decided to re-arrange my hair with a gentle snuffling and a bit of steer spit!

Steers and cows are not hamburger, steak, rump roast, or lactation factories  -  they're animals, like we are.

 A young turkey was also in the mood for hairdressing and did her best to give me a new style.  (By the way, all the animals have names, I just wasn't introduced to all of them.)  There are older turkeys, at least one of whom had the end of her beak and her toes cut off, a normal factory farming practice, causing her great pain and diminishing the quality of her life.  Thank goodness she's found a home at Farm Sanctuary, where she can be lovingly cared for.  The turkeys enjoyed being hand fed grass we pulled for them.  I think one would have curled up in my lap like a cat.  Another young one dozed off in the sun.

Turkeys are not Thanksgiving dinner or tetrazzini or snacks at a Medieval fair.  They are animals, just  like we are.

We hand fed chickens, and some pigeons did their best to pretend they were chickens!

Chickens are not fried dinners or soup or nugget snacks or cutlets.  They're animals, like we are.

There were sheep and goats, but most of those were far out in the fields.  Jack made friends with one goat who enjoyed having his neck and head rubbed.

Goats are not pulled goat sandwiches or stews.  Sheep are not lamb chops (from babies only a few weeks old) or stews.  They're animals like us.

When we were there in 2011, they had just rescued a piglet they named Eric.  Read about his rescue here.  Eric was the most joyful little guy when we met him, despite what he'd been through.  If you've  ever wondered if animals feel delight, happiness, pure unadulterated glee, you only had to see Eric.  He's a big boy now.  I forgot to take a photo of him, but here are some of his friends.  Pigs sleep most of the day.  They bury themselves in straw for a long comfy snooze.  In the winter they even bury their friends in the straw to keep them warm, like you and I might tuck in a loved one.  A pig is a good friend.  They love to have their bellies rubbed.  Even though their skin and hair feels coarse, they're very sensitive.

Pigs are not bacon, pork chops, ham, baby back ribs (again, babies only a few weeks old), roast suckling pig (oh, my God!), or loin roasts.  They're animals, like we are.

The weather was gorgeous.  Farm Sanctuary's New York sanctuary is in the Finger Lakes region, a beautiful area of lakes and vineyards and hills and rolling fields.  The fall foliage was orange and rust and yellow and red, and there were New England asters and other wildflowers blooming by the road.

It was a wonderful trip, renewing and reaffirming.  I went to bed smiling and I smile every time I think of all the rescued animals we met who touched us and gladdened our souls.  But my heart aches for the hundreds of millions of animals, just like these sweet animals, who are abused, tortured, and slaughtered in this country every year.  Every year.  

We are all animals.

Lawrence

Lawrence is our adopted steer.  He was rescued by Farm Sanctuary when he was just a calf  That's a photo of him by my bio in this blog.

Because we live in Philadelphia and he lives at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, we don't get to see each other too often.  But we hope to see him this week.  Sarah at FS sent me this photo of him reaching for apples on a tree at the sanctuary.  Isn't he handsome?!  Look at that ballet pose, hind leg gracefully extended!!

Unlike hundreds of millions of unfortunate cattle in this country, he'll never end up as hamburgers or sirloin steak.  He's one of a very few, very lucky animals of the kinds our society decided to call food.  The world would be a better place with more compassion and less violence.  You can never have too much compassion or too little violence.

Here are a couple of photos taken when he was less than a year old.  He was sucking on the strings of my hoodie!

Before we had Lawrence to love, we had Rhonda.  She was a sweet, shy cow.  I thought her facial markings made her look like a Panda.  She was rescued many, many years ago and had a long, happy life with her friends, both bovine and human, at FS.  Here are a few photos of her.  Wasn't she lovely?

America's Wild Horses

I'm feeling guilty.  I should be at the farmers market handing out pamphlets asking people to sign on-line petitions or make phone calls to try to stop the US government from eradicating wild horses and burros on public lands, animals they are legally obliged to protect.  Yesterday, I couldn't help a trapped sparrow.  What good am I?

So I'm asking you to help.  In 1971, Congress unanimously passed (how often do they do that?!) The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to preserve and protect American wild horses and burros.  These animals are the descendants of the animals who transported people and goods to expand our country and who transported lawmen and ranchers and anyone else who wanted to go from one place to another before trains and cars and airplanes.

Today the ranchers, with the help of the government, are shoving the horses and burros off the public  reserves set aside for the horses and burros.  Ranchers don't share well.  People are eating less beef, so the ranchers' answer is to graze more cattle.  They're not very smart either.  They graze many of their cattle on public lands, for which they pay the government about  $20.00 per steer per year for the privilege of destroying public lands and the wild horses and burros who are supposed to be given preference.

Cattlemen say there are too many horses, although cattle outnumber horses by more than 50 to 1 on public lands.  The Bureau of Land Management (a division of the Department of the Interior) responds by rounding up more horses and burros, often using helicopters, killing or injuring many of them in the roundups through stress, and stashing the horses in holding pens.  They already kill many by quietly adopting out horses to people who truck them to Mexico to slaughter, although they're not supposed to do that either.  Recently, over 70 horses died while being transported from one holding pen to another.

Horses are herd animals, living in strict family groups protected by a stallion.  The roundups tear families apart, upsetting the functioning of any remaining herd, and stressing all the horses.  Horses can die from stress.  Holding pens kill horses, too.  The horses are given only minimal care.  Horses are not meant to stand around all day.  To keep their guts working, they need to move.  One day soon, they'll decide it's too expensive to keep the horses and they'll kill them.

When the law was passed in 1971, there were almost 300,000 wild horses and burros.  Today, there are fewer than 30,000 free-roaming horses  -  and they're still being rounded up.  There are now more horses in holding pens than there are on the ranges.  Over 50% of the land designated for them in 1971 has been taken away from them.  This is a betrayal of the government's custodial agreement and a misuse of taxpayer dollars.

If you are a taxpayer, you should know that hundreds of millions of your tax dollars are being wasted in these roundups, in paying the owners of the holding facilities, and in restoring the ranges that the cattle overgraze.

If you are a human being with any bit of compassion, I beg you to get involved.  The government is ignoring the hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world who have been protesting for years.  They're only listening to a handful of ranchers.  Please add your voice to save the horses and burros.  Or soon the horses will be gone.

     American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

     Return to Freedom

     The Cloud Foundation

Thank you.

Some Books I've Read Recently

Instead of boring you with an end of the month synopsis of all the books I read during the month, I've decided to do short posts as I finish each book.  That's less trouble for both of us.  This will be the last multiple book post, unless I finish two books on the same day.  So, here we go!

The Spell of Holland  -  Burton E. Stevenson     My friend Katrina just got back from a trip to Holland to visit family.  I was there in 1988, but only in Amsterdam, so I decided I'd go along  -  but not with her  -  and about 100 years before she went.  Stevenson and his wife went to Holland in the early 1900s.  This book, published in 1911, is his record of the trip.  They didn't want to go on a 'tour' and were determined to stay at inns and hotels that catered to the Dutch, not the ones the English and American tourists stayed in.  The author is chatty and fun and opinionated but open-minded.  They go off the beaten path, once going to a place even the Dutch couldn't understand why he wanted to go to.  I could hardly put it down.  I feel a bit guilty talking about his book because it's from my collection of old narrative travel books and it's hard to find.  It even has a lovely fold-out map.  There seems to be a modern reprint, but it's almost $40.00.  Here's a photo of my book:

The Shape of a Year  -  Jean Hersey    This book sounded so good when it was reviewed by Belle earlier this year that I jumped on the Internet and bought a used copy (I don't think it's currently in print).  I like books about the quiet country lives of people.  Gladys Taber is one of my favorites in this genre.  The author goes through the year, month by month, describing her home, the things she and her husband do for fun (play duets on their recorders! fly kites! she hooks rugs while he reads out loud to her), their flower and vegetable gardens, the walks they take with friends, the birds that visit their feeder, their grandsons.  It's a calming book, but it also makes me miss the country home we sold to come live in the city.  There were a few things that I thought made it feel a bit dated (it was published in 1967, I believe), but it's always fun to remember how much life has changed in even that fairly short period of time.

Top Secret Twenty-One  -  Janet Evanovich    My oldest niece and I have an arrangement:  she buys me the latest Stephanie Plum mystery, gives it to me for my birthday or Christmas, I read it in a few days, and then I send it back to her.  Works for us.  We both like Stephanie and her goofy pals, so why not share?  If you read these books, you should know that I'm in the Ranger camp.  If you don't read these books, you won't know what I'm talking about.  I know Ranger isn't forever;  those guys don't settle down well and, well, would you really want him to?  He wouldn't be Ranger anymore.  These mysteries are silly.  This one involves a pack of Chihuahuas, a homeless man, a hugely fat naked man, several murders, exploding apartments and cars, and a very dangerous Russian.  I didn't think this one was as exciting as most of the others, except for the ending.  Maybe they're too formulaic.  At least Rex made it through again.  That hamster must be about 10 by now, the oldest hamster in history  -  but I want to keep living that fantasy.

The Long Way Home  -  Louise Penny    From one sort of mystery to another.  I turned my cousin Anne onto the Inspector Gamache mysteries and she repaid me by sending this one, the latest, to me for my birthday.  They are consistently the most intelligent, well-written mysteries.  I love all the characters, especially Ruth, the cranky old poet, and her duck Rosa.  Gamache and Reine-Marie have retired to the village of Three Pines.  Clara Morrow has a problem:  she kicked her husband out to give them a year's separation to see how they feel about each other, the year's up, and Peter hasn't returned.  She doesn't want to bother Gamache, who's trying to recover from physical and emotional wounds sustained on his job.  But she finally asks him to help find Peter.  Myrna, Ruth, Reine-Maire, and Jean-Guy all volunteer.  It makes for one crazy road trip.  I'm not going to say more.  These are great books.  I highly recommend reading them in order.  The characters have such depth and they change over the course of the books.  Oh, how I want to live in Three Pines!

The last three are library books, so no photos of the ragged copies I borrowed.

Nine Lives to Die  -  Rita Mae Brown    I've read all of the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries (I also read all The Cat Who ... mysteries) and I think this will be my last.  Maybe it's partly because I just finished the Louise Penny book, but the characters in this series seem flat to me and the situations contrived.  I like the cats and the Corgi, but maybe I've had enough of talking animals, even if they just talk to each other.  (My neighbor has Corgis and just got a puppy  -  he's the cutest little guy and so friendly.  The older ones can be a bit grouchy.)  Anyway, two men involved in a program to help boys are found murdered, both with their index and middle fingers cut off.  A coyote finds a very old skeleton buried in the woods and Harry's pets lead her to it.  Odd though, the skeleton keeps disappearing and reappearing.  Harry and her friend and neighbor Deputy Cooper have to solve both mysteries.

Game for Five  -  Marco Malvaldi    I don't remember which blogger mentioned this author, but I know one of you did.  I was hoping it would grab me like the Inspector Montalbano mysteries have, but it didn't.  Four old men hang out at a bar in a Northern Italian coastal town.  They play cards.  The bartender, the grandson of one of the geezers, gets involved in a murder when a drunk young man comes to the bar to use the phone to report finding a dead girl stuffed in a trash can.  The police think it's a prank because he's drunk, so the bartender goes to the trash can, sees the dead girl, and calls the police.  The police are bumblers and are on the wrong track.  The bartender watches and listens and  finds the clues that point to the murderer.  Thank goodness it was a short book!

The Architecture of Happiness  -  Alain de Botton    I know this will disappoint Belle (see above), but I had a hard time with this book.  I loved, loved, loved this author's book The Art of Travel, but I didn't love this one.  I finished it just an hour ago, so maybe I need to think about it more.  I felt that there were too many contradictions, that de Botton argued both sides, so it was confusing to me.  I get the point that the places that surround us, that we live or work in, or that we look at when we leave our homes, have a great effect on the way we feel.  Personally, I can't stand modern architecture or skyscrapers taller than or built after the Empire State Building's era.  Try as I might, like abstract painting, modern architecture makes me feel anxious and jittery.  I've only lived in one new house in my life.  The house I live in now was built in the early 1800s, and the one I moved from was over 300 years old.  Old houses comfort me, reminding me that people lived in this house before me, were born, were happy, suffered in many ways.  I guess I like living with ghosts.

It looks like my reading hasn't been that satisfying since the Louise Penny book.  She's hard to top.

Katrina, Peggy (I think), and I are planning to read Rebecca during the month of October.  We're not reading together in any sense except that we're all reading the same book and planning to finish it by the end of the month.  Then we'll discuss it.  If you'd like to read along, please join us!