Cool Moth

 I came out of my motel room in Williams, Arizona and saw this beauty hanging on my tire.  At first I thought it was a big leafy stick stuck right into the tire, and hoped the tire wouldn't go flat.  Then I realized what it was:

Look how much well it camouflages itself as a leaf:

After I rescued it, I found a tree to put it in.  Unfortunately the bark wasn't the right color, but imagine if it were:

Nature is amazing.

 

Creamed Brains and Kidney Stew

 This is enough to make a meat hypocrite like me turn vegetarian:

But I admire people who used every part of the animal, who never wasted anything, unlike most of us now.  

From the Household Searchlight Recipe Book in the visitor center in Williams, Arizona

Sunset at the Grand Canyon

The pictures says it all:

This was the day after my rim to river to rim hike in April (Down South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch, up Bright Angel).  DO NOT TRY THIS IN ONE DAY IN SUMMER OR WITHOUT PROPER TRAINING!!!  But you can enjoy the views over the rim at any time of year.  For more details on the hike, see this post:  https://www.melindabrasher.com/2022/04/hiking-grand-canyon-rim-to-river-to-rim.html

Lightning scar on a Ponderosa Pine

This is one of the best lightning scars I've been able to photograph.  It went round and round the trunk. 

This Ponderosa Pine still seems healthy. What a survivor.

Hate That Cat, by Sharon Creech

This sequel to Love that Dog was full of charm and beauty and accessible poetry, and though I don't think it was quite as great as the first book—mainly because no sequel can be as fresh and original as the first—I still really enjoyed it.  Bravo to the author.

This time I knew that the poems written about were in the back, and I read them along with the book, each at the appropriate time, and it really deepened my appreciation.

Highly recommended for reluctant poetry readers, aspiring writers, cat lovers…and pretty much everyone else.    

More accurate rating:  4.5

Rating of cover:  2

Front Desk, by Kelly Yang

This was an engaging book, with a fearless, can-do main character, an interesting setting (and time period), and an unusual plot.  I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Some parts struck me as quite unrealistic, especially toward the end, especially with the [SEMI SPOILER ALERT] plan that involved collecting money from various people.  Several aspects of this plan seemed contrary to what would really happen and contrary to what certain characters would do.  But if you can just go with it, you'll enjoy it. 

The stories from Mia's family and from the various immigrants they meet are heart-breaking and eye-opening.  The letters Mia writes and their outcomes are fun to read about.  The relationships are interesting. 

Overall a very enjoyable book. Don't skip the author's note in the back.

Last Chance to See, by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine

 More highlights from my 2021 reading list (very late, I know):

This is a very good book.  It's funny (as you'd expect from Douglas Adams) and terribly saddening (as you'd expect from a book about endangered animals), and somehow those two things work together. 

The biology and ecology are interesting.

I did think it started off a bit on the wrong foot.  It felt less like an animal book and more like a travelogue which mostly consisted of complaining about the host country and pretty much everything else.  This was done in a witty way, of course, but it felt a little uncomfortable.  And when they met the first animal…it was over in about three lines.  I thought, "Come on, Douglas Adams, you're better than this."  And he was.  The book got better and better as it progressed.  I didn't want it to end.  There was a still too much complaining travelogue, but the author/s tied it in better to the complicated web of perils/benefits surrounding ecotourism.  And there was a lot more about the actual animals and the quest to find them.

Overall, sobering and entertaining at the same time—quite a feat of writing.

More accurate rating:  4.5 stars