a dog's life

It was a beautiful day in Lincoln yesterday. I couldn't resist the beseeching eyes of my daily companion, Calley. On the way to errands in Concord, we stopped at Mt. Misery for our favorite walk.


First we headed down the woodland trail to the Concord River (Thoreau Country) where she had a swim.



On the way back, we checked out the progress at Linden Tree Farm.



We were thirsty. After conferring, we decided Starbucks was an important next stop. Here is Calley enjoying her grande iced cold no ice artesian tap water. I had an iced latte. After that we were ready to hit the streets of Concord.

We gave a nod to John as we walked past the Concord Bookshop.

iris

brown dog with iris

May 19th at last!

Where were you when you first saw Loon in public? We will all have a story to tell.

I was walking down Main Street in Concord, Massachusetts today thinking about the post office, the bank, and putting money in the parking meter. As I walked past the large window of The Concord Bookshop, I looked in and saw seven copies of Loon on display, with the sepia photograph of my brother on the cover. He is holding a rifle.

A day early! The official release date is tomorrow! I was not expecting it. The store owner said he would soon have a photograph of the author and the date of the book signing (June 14) as part of the window display, he just hadn't gotten to it yet.

LOON, a Marine Story written by my brother, Jack McLean.

Buy it and read it. You will not be able to put it down until you have turned the last page.

Thanks for telling us the story, John,
and congratulations on a job well done.
We all share in the excitement of this moment.

This one is for you, Mom!

My brother John's book, Loon, A Marine Story, will be on sale in bookstores on Tuesday, May 19th.
The writing of the book is a story unto itself but today the story is about my mother, Martha Lamb McLean. Loon is dedicated to her.

Mom encouraged John to "do something" with the letters that he wrote to us from Viet Nam.
Forty years later and twenty years after her death, Random House has published the book that was inspired by those letters.

Back to Mom. She was an avid reader. She did not hold back when it came to buying books. The latest books in hardcover stood between two bookends on a table in the living room. As I got older, I just wanted to settle down on her couch and read when I visited her. I was in my thirties then and there was no time for quiet activity of any kind!

I looked longingly at her collection. She was an adventurous reader, too. Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala were some of her favorite authors.

When she died, I brought home many of her books thinking that one day I would have the time to read the treasures that she so often recommended to me. I also hoped by reading Mom's books I would get a glimpse into her mind, into the things that mattered to her.

Most of her books sit unread on my bookshelf. One of these days I will attempt Doris Lessing again, get lost in an escape by Elizabeth Drabble and finally read Elizabeth Bowen. "You will love Robinson Davies, Barb. One of Canada's great writers!" I can hear her saying.

I will read those books eventually, maybe when I am closer to the age that she was when she read them. For now, I will appreciate the love of books I have inherited from my mother and read whatever I want to.

Reading is a personal act and and free choice is the best part!

Happy Mother's Day!

The Power is Yours!

CAPTAIN PLANET
HE'S A HERO
GONNA TAKE POLLUTION
DOWN TO ZERO

Ever since Eliza and Maddy mentioned Captain Planet on their radio show, I've been wondering about him. Captain Planet was a television program for kids started in 1990. Our radio hosts remembered the music, characters, slogans ("the power is yours!") as if it were yesterday.

I remember the theme song wafting in from the other room. It kept the kids entertained while I made supper and seemed mildly educational so I didn't give it another thought. Now I'm curious. Who was Captain Planet and what was he up to? So I checked Wikipedia (see below).

"The show's premise was that only by working together could people protect the planet and provide solutions to environmental problems."

Here's the story:
Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, is awakened from a long sleep by human activity threatening ecosystems. Realizing that the damage is extensive, Gaia sends five magic rings, each with the power to control an element of nature and one controlling an extra element, heart, to five chosen youths across the globe: Kwame from Africa, Wheeler from North America, Linka from Soviet Union, Gi from Asia and Ma-Ti from South America.
These five are dubbed the Planeteers and given the task of defending the Earth in the case of the greatest of disasters and making effort to keep others from happening. Gaia uses her "Planet Vision" to discover where the most devastating destruction is occurring and sends the Planeteers to help solve the problem. The Planeteers use transportation based on solar power in order to avoid causing pollution themselves.

I think we need Captain Planet and the Planeteers back on the case!
Or maybe it's up to us.

welcome

Greetings to any of my Cambridge Center for Adult Education classmates who may have wandered over to my blog.
This is it! I'm sure you recognize last night's "finger print" creation.
Looking forward to seeing your work on our class website.
More on that to come.

it lasts almost forever

I am worried about plastic.
I try not to be a scare tactic environmentalist but
when it comes to plastic I am concerned.
In the oceans, it breaks down to tiny particles the size of
granules of sand and is ingested by sea mammals.
In most cases, this doesn't cause instant death or choking; much worse.

Small fish at the bottom of the food chain ingest
particles of plastic, larger fish eat them and we eat
the larger fish.

Predators high on the food chain (including humans)
are showing high levels of contaminants.
Compounds found in plastic are endocrine
disrupters which are suspected to cause cancer,
brain damage and reproductive damage.

So if you have a choice, please don't use plastic.
Especially if it's only a one time use and it's
thrown away. Otherwise please recycle
plastic so at least it is contained. For awhile.

I hope you know not to drink water from a
plastic bottle that has gotten hot in the car.
Chemicals leach out of the plastic into the water.
And NEVER microwave something in a plastic container.

Thanks. I tell you this because I care about you,
and all sentient beings!

By the way, I am FAR from living a plastic free life!!
Plastic is everywhere and is useful.
I just try to use an alternative when there is a viable choice.

(based on an article by Nicole Chatterson:
A Plague of Plastic)

gone

Right before our very eyes a transformation is happening.
Have you asked someone what time it is lately?
If they were under thirty years old,
they probably checked their

cell phone.

That's right. The wrist watch is going the way of the pocket watch.
Obsolete. Yesterday when I asked someone the time, she
reached into her bag for her cell phone and then I realized.....
wrist watches are already a thing of the past.
I think I will stock up on extra watch bands in case they stop making them!

The same may be true of the land phone. I needed a new one and
it was hard to find a good one, they were all cheap with poor sound.
(Thanks, John Tsien, for helping me out on that project)
But I think more and more people are relying on their cell phones and
IPhones. Why have two kinds of phone with two different numbers?

Change is in the air.
When you look around and see not a wrist watch in sight,
don't forget you heard it from me first.
The alarm clock; another casualty!

neighbors

Cardinals mate for life. This pair weathered the cold winter along side of us here in Lincoln. We supplied the black sunflower seed in the feeder. The male was stunning against the white snow and green leaves of the rhodo, his mate is a subtle brown/grey color but lovely too with her red beak and crown. Where do birds get water in the winter? I wonder. They are all set now with a fresh supply daily here on the terrace. They can even take a bath! What a life.