Enjoying the "Luck of the Irish"

We enjoyed a lovely meal and evening at Judy Bell's home, complete with Irish music in the background.  The one day everyone gets to be Irish and enjoy green and Irish cream!  Chris brought a photo album of an Irish adventure to help us "set our scene".  A delightful time with pleasant conversion.

Our read this month was "The Library at the Edge of the World" by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.  It is "an empowering story about the meaning of home and the importance of finding a place where you truly belong".  About a whole community that connected in a web of mutual support.  One of those fell-good stories which we all enjoy, filled with lovely prose.  

"But a librarian should know better than anyone how written words, moving through time and space, could change a person's life.....for millennia, written words had conveyed dreams, visions and aspirations across oceans and mountains....She was part of a process that stretched across distance and time."

Judy shared this St Patrick's Day blessing:  "May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light; may good luck pursue you each morning and night."

"As always it was delightful to “break bread” with all of you.  The wonderful soup, the various breads, broccoli salad, and other tempting items made a full dinner.  The conversations, the discussions the books brought up, the warm fire and community information passed around - made our time at Judy’s special."   -Judy Bell 

 "He feared he would be stuck forever in that winter...."  War is declared and everyone's lives are forever changed.  One young man, training to become a doctor, learns that "what constitutes illness in war is not the same as peace....Since when was our goal to cure them?  It's to return them to the front....Patch and send....He had worked under the magical assumption that when he stepped away the misery abated"....But disease of the mind "seemed as something different, unrelenting....No wound at all, at least not one you could see...."  The doctor finally is sent home but "the dreams pursued him.  'I thought returning from the front would ease these troubles; unless there is a battle I don't yet understand."

Holiday Gathering

 So nice to see everyone at our annual Christmas meeting, held at Claudia's home this year.  We enjoyed an array of soups, bread, appetizers and desserts.  It was so nice to spend time sharing!

Our read this month was "Mr. Dickens and His Carol" by Samantha Silva, although we never got the change to read this book as the bookclub kit did not arrive until after our meeting.  Many people listened to the audiobook on Hoopla.  The story presented some interesting historical fiction on Dickens, but we are not sure how much was fact vs. fiction.  It seemed long and dragged out to listen to.  Once the book finally arrived, it made a better impression when read.  Maybe it was because your could more easily pass over the Victorian dialog when reading but were forced to listen to with the audiobook.

We all brought children's gift books to wrap which Magi will distribute for us.  Also, we made final contributions to our Christmas Jar which Maureen took to Entiat Food Center and purchased eleven holiday food bags to help local families.  Good for us!  A nice way to start the holiday season.  MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Controversial Freedom

 Our read this month, "The State of Freedom" by Neel Mukherjee, was met with strong reactions and divided opinions of this book.  Some couldn't finish it while others loved it.  Set in India, this book contrasted the great divide between privilege and poverty and advancement and entrapment.  As per an NPR review, this book isn't going to be a saccharine, feel good story, rather a brutal novel that gets darker and darker and it is as breathtakenly beautiful as it is bleak.  All the characters want better lives but are seldom rewarded.  Do we have the freedom to move into a better state?  This story urges us to be careful what we wish for and to be prepared for disappointment.

For December, our book is "Mr Dickens and his Carol" by Samantha Silva.  The book club kit has not come in yet and we are hopeful it will arrive in time.  This title is available on Hoopla for those who are willing to enjoy an audiobook copy.  No worries, we will hold our annual Holiday get together at Claudia's home no mater what.  We will finish our Christmas Jar, wrap books for children and enjoy each other's company!

A Classic Evening

 We enjoyed each other's company relaxing at the fire station.  Wonderful pot luck - delicious beans and several salad dishes which were great on a hot evening, along with a yummy dessert!  Thank you Chris for organizing and hosting our gathering.

This month's book was "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver.  The author totally took the structure of the book from Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield".  Many of the character's names were similar and their situations also matched in the two books, with Kingsolver's book being updated to present times and situations.  She set her version in the Appalachian mountains.  Although utilizing Dickens' classic, Kingsolver did a great job bringing this story into the 21st century.

As in the classic novel, Kingsolver explored the life of a person "who has been exposed to the harsh realities of life".  The powerful take advantage of the weak with noticeable distance between social classes in education and at work.  Through perserverance, Demon is educated and improves his life.  "I've had friends in places high and low since then, and some of the best were people that taught school.  The ones that showed up for me.  Outside of school hours they were delivery drivers or moonlighting at a gas station or, this is a true example, playing in a band and driving the ice cream truck in summer.  They need the extra job.  Honestly need it, just to get by."

All trails lead to.........

 Thanks to Maureen for hosting us in June, and for the delicious grilled chicken.  We welcomed our new member Denise at this gathering.  As always, the shared foods were delicious and the conversation with friends was tonic for the soul.

Our book this month was "Trail of the Lost" by Andrea Lankford.  It tracked the efforts to search for three different hikers who disappeared on the PCT.  A former National Parks ranger, Lankford was able to bring a unique perspective on search and rescue procedures.  Jurisdiction is always in question which at times results in complacency from law enforcement and land management agencies.  With more than 2600 miles, hikers must be prepared for all emergencies and situations.  You cannot rely on receiving timely help; you need to take care of yourself.  The idea of through-hiking has gained popularity in recent years and many who undertake this challenge are not qualified to handle the conditions they will have to face.  This is no Disneyland ride - rather a physical and mental test.  The natural world is beautiful, vast and treacherous.  We all shared stories of our own hiking adventures.

We may never know what happened to these hikers.  Many generous hours were spent contacting people via social media, physically searching and also utilizing drones so "squinters" could inspect hundreds of photos.  Lankford was disappointed that she was not able to keep a promise to find a missing son.  This disappointment is countered with the knowledge that, if these hikers had been found, search methods would not have been developed which will help with future searches.

Local History

 We enjoyed a lovely evening at Judy Bell's home complete with Chinese Chicken Stir Fry.  We were pleased that Joe joined us for our meal.  I'm glad he got the fortune cookie with the Robert Louis Stevenson quote as he told us "Treasure Island" is his favorite book.

We read a local history book written by Stehekin resident Ana Maria Spagna, "Pushed, Miners, a Merchant and (Maybe) a Massacre".  The author investigated a tale of Chinese miners, maybe 300 of them, who might have been pushed off the cliffs at Chelan Falls in 1875, supposedly by Indians.  Spagna made a personal journey, contacting many different people who each had a different version of this tale.  At times rambling, inconsistent and contradicting, no definite conclusion came of her investigation.  She did provide insightful descriptions of Chinese immigrant life in the late 1800's, from the Tri-Cities area, Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan, Chelan Falls and north to the Canadian border.

Of interest were many local historic facts, such as the streets of Chelan being named for the (maybe) murderers.  It reminded me of all the famous names in California who were all the biggest of crooks.  The first wall between the US and Mexico was called for by the first territorial governor, Kearney, to keep the Chinese out.  White folks were glad to have them do all the hard work - farm laborers, builders of railroads, gold miners - but didn't want them around once the work was accomplished.  "They worked hard...They were quiet, honest, dependable, and therefore were treated most abominably, worse than Indians."  I'm always amazed when any one group is singled out as we all, except for Native Americans, are immigrants ourselves.