Chillin'

Can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted. I know. Some of you have been waiting with bated breath...yeah, right. What have I been up to? We visited Galveston, TX and the beach in April. Had a great time and we found an area where the beach was littered with hermit crabs. Kids enjoyed picking them up and naming them. I am SO glad no one insisted on bringing one or many home to die a slow death away from their friends and families!

Luckily, I've been doing a lot of reading (between watching the vines and vegetation grow several inches a day...it's no wonder the Mayan pyramids disappeared. I wonder how long it would take north Louisiana to disappear under the ubiquitous vines and Virginia creeper?). Have been picking blueberries too, one of my most favorite fruits. Back to reading...I'm thrilled to have discovered a new series of books that will take me the summer (at least) to read. The first of the series is The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King. I'm surprised I've never read this series as I adore Sherlock Holmes especially as portrayed by Jeremy Brett. I guess I thought Ms. King just couldn't improve on the stories. All I can say is I'm so glad to have at least 7 more books to read!

I also just finished reading Tolkien's The Children of Hurin and really enjoyed it. Has prompted me to reread The Silmarillion. I read it long ago after the Rings trilogy and just couldn't get into it. Since Tolkien, according to his son, thought The Silmarillion his best book, who am I to argue? I also plan on having a Lord of the Rings movie watching extravaganza when the weather gets SO hot down here that you can barely move. I wish I were a less copious sweater (no, I'm not speaking of the knitted variety). I don't "dew." I fear I may drown in the Sea of Perspiration!

Today's news about the earthquake in Guatemala reminded me of another book I read recently, The Queen Jade by Yxta Maya Murray (interesting name combination, eh? Is she Mayan/Irish?). It was a good read and I liked the mother's endearment of "creature" for her daughter. Part of the story was set in Guatemala during and after an earthquake. Murray was quite descriptive of the suffering the Guatemalans endured. I hope to God/dess this earthquake was nothing like their last major earthquake in 1976 when 23,000 people died.