Yellow Skies
Very odd day today. Woke up to a yellow haze across the sky, the result of smoke from forest fires in Quebec. Whoa!
Friday, it finally cooled down enough to move about outside. I know... I'm a wuss. Actually, it was very nice. Took a ride in the morning, but the legs were tired, and the wind was strong, so I cut it short (8 mi). Can't imagine why my legs were so tired. Pretty much all I did on Thursday was lay around watching tv. I did finally finish putting in the brick border around the tomato patch, and then I staked up the plants. Should've done that a couple of weeks ago. After lunch, I took a ride up to Attleboro, and had a quick cup of coffee with Victor at Borders. Good fun.
While I was at Borders, I picked up a copy of the Sharpe's Waterloo DVD. Surprisingly close to the book as I remember it, although Rossendale's death wasn't quite as cruel. Anthony Denisof's Rossendale is remarkably like his S3 Wesley, probably because he uses the same accent. Took some getting used to.
Saturday was another nice day. Went to Blake and Sandi's for a barbeque, some croquet, and a lot of volleyball (seven games). Hadn't played that many games in one day since before last Thanksgiving. Very sore afterwards. Still very sore today, so no bike ride. Didn't mow the lawn either, even though I should have. Oh well.
I've been slowly working through the Lord Of the Rings since last November or so. I was halfway through the Fellowship when I saw the movie in January, and I been reading bits and pieces of it here and there ever since. I'm having trouble generating much enthusiasm for reading it. I don't recall having this much of a problem when I read it the first time, er, twenty-five years ago or so. Last night I was reading the battle of Helm's Deep, and I had to reread the chapter a couple of times to try to get a feel for the lay out and time frame of the battle. I still have only the vaguest idea of what the battlefield looks like, despite all the description Tolkien put in. I figured it was because I was tired and just wasn't getting it, but a friend posted in one of the threads that she had the same problem with that battle. I don't feel quite so dense anymore.
Thinking about it, I reminded myself that I'm constantly refering to the maps to figure out where everything is, because a lot of Tolkien's geographical descriptions are indecipherable to me. Part of it is his use of quaint (I'm trying to think of a better word - archaic isn't exactly right) terms like leagues (somewhere between 2.4 - 4.6 miles, how precise) and coombes (a valley or basin on the flank of a hill). If there's no map, I'm lost. Sigh.
And the weekend is over. Bigger sigh.
Friday, it finally cooled down enough to move about outside. I know... I'm a wuss. Actually, it was very nice. Took a ride in the morning, but the legs were tired, and the wind was strong, so I cut it short (8 mi). Can't imagine why my legs were so tired. Pretty much all I did on Thursday was lay around watching tv. I did finally finish putting in the brick border around the tomato patch, and then I staked up the plants. Should've done that a couple of weeks ago. After lunch, I took a ride up to Attleboro, and had a quick cup of coffee with Victor at Borders. Good fun.
While I was at Borders, I picked up a copy of the Sharpe's Waterloo DVD. Surprisingly close to the book as I remember it, although Rossendale's death wasn't quite as cruel. Anthony Denisof's Rossendale is remarkably like his S3 Wesley, probably because he uses the same accent. Took some getting used to.
Saturday was another nice day. Went to Blake and Sandi's for a barbeque, some croquet, and a lot of volleyball (seven games). Hadn't played that many games in one day since before last Thanksgiving. Very sore afterwards. Still very sore today, so no bike ride. Didn't mow the lawn either, even though I should have. Oh well.
I've been slowly working through the Lord Of the Rings since last November or so. I was halfway through the Fellowship when I saw the movie in January, and I been reading bits and pieces of it here and there ever since. I'm having trouble generating much enthusiasm for reading it. I don't recall having this much of a problem when I read it the first time, er, twenty-five years ago or so. Last night I was reading the battle of Helm's Deep, and I had to reread the chapter a couple of times to try to get a feel for the lay out and time frame of the battle. I still have only the vaguest idea of what the battlefield looks like, despite all the description Tolkien put in. I figured it was because I was tired and just wasn't getting it, but a friend posted in one of the threads that she had the same problem with that battle. I don't feel quite so dense anymore.
Thinking about it, I reminded myself that I'm constantly refering to the maps to figure out where everything is, because a lot of Tolkien's geographical descriptions are indecipherable to me. Part of it is his use of quaint (I'm trying to think of a better word - archaic isn't exactly right) terms like leagues (somewhere between 2.4 - 4.6 miles, how precise) and coombes (a valley or basin on the flank of a hill). If there's no map, I'm lost. Sigh.
And the weekend is over. Bigger sigh.