Up North, Ya Know (part 6)
As I alluded to, there was really only one day that we were rained-out. I'm sure it would not have been a debilitating day for any of the read outdoorsy folks who were deep into the BWCA. But, for us it meant a day camped out in front of the fire, reading, and playing Monopoly.
We'd brought a couple of games of our own, but the Lodge had Monopoly. Mason had never played, so we did. We played a kind of, pardon the pun, CHEAP version of Monopoly, which was to go until the first person couldn't pay a rent (without going into mortgage.) This meant that the games lasted reasonably long, but weren't several hours long. I have to admit I'm much fonder of Monopoly when it doesn't go on forever. We still had all the classic moments: slum lords building hotels on Baltic and Mediterranean, under-the-table deals for railroad and utility deeds, and, of course, much speculation as to why the BANKER was in jail (general opinion: embezzlement.)
We did take a picture off the dock that morning, because it was haunted and misty looking:
I also read an entire book. Not a manga, mind. A full, grown-up tome. I do this on occasion, but, you know, some books need uninterrupted TIME. I brought up a book like that. Yep, you major reader-types.
Just. One Book.
Look, part of it is my dyslexia. The other part is my restless nature. I'm not actually proud of it. (It does make packing less stressful, though!) But truthfully, I find it deeply embarrassing....
At any rate, I read THE LIKENESS by Tana French. It's a police procedural-ish type mystery that takes place in Dublin, Ireland (as opposed to Dublin, Pennsylvania or elsewhere).
I'd read and enjoyed the sequel, FAITHFUL PLACE, and Shawn said this one was her favorite (though we both agreed that Frank was hottest in his own novel, FAITHFUL PLACE.) I liked it tremendously, though it stretched my suspenders occasionally. I ultimately bought into the scenario, but I spent a lot of time asking Shawn questions like, "Wouldn't it be almost impossible to do this?" Not to spoil, but it's an undercover job where a woman attempts to replace someone who's died. The dead woman was living under an assumed name (one actually that our heroine herself had created for a previous undercover job.) They were dead ringers for each other. The "Likeness," as it were, takes an opportunity to steal the fake identity. There a lot to swallow in terms of coincidences, but like I said, in the end, I found it more enjoyable than anything else.
The writing was rich, dense and very... atmospheric. The commune that our heroine goes undercover into is full of fascinating quirky characters. I probably could have kept on living there, as it were. A perfect book to spend curled up with in front of a fire.
Mason and Shawn probably read a dozen books in the time it took me to finish that one.
So, let's see, what else? Well, before we leave Bearskin I should put up a couple of more pictures. As I mentioned previously, this year there were a a bunch more more kids' events so Mason also went to the sand castle building and paddleboat racing:
Here's them trying to steer the paddle boat. There were, coincidentally a lot more kids staying there than I've ever seen before (huh... just occurred to me that they'd have known that and probably made up these events to accommodate us all... d'oh.) So Mason was in a boat full of brothers, and then other boat is a family. A dad, mom, and two VERY LITTLE girls. The little girls won. (Weird, huh?) Though, tbf, Mason and crew gave it a valiant effort.
Okay, up next? Our trip into Canada!
We'd brought a couple of games of our own, but the Lodge had Monopoly. Mason had never played, so we did. We played a kind of, pardon the pun, CHEAP version of Monopoly, which was to go until the first person couldn't pay a rent (without going into mortgage.) This meant that the games lasted reasonably long, but weren't several hours long. I have to admit I'm much fonder of Monopoly when it doesn't go on forever. We still had all the classic moments: slum lords building hotels on Baltic and Mediterranean, under-the-table deals for railroad and utility deeds, and, of course, much speculation as to why the BANKER was in jail (general opinion: embezzlement.)
We did take a picture off the dock that morning, because it was haunted and misty looking:
I also read an entire book. Not a manga, mind. A full, grown-up tome. I do this on occasion, but, you know, some books need uninterrupted TIME. I brought up a book like that. Yep, you major reader-types.
Just. One Book.
Look, part of it is my dyslexia. The other part is my restless nature. I'm not actually proud of it. (It does make packing less stressful, though!) But truthfully, I find it deeply embarrassing....
At any rate, I read THE LIKENESS by Tana French. It's a police procedural-ish type mystery that takes place in Dublin, Ireland (as opposed to Dublin, Pennsylvania or elsewhere).
I'd read and enjoyed the sequel, FAITHFUL PLACE, and Shawn said this one was her favorite (though we both agreed that Frank was hottest in his own novel, FAITHFUL PLACE.) I liked it tremendously, though it stretched my suspenders occasionally. I ultimately bought into the scenario, but I spent a lot of time asking Shawn questions like, "Wouldn't it be almost impossible to do this?" Not to spoil, but it's an undercover job where a woman attempts to replace someone who's died. The dead woman was living under an assumed name (one actually that our heroine herself had created for a previous undercover job.) They were dead ringers for each other. The "Likeness," as it were, takes an opportunity to steal the fake identity. There a lot to swallow in terms of coincidences, but like I said, in the end, I found it more enjoyable than anything else.
The writing was rich, dense and very... atmospheric. The commune that our heroine goes undercover into is full of fascinating quirky characters. I probably could have kept on living there, as it were. A perfect book to spend curled up with in front of a fire.
Mason and Shawn probably read a dozen books in the time it took me to finish that one.
So, let's see, what else? Well, before we leave Bearskin I should put up a couple of more pictures. As I mentioned previously, this year there were a a bunch more more kids' events so Mason also went to the sand castle building and paddleboat racing:
Here's them trying to steer the paddle boat. There were, coincidentally a lot more kids staying there than I've ever seen before (huh... just occurred to me that they'd have known that and probably made up these events to accommodate us all... d'oh.) So Mason was in a boat full of brothers, and then other boat is a family. A dad, mom, and two VERY LITTLE girls. The little girls won. (Weird, huh?) Though, tbf, Mason and crew gave it a valiant effort.
Okay, up next? Our trip into Canada!