DECEMBER 2010 BOOK REPORT, PART II

This is the rest of the report started several days ago of my recent reading. I guess I should do this review more often, since I have thought of a dozen other books I've read between the last report and writing up this one. Keeping an annual list or journal would work, except I am still trying to divest myself of little, compulsive, minor, personal obligations like that. I should confess that I'm finding the seventh decade has a lot of "lazy" in it. OK, Here goes:

No Place for Truth; or What Ever Happened to Evangelical Theology. David F. Wells (1993). The author is a recognized Professor of Historical and Systemic Theology at Gordon-Conwell Seminary inn Boston, Massachusetts. Thus he is a resident scholar in a multi-denominational setting much like Multnomah University in Portland, OR. It is an academic community which espouses “thinking theologically, engaging globally, and living Biblically,” which appear to be reasonable goals. Because of my own interest in recent years in the many aspects of God, I have gradually drifted toward readings in practical and applied systematic theology, a field I find which has an enormous quantity of unreadable and questionable materials. However, I wish I had discovered Dr. Well’s book long ago. I’m not done yet, but in it he has more clearly explained to me the radical shifts which have occurred in western thinking and religious practice, and helped me understand why general Christian practices – across the board – have become so shallow and meaningless that in effect “God in the churches” has been reinvented in the images of man’s multiple desires. Accountability, holiness, and reverence have been replaced with superficial Bible knowledge, liberal/traditional ritual, and entertainment. He had drawn a stark contrast between “itching ear preaching” and a close and careful obedience to the meanings of the Bible text. He shows how “feel-good religion” has replaced the former substance and depth of Bible knowledge and how emotion and postmodern trends have replaced any intellectual component of searching after God. I think he is saying that modern (or post modern?) social goals have taken the place of spiritual purpose in the lives of many congregants. To put it in plain words, Dr. Wells has documenting the “dumbing down” of today’s churches. He speaks, of course, in a denominational context, but I have found his premise true in non-denominational congregations with which I am more familiar. Indeed, a great deal of what is currently espoused seems to have little connection to fundamental or traditional values. I am beginning to sense the scope and nature of the changes in contemporary Christian practices by reading in Dr. Well’s book No Place for Truth. This is a slow, serious, and thought provoking text, but worth finding (on-line?) and studying carefully.

Life’s Little Handbook of Wisdom. (Graduate’s Edition) by Bruce & Cheryl Bickel and Stan & Karin Jantz (1992, and since). OK, You are not going to find this little paperback unless it lies moldering in a dusty corner of a remote bookstore which has not rotated its stock for many years. During one of my “wisdom” classes, probably on Proverbs, I was digging around for just such material – you know, those little, pithy bits of truth like Ben Franklin used to publish and which my grandmother seemed to have in abundance, - and found this gem. It is worth a rereading every few years. Examples: Heed the advice you give to others. Identify your mentors; emulate their lives; tell them “Thank You”. When you say you will pray for someone, do it! What happens in you is more important than what happens to you. Character is made by what you stand for; reputation is made by what you fall for. See? This collection of good thoughts will benefit you every time they are reviewed. If this little volume escapes you, get a similar book like it!

The Country Ahead of Us; The Country Behind. David Guterson (1989). Ever since Snow Falling on Cedars I have had a thing about Guterson’s way of wording a character’s thoughts. Having enjoyed a couple of his other novels, I was a bit hesitant to tackle a small book of short stories, fearing, I guess, a letdown. Not to worry. These little gems reveal moral truths in the same way a pungent essay can strike to the heart of a matter. Ten brief viewpoints about personal decisions and dilemmas help us realize that acting rightly is sometimes a matter of accepting one’s own heart on important matters. Don’t rush through this collection.

Deadliest Sea. Kalee Thompson; 2010. Although there have been a score of book relating the heroic accomplishments and nearly impossible rescues of the U.S. Coast Guard in the hostile storms and turbulent waters of Alaska’s oceans (Think The Deadliest Catch), none until now have reached the caliber of Spike Walker’s Coming Back Alive until Thompson’s account of the most historic mission of all, an attempt to save the crew of The Alaska Ranger as the fishing boat foundered in the raging Bering Sea. Amid screaming winds in the middle of an unending blizzard and hovering again and again barely above the 20 foot seas, the tag-team effort involved multiple individual hoists from the freezing waters of the many fishermen already drifting apart in the furious, inky waters. Air-support overhead, and the stand-by assistance of other vessels was encouraging, but it was the incredible efforts of the dedicated and highly trained coastguardsmen - some of them repeatedly leaping into the icy ocean - which saved the forty-two survivors. A harrowing read, because we experience every exhausting moment of the ordeal page after page. Ever heard of that book you can’t put down (even at 2:00 AM)? THIS is it!!!

All I Asking for is My Body. Milton Muramaya (1975). Basically this is a novelized biography of growing up Japanese-American in the plantation sugar cane fields of Hawaii prior to WWII. In part the coming of age of a boy who is expected by family culture to help pay off the parents debts, in part a documentation of the oppressed life style of immigrant labor, it is very much a story of breaking free from cultural and economic bondage and striving to claim a portion of the American Dream. The books flavor is quickly established in the pidgin dialect which reveals current events, intergenerational dynamics, and the passions of youth seeking a way to achieve independence without abandoning deeply held feelings of familial responsibility. Muramaya’s subsequent book, Five Years on a Rock, is the earlier story of the mother of this same family, an early version of the mail order bride from Japan imported to Hawaii to marry a field worker. Indeed, the rock was Oahu and the only things which increased were the number of children and the depth of their grinding poverty. Still, there is remarkable goodness and dignity of character in the flexible solutions of the mother who somehow holds all things together. Both books are published by the University of Hawaii and are interesting background reading to the conundrum of the Japanese-American experience both in the Islands and on the mainland.

Memories of Summer. Roger Kahn (2004). I like Kahn’s writings about major league baseball because he concentrates on the decades when I listened to baseball games on a small three-tube radio and had to clip an antenna wire to my window screen to obtain adequate reception. I was a Dodger fan even then, and this book with the previous Boys of Summer gives me a look into the lives and achievements of those great baseball players of the 1950s and 60s. It’s raw nostalgia, well recall and retold.

So there it is, just ahead of the New Year. I'm always watching for something good to read, and for those of you who share your recent favorites, Thanks. I'm making my list, and checking it twice, and your book reviews are closely examined for candidates, and I find as many there as in the best seller lists in the newspaper.

CHRISTMAS AS A GAME-SHOW!!

**After all the rush of the holiday season, the big day comes and goes and another December 25th becomes a “Christmas Past”. (Without doubt, the rush and hubbub and harsh commercialism will not be missed. It’s a bit like having all the political commercials and campaign signs finally go away after election day.) However, what is most special about this holiday in particular, is getting together with family. In fact, that is the most important blessing of all. It is the sharing of hugs and activities and visiting and laughter that makes the holiday package a family affair.

**This year several changes occurred in our traditional routine. Our Alaska-Family-Portion was not here with us this year, our Tri-Cities-Family-Portion came for several days but returned home on the 24th, and for the first time we joined our Local-Family-Portion in their home for Christmas morning and the mid-day meal. Well, All Right! As our kid’s families mature, they need to begin building their own traditions. To accommodate the changes, we embraced flexible scheduling, and it all worked out fine. Everyone got some time with everyone else, the girl-cousins had time together, including a sleep-over at Grandma’s house, and the overall workload on us was considerably reduced. All-in-all, it seemed to be a more relaxed week of visiting and having some time to talk, and I think the stress levels were quite low.

**I can’t detail all of our week, but one unusual but typically creative event occurred on Friday that so typifies our genius kids that it will serve as an example of our wonderful Christmas week. Because the family of #1 Son wanted to be back in their own home for Christmas Day, Betty and I gathered with them and our daughter’s family here on the morning of the 24th to exchange gifts and other forms of affection. In a traditional way, beginning with the youngest, each selected a gift under the tree and delivered it to the person to whom it was addressed. In this way over the years we have all enjoyed what is given and received. And so the morning proceeded with five girls and six adults participating. Ohhs and Ahhs and thank you hugs were expressed and shared until finally…. all the gifts were distributed. But wait… Something was different. Everyone else had some nice gifts and plenty of them, but Grandma sat with just a pair of socks and I held only a calendar and a small, green ball designed for massaging the bottom of my feet. This situation was pointed out to us in case we had not noticed, and a final wrapped package was given to us. Oddly it only held a couple of noise makers such as are used in common board games. Hmmmm. You know how you can tell when “a plot is afoot”? I was beginning to get that feeling.

**Sure enough, Something was going on, and the level of excitement in the room was climbing. We, however, were pointedly invited to spend a little while somewhere else. Yes, we were being banished from the room! When we obliged, a flurry of activities and strange requests began coming from the living room!. “Do you have a spare power strip?” “What can we use to put this on?” and everyone seemed to be scurrying about with smug comments and huge grins. After several minutes of this unusual behavior, the youngest girls were sent to escort us back. The loveseat sofa was set before an impressive array of technical equipment and multiple computer screens and suddenly we had become the surprise guests on a “Jeopardy-Style” Quiz Show. Indeed along with the moderator’s comments a screen showed "answers" on a contest blue-screen, and sound bits of “Jeopardy” music and typical intro patter were heard, and suddenly we realized that we were the contestants and the categories were going to be about “The Sound of Music” (our family’s favorite musical as the kids grew up) and “The Grapes of Wrath” (a book I taught for many years which has had some impact on all of us).

**Amazingly, as the game started, we realized one of the computer screens was displaying our family in Alaska (#3 Son and Wife and both Grandsons!!!) and they were live and participating too, thanks to a wonderful internet communications program. So for a few special minutes all our own kids and all of their kids were together “in the room” and involved in putting on the game. It was a great experience and an especially heartwarming part of the whole effort.

**The noise makers were our buzzers to sound to get to provide questions for the answers displayed. Betty and I competed to get to form each question, just like on the real program, and we each had chances to build up our winnings on the scoreboard being kept. The winnings mounted, and before long the game was into the “Final Category” which concerned “What’s In The Box?”. Sure enough, a large wrapped gift box appeared and we won the opportunity to see for ourselves. TA-DAH!, it turned out that the game was an entertaining and dramatic way to present us with a large flat-screen TV to replace our ancient, nearly B&W relic on which people and words were to small to recognize. The new set shows the entire picture in bright color and sharply focused images. Wow!! What a kick! And presenting the TV in a game-show format was so like the creative cleverness of these inventive schemers. Everyone enjoyed the planning and the playing and the outcome; it was a triumphant success!! Brilliant!! Well done everyone!!

**Now Betty and I are looking forward to reconfiguring the family room to accommodate the wide-screen, to considering some communications upgrades for “non-pixilated” TV reception, and to remembering and sharing the story of our most unexpected and greatly appreciated gift which came from the three most special families we know!!! Thanks Kids and Grandkids. You have surprised and delighted us with this gift, but we already knew how precious are each of you. So Thanks for the TV and Thanks for a Merry Christmas together. This Christmas may be "Past", but it will not be forgotten.

PS On the morning of the 25th, we did get several nice gifts to go with the socks and calendar. Thanks for those too.

DECEMBER 2010 BOOK REPORT, PART I.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve used Millstones to post an annotated, recent reading list. Thanks to a couple of my favorite bloggers who have jostled my literary elbows lately, here is a rundown on the current stack(s) nearly done or recently finished. (Note: don’t try to analyze the order of the following books or imagine there is any sort of meaning to their arrangement. Except for the way some of them were presently stacked, there is none. It’s purely random.) Enjoy, and should you read any of these titles because you saw it here first, you have to let me know what you thought about that book when you finish. Fair enough? OK, we’ll do this in Parts I & II.

PART I.
The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough. Sean Foy, M.A. (2009). A precious couple of friends who once lived with us, and who were just visiting in Vancouver briefly recently, dropped by and gave us this interesting text. So far I’ve read over half of the chapters and am motivated (sufficiently intrigued?) to read the rest. The premise is that done in a specific way, a vigorous, 10 minute, “go-all-out” exercise blitz daily can provide much the same benefits as more traditional, time consuming, programs of calisthenics and physical training. The claims (and testimonies of our friend) were impressive, and I too would like to feel better and begin shedding excess pounds. The book is easy reading, and frankly, it makes more practical sense than other literature which offers sure-fire weight loss, hair restoration, and other instant riches. Seriously, the only way to “proof this pudding” is to give it an honest personal trial over a several month time span. If that should happen, you will learn the results here. Check this one out for yourself in your favorite bookstore by thoroughly scanning the book and learning its promises; chances are, you may buy your own copy. If so, maybe we’ll compare results next Spring, OK?

Painting Methods of the Impressionists. Bernard Dunstan (1976). Some books are not meant to be read quickly, nor are they supposed to be read in serial fashion, hurtling from chapter to chapter willy-nilly. Here’s an example. I had noted this title often mentioned in other art books but had never laid eyes upon it until, lo, and oddly, there it was in a Goodwill store. It’s a Watson-Guptill publication, so one knows it’s good, and I snatched it up. This text covers only some of the classic impressionists, but tells much about their approach to composition, the changing paint mediums, the artistic counter-culture in which they worked, their individual solutions to canvas size, the changing and sometimes political theories of color and value and perspective which influenced each painter’s work, and, of course, plenty about the individual lives and behaviors of these unique individualists. Dunstan is good to spend some time with each artist revealing secrets or characteristics of brushwork, and technique which are still a mystery to me, but which make me want to know more, by experimentation, than I know now. One at a time, compare the paintings illustrated to the text and look back from time to time for comparison. This is one writer’s account of an art revolution in the making. It may take a year to finish this 180 tome, and that’s all right.

Yellow Dirt. Judy Pasternack (2010) Ooooooh. I had to return this book to the library already; in fact, to get the book, I had to convince the local library system to buy it; I was, therefore, the first in my community to read the library copy, and maybe the first in this town since even the library had to wait to get an early copy! Anyway, it’s a fascinating and compelling read. It is the documentation of an American tragedy which began in the late 1930s, peaked in the 1940s and 50s, and which, amazingly, has only slowly come into the fringe of public knowledge over the past half-century. When world supplies of fissionable materials were insufficient originally to support the Manhattan Project and later to maintain the demands of producing U.S. nuclear weapons during the Cold War, the domestic uranium ores found almost exclusively on the lands of the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region of the Southwest were savagely mined in ways which then and since have catastrophically affected those peoples and lands with death, disease and decay. Untold cases of cancers and related damage caused by unchecked radiation over decades of exposure, and unique neurological abnormalities and other pathological diseases have stricken not only the Navajo miners but their families and unborn children as the unsuspected, radioactive contamination surrounded them in polluted waters and even in the concrete floors and stucco walls of their houses which contained the deadly sands, a byproduct of the refining process of creating the concentrated uranium product called yellowcake. Of course, neither the mining companies nor the government accept(ed) any responsibilities for the damage done to so many. In fact, the truth about the effects of radiation poisoning was repressed repeatedly over the decades in which the increasingly obvious effects and causes were becoming apparent as irrefutable fact. Only in recent years have the beginnings of relief and reparations begun to bring a small degree of repayment to Navajo peoples who lived and worked in the middle of the greatest nuclear tragedy in our nation’s entire history (Yes, greater than the Three-Mile Island incident), one that rivals and may yet surpass the horrors of Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986. What makes this story even more shocking is that so few Americans are even aware of what has occurred in Navajo country over the past sixty or so years. The book is relatively easy reading; however, grasping the scale and absorbing the magnitude of the personal devastation to health and longevity is nearly impossible. A most sobering read indeed.

The Grapes of Wrath. John Steinbeck (1939). One Hundred? One fifty? I don’t know how many times I have read and taught this American classic over the years. I do know the last time was in 1990 when it was briefly a part of the Senior English class literature unit at Columbia Christian H.S. That was the year I taught in the private school in Portland after I retired from public education in Alaska. The plight of the migrants and the nature of the hard times they suffered was only a small part of the economic crunch the nation was experiencing in the mid- and late 1930s. This too is an account of the trials, temptations, and tribulations of an oppressed people. Steinbeck’s masterfully woven tale with its theme family, the Joads, and its dramatic inter-chapters telling the counter-story in the vernacular of the various social classes, is a kaleidoscope of character textures, insights on the era’s grinding circumstances, and a host of emotions that still draws me to tears. The good hearts and willing spirits of the poorest who continue to help one another to and beyond the last extreme makes this giant story stand tall over all the others in historic American regional literature. I might have a chance to walk through the text with a couple of grand-daughters soon, and that will be extra special for me.

Borderline. Nevada Barr (2010) I’ll tell you what. I am learning to enjoy a well written mystery, a type of literature a rarely read before we moved to Vancouver. My Brother-in-Law got me started with Hillerman, among others, and I am still exploring this interesting genre. After decades of living in Alaska (another of my passions) Alaska mysteries are particularily fascinating. Sue Henry and Dana Stabenow are my favorite writers, and one of their “buddies” is the equally readable Nevada Barr. Well, OK, so she’s not an Alaskan writer, but she’s good. Her books place a National Parks ranger, Anna Pigeon in various situations as she works and serves in different National Parks, both those well known and popular and those lesser know and less frequently visited. "Borderline" occurs in Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande (river) which delineates the border with Mexico. Several contemporary issues which reflect some of the daily news are woven into a story which touches on the loyalties of some people to a geographic and cultural region more than to an arbitrary political division of territory. The power of corrupted border politics also raises it ugly head in this tale. It’s just today’s headlines in pulp fiction in a paperback, but Barr is very readable and drops enough fodder for thought that this reader seldom notices if the pace of action or the level of suspense slows down between crises. Nevada Barr is among a score of favorite mystery writers whose paperbacks I keep against the day I get to reread them all again.

Plant Them Deep. Aimee and David Thurlo (2003) Once again I am touting a recently read mystery, this one by the Thurlos, and yet again it involves the Indian characters and cultures of the Southwest. This book is the eighth in the Ella Clah series, although it is actually more about her mother, Rose Destea, a wise elder of the clan who is an expert in the medicinal and ceremonial plants and herbs which grow naturally across Navajo lands. Someone has been removing – stealing – these valuable resources to the point that many species are becoming scarce. The suggestion to replace the missing plants with genetically engineered substitutes is not welcome news as that solution conflicts with cultural values and expectations of the traditional society. This problem offers an interesting look at the ethics of botanical manipulations, especially when the products are presented a safe for human consumption – physically and spiritually, but may not be as safe as claimed. The investigation intensifies when random murders begin to occur. These authors have several similiar series in the same settings, but I find only the Ella Clah books have a completeness and flavor that makes them much like and as good as Tony Hillerman’s stories of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. Read the series in the order in which they were written for the best experience.

Watch for Part II in a week or so. As always, I'm interested in your feedback if you have read any of these same books. We have plenty of short days and long nights now to devote to reading, and most of us should probably do more reading and less watching (tolerating) the drivel offered in TV programming these days. Cheers.

WILD BIRD ETHICS

OK, Here is something for those of you with fine minds and tender hearts to ponder. A very small Red-breasted Nuthatch is "in residence" with us. This individual has been around now for over three weeks which began just before the spell of freezing weather now past. This tiny bird is conspicuous because he/she is quite lame. The right leg is held up tight to the breast and is of no help in perching, maintaining balance, or gripping sunflower seeds so they can be easily opened. Specifically, upon landing on a branch or limb or upon the wire perches of the feeder, this little guy immediately tips to the right and flutters to maintain an upright position. At the feeder the resulting posture often leaves him in a position too awkward to snatch a seed from the guarded opening. When the seeds can be accessed, he seems to toss many aside, apparently aware that most of the larger, harder seeds may be too much challenge to open. Although I can not follow him into the trees to observe the seed cracking operation, I know that one claw would grasp the perch and the other should grip the seed and hold it secure while the bird opens the husk with his beak to extract the edible kernel of nutrition within. I suspect this is nearly impossible for our little handicapped fellow. In fact, it has been trying to open seeds using our plastic front doormat, which is a sort of a coarse astro-type texture. That does not work. In response, I have been putting down shelled bits of sunflower seed kernels right where our friend sits and works and waits. This may help stave of immediate starvation (and there seems lately to be a diminished energy evident). We in turn have to be careful to step over the bird when entering or leaving the house. Our presence does not unduly alarm the bird, or there is too little energy/desire to flee. Actually, I'd rather attribute his calm demeanor to a modicum of trust.

Here come the ethical dilemma. What, if anything at all, should I attempt to do for this bird? Maybe I have already intervened too much just by offering a simpler food source. But it is certainly in a hazardous location being exposed and at ground level. We do have several neighborhood cats which pass by more or less daily, including a pair of mean, yellow, bird-hunters that would display no mercy. So, #1, I can continue to feed and hope for the best. Here's option # 2. I did call the Audubon Care Center over in NW Portland and they suggested I could catch the bird and bring it in to them for examination. They would check to see whether the leg is broken and can be mended, but if not, they would then euthanize the bird forthwith. It all sounds so traumatic. Option #3., offered by my local bird-shop was to just "let nature take its course, whatever that may bring". In that case, the bird would eventually "disappear" and I would likely never know (i.e. "have to know") what happened. Another unsatisfactory possibility - #4. - is to catch this wild bird and put it in a cage and feed it "in captivity" for the rest of its days.

All right, what would you do? Go the "hands off all wildlife" route. Capture and artificially maintain the bird yourself? Pass along this responsibility to the Audubon Care team who may terminate if "healing" is beyond them? Continue to ground feed and hope for the best? Or do you have another viable solution which is ethically better than any options I have currently?

ART CLASSES FOR ALL

Although I am not currently taking a community college art class, I am learning plenty in Bud's "Challenge 2010" class sponsored by the Northwest Oil Painter's Guild (NOPG). This group of artists is not only encouraging to me but they are providing me with considerable motivation with their impressive works.

My home-schooled grand-daughters are taking classes at a local art school. The twins are mastering their current interest in themes like dragons, medieval characters, and fantasy. They are drawing almost every day and their progress is wonderful.

The drawing the youngest is doing suggests that she has as much talent as her sisters. This sea-horse in its underwater scene is done in charcoal, but it is vibrant with life and motion. Seeing the three girls side-by-side at the drawing boards in class was a treat to Grandpa.

I'm impressed and proud of these three, and I have a two other grand-daughters that are artists too. "My cup runneth over".