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Ready to Read
Historical Novels -Bobi Andrews

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

What you don't know about carrots


carrots colorful purple
Source:  Organic Authority

There's trivia and then there is real trivia.  
My expose on carrots is in the latter category.  
Can't think of a soul who would count this 
as important information. 
But anyhow . . .

Went to a very good Japanese restaurant 

the other night and with my soft shelled crab, 
came a garnishment of a white-something 
shredded.  Taste of the garnish was
not familiar and I couldn't place what it was.  
Asked the waiter and he went to the kitchen 
and came back and said it was "carrots".  
NO WAY.  COULDN'T BE CARROTS.   

Why the mystery of the garnish stayed 

in my mind--really no logical reason other 
than a misguided curiosity. Well, I found 
out that carrots way back in the 17th Century
could be purple, black, red, white, orange, 
yellow. Seems like nobody cared which 
color until someone decided to make 
them orange in honor of the Dutch House of 
Orange. Every since, most carrots are 
orange except for those in the know who 
enjoy puzzling the public with something 
different.  Incidentally, they were good.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

NORTH SHORE -- LAKE SUPERIOR - Land of blue skies, blue waters, lush green trees, and gray granite

Good times need to be shared. I've got one for you.  I have just 
spent five days vacationing in Duluth, Minnesota, with two 
Writer House friends. First of all, in leaving Houston, the whole 
world changed (may be exaggerating a little bit) but going 
from our August 100 degree murky hot to a marvelous
79 degrees cool in Duluth is nothing to sneeze about.  
Blue sky, blue lakes, granite rocks, and  masses of 
green trees--August is the time to visit northern Minnesota!

One of my companions' sister lives in Duluth (and on a lake) 
which gave us an opportunity for a rare, trouble free adventure.  
Carole knew the places worth visiting and the way (and back!) 
getting there.  I'll let the pictures below take you with me as 
we visited  Gooseberry Falls, Glensheen Manor, Split Rock 
Lighthouse, Duluth  Rose gardens, the Canal Bridge from 
Lake Superior, Jay Cooke State Park and Richard Bong military 
museum.  The marvels of pontoon boating follow.

 
Gooseberry Falls 


















We'd never have an August evening fire in Houston.



Glensheen Manor 





















Duluth Rose Garden





Who doesn't dream of floating on a lake with a cool breeze,
fantastic shore scenery, good company and a glass of wine?





















Thanks to Ted Sexton, dreams can become true and with
an encore.  The first cruise was a  pontoon tour around
the lake with all the oo's and ah's I could muster. Loons
scattered ahead of us. Thoughts of my childhood family
fishing trips to Minnesota caught up with me.  In the reeds
I wondered if there were bass or a stray northern pike
waiting to be caught.  I saw a couple of points where
walleyes would haunt.  I could see myself casting into
the reeds with a red and white spoon lure and have 
the thrill of a strike.

The encore was even more special.  The families that live 
along the shore once a year tie their pontoons together in 
the middle of the lake and party.  We were in luck, the party was
scheduled for the Saturday we were there.   Picture yourself 
here and wish you were with us. 

No Caption Needed




















Getting Ready to Party





















Whee




















Most special for the trip was meeting and getting to 
know the Sextons.  They took us in as family and 
we met their children and grandchildren giving us
a glimpse of northern family life.  It had been a 
long time since I stood around a piano and with
others harmonized church hymns, How Great Thou
 Art and Abide With Me..  A severe storm two
weeks before our arrival had obliterated a great
many trees--the Sextons losing twenty four on their 
property.  Despite the devastation, Carole's porch 
flowers were vigorous and beautiful and chipmunks 
and birds frequented the bird feeder, sometimes 
tormented by hummingbirds. 

No story can give justice to the pleasure we had 
visiting the north shore of Lake Superior.  A
special thanks to Ted, Carole, Erin, and Angie 
Sexton (and their families) and to my fellow
travelers Meg Lelvis and Connie Gillen.   


Frame Graphics:  Rose Nuernberger 
Pictures:  Meg Lelvis