“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.

My favourite quote from Groucho Marx.

 

Another week is almost finished, and I thought I’d get in an early weekend to post a couple of things up here.

 WEATHER:

It has been incredibly cold with hard rain that is even colder. I crawled out of bed this morning just before 7:00 am. I wanted to get out of the house by 8:30 to get to the gym. The light was just breaking. I got up earlier so I could grab a coffee and read the paper before leaving and touch base with a couple of emails.

 After the training my lovely trainer and I went and had hot coffees in town. Real coffee tastes so good on a wet, cold day. We always take on the world and have such interesting conversations. I just love her. A wonderful trainer who inspires and a great friend. A good start to the day though I would not have believed that at 7.

 Monday was the same weather but no coffee before or after the gym right away. So what to do? Drive a couple blocks through town and stop in front of Fullers book shop and pick up a book I ordered. Then sit in their café with an oat milk cappuccino and a heated pear Danish. The place was hopping as everyone had the same idea.

 LIFE IN HOBART:

I chatted to Tim, the owner, and he told me the funniest story. He said he has a brother who has never been a reader. This brother decided he was going to start reading and he was going to start with the great classics. So he got on the AI app, Chat GPT and asked for a copy of a classic book (don’t know which one) written as though James Patterson had written it. We both had a very good laugh at that.

Nothing against James Patterson. After all if you’re at the beach or a log cabin in snow, one can enjoy very fast paced, entertaining crime novels and nothing wrong with that at all. But Plato? Socrates?  I still find it funny.

 I BOOKS:

I picked up a lovely book from Fullers. Dog Songs by Mary Oliver. I read a short blurb about it somewhere and I like her as an author so decided to track it down. Fullers ordered it for me and it came in. What a lovely little poetry book about dogs with beautiful black and white line illustrations.

I have always loved illustrations of animals by Cecil Aldin whose pictures I loved growing up. Beautiful English fireside illustrations of Scotty Terriers,Westies or sporting dogs. Just love them.

 Another book I am almost finished with is another trail hiking book. I think this will be the last one for awhile as I’m all hiked out. Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home by Heather “Anish” Anderson.

It is the story of a millennial woman who wants to beat the record of hiking from the Mexican border to the Canadian border in America on the 2600 mile Pacific Crest Trail in the fastest amount of time. The trail is a difficult one with high elevations, quite a few rattle snakes through the southwest deserts, mountain lions, bears and one or two leery men.

I have been quite worried for her as she has to hike 50 miles a day for two months to break the record. She comes very close to killing herself a couple of times. Hiking through the deserts in June, running out of water. Hallucinations, fainting. Hiking through the night, running into mountain lions. Throwing her arms above her head, screaming at them to chase them away. Crossing very rapid rivers without hiking poles.  I think she is nuts but I am following her anyway. Nothing against hiking but I think a bit of research and preparedness goes a long way. Though she had completed that walk in previous years and had done some other large walks on the east coast of America. Anyway, I’ll finish this up and move onto Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner but more on that later.

 That’s all the Wednesday news I have for you today. I’m off to the Fern Tree tavern tonight at the base of Mt Wellington/Kunanyi for a quick meet up with some friends then staying for a photography talk. Should be a pleasant evening.

 Until later…..be well….be kind. . .