A bit of wisdom about travel

 This won't be a book review, but something from the book I've just finished, William Boyd's The Predicament, struck me as an excellent view of travel:

"[H]e registered the familiar travel frisson. Almost everything he was about to experience would be new and different – and, in a way, that was the essential requirement of travel, he considered. It made the world fresh and stirring once again, curiosity stimulated, eyes wide open."

Travel really does open your eyes and bring new, exciting views of the world. Whether it's somewhere new or revisiting a favorite place, travel is one of the best things you can do for your mind and your enjoyment of life.

Heated Rivalry

Have you watched Heated Rivalry yet? In case you somehow missed hearing about it, it's about closeted gay professional hockey players. The guys are hot, and the sex scenes are hot. But as one meme succinctly put it, "these fuckers lured us in with porn and then hit us over the head with a frying pan of emotional devastation."

The love between these guys is so sweet and so deep, you'll fall in love with them and be cheering for them.

This started as a low-budget production on a Canadian streaming service called Crave. It was such an overnight hit that HBO picked it up. Wherever you can watch it, watch it. It's a wonderful show!

And if you're a reader like me, grab all of Rachel Reid's books. This series starts with the book Game Changer, which actually isn't about the main characters of the TV series, although the characters from that book get an episode of their own. I enjoyed the whole series of books, and I recommend them as well!

My new favorite travel book

Lonely Planet's Trip Builder by Lonely Planet
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My better half and I enjoy travel, and I enjoy travel books, whether it's travel narratives that take me places without leaving home or travel planning books from Lonely Planet, DK, Fodor's, Frommer's, Rick Steves or others.

With that said, I don't just like this book. I LOVE it. It takes an approach to travel planning and idea generation that's quite interesting and helpful. Each section of this massive book is just two pages. Rather than provide an exhaustive list of places to go in each area, city, etc., with details on how to make reservations, where to eat and other minutiae, it gives very broad strokes and lets you fill in the details if you plan to go. For example, one 2-page section, A Literary Tour of England, suggests London to the Lake District. In the broadest of strokes, it guides you from London to Oxford to Bath to Stratford-upon-Avon to Haworth to The Lake District. There are some details, but not a lot. To give you a better idea, the entirety of the Stratford-upon-Avon part says,

William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer ever, and his medieval hometown sees crowds that attest to his continuing popularity. Seek out his birthplace; pay your respects at his tomb in Holy Trinity Church; and enjoy one of his plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

That's it. The rest is left for you to fill in. Nothing on how to get tickets to a play or any number of other things most guide books would throw in.

For me, this is perfect. I want ideas. I can figure out the rest on my own. This massive book gives many such ideas--concise itineraries you can review to find what looks like fun for your next trip--and that's why I love it!

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Catching up on a classic I'd never read

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a famous book, of course, and I'm just getting to it now, almost 80 years after it was written. This is a book of tragedy and sadness. Some of it literal, in terms of the characters, but some of it clearly metaphorical. It touches on both the good and bad people in South Africa, as well as the potential for life to be different and possibly better. Having lived through the history of the anti-apartheid movement (including major protests in my college days), I know things didn't change easily, and racial discrimination and inequality continue to be issues in South Africa to this day.

The writing itself strikes me as stilted. Part of that may be the age of this book, but I also felt it didn't flow as well as other books of its era. I realize the author was trying to convey the manner in which his characters would have spoken, but I didn't particularly enjoy that and felt it hobbled the pacing of the narrative, at least for me.

Overall, I think this is an important work for its time, and I was split between 3 and 4 stars. I went with 3, because it was a slow read due to the writing style, and I feel that's a very important consideration.

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Some people really worry me

The three of us were wandering around Sedona yesterday, visiting some of the shops. We went into a fudge shop. In addition to fudge, they made a few other types of chocolates. 

One of the items was called Coyote Droppings. While trying to decide what she wanted to buy for her grandson, a woman asked if they contained actual coyote droppings.

My congratulations to the employee helping her who managed to keep a straight face and answer her seriously.

A simple, deep thought

I just finished a sci-fi book, called All These Worlds. In the book, a leading character is lamenting the loss of a friend and how those in his village seemed to move on with their lives soon after his death. "Archimedes had mattered. He’d made a huge difference to the lives of the people there, and I found it offensive somehow that he was so completely and so soon relegated to the past."

On Goodreads, I added a comment to this, saying, "One of the deeper lessons of life is that most of us are here and gone, and the memories that rest with friends and loves ones are all that's left, until they're gone, too. So enjoy the ride, because our presence is fleeting."

That may not be something we all want to absorb. I think what drives many to practice certain religious faiths is the wish that we somehow carry on in perpetuity. While that's a nice idea, I think the truth is simpler. So make life better for those around you and for yourself. Live well, and recognize that the journey through life is what matters. It won't be long after we're gone that our presence fades from memory. Soon, those who remember us fondly are gone as well. Maybe the good lives we led will have some subtle echo in a part of humanity and make life better, but for the most part, we're here and then we're gone. Even great philosophers, leaders and humanitarians aren't remembered by most. C'est la vie.

Enjoy the ride, folks, and don't trouble yourselves too much over the generations ahead.

That was nice

 There are places we usually don't get to go. Fancy country clubs certainly are on that list. This week was an exception. We volunteer with a food bank called Island Harvest, and this week they had their golf outing fundraiser at a place called "The Creek."

The Creek was founded over a hundred years ago. The founders included J.P. Morgan, Vincent Astor, H.L. Pratt (the President of Standard Oil) and other well-heeled folks. For sure, we're not the usual folks there, especially since we don't play golf.

This property used to be another rich man's estate. With all of that said, I thought you might like to see a few photos of the property...

Really, the nicest part was providing photos to Island Harvest that they can use to thank to donors/participants (we took shots of every foursome, as well as some candid shots) and knowing it saves them money (versus having to hire photographers like us) and will keep people coming back, both the folks they gift our photos to as well when they use them to advertise for next year's golf outing.

This organization does great work, helping feed people who (shamefully, in this rich country) don't have enough to eat. We're happy to play a small part in making things work!