Catch of the Day

The catch of the day ...

I'm not sure whether the best catch was the 7-pound catfish (along with the 3- and 5-pounders we also added to the bucket.

Maybe it was catching this little common yellowthroat on "film."

(They are little and flit around quickly, so it definitely was a "catch" for me.)

It could have been  a lovely Saturday afternoon 4-wheeler ride with my favorite guy.

Maybe it was finding the cows and calves, along with two bulls, enjoying their summer vacation spot - right where they were supposed to be.

 Maybe it was holding a book in one hand and a fishing pole in the other ...

... especially a fishing pole that my faithful companion had baited and prepared for me. (I'm living the life: Randy baits the hook, he scoops up the fish in the net, removes the hook and then rebaits it for me. You wouldn't want me to get the book dirty, would you?)

The catch of the day could have been wandering around and taking photos.

Or it could have just been the beautiful scenery at our Ninnescah pasture.

If you close your eyes and listen to the water crash over the spillway, you could imagine you're on vacation in Colorado.

Well ... maybe.

There's no question: It was a beautiful day ...

... even if it was just in our old neck of the woods.

It Was a Dark & Stormy Night - Uh, Afternoon

It was a dark and stormy night.
It was a dark and stormy afternoon.
It was a rainy and overcast afternoon.

2:45 on the car's clock. 15 minutes until "go" time. The anticipation had brought me to the rendezvous site a bit prematurely.

Each minute we tarried seemed like five.
2:50:  Would this wait never end?

2:57: My heart was beating faster. The windows were fogging over as my breath quickened in anticipation.

At 3:01, I placed the phone call. It's a number I know by heart.
"I'm here," I said.

"Where are you?" the voice asked.

"I'm in slot number 2."

"I'll be right out."

A door slowly opened.
A man approached the car. He was carrying something heavy.
He raised his hands, like a slow-motion sequence in an action movie.

 

A mask covered half his face. Only his eyes were visible.
A mask? Was there danger afoot?
But wait! What was that symbol on his mask?

 Yes, yes - It was the Hutchinson Public Library logo!

Like the mark of Zorro, he was one of the good guys! Hallelujah!

 

But wait - 14 books?!
The plot thickens.
How will I ever read 14 books by the due date? I do have other things to do.

 

My trusty companion will do his part. These dark and stormy nights afternoons will give him some time to read, too.

On Monday, the Hutchinson Public Library began setting up appointments for patrons to pick up books on hold. My pickup time was between 3 and 4. The library has designated four parking spaces for pickups on the west side of their building. Once you arrive and call the number, a library staff member brings the books to the car. They've already run the library card, so there is no contact, other than handing the books through the window.

I can never remember a time when I wasn't a library patron. From the time we could toddle in on our own steam, my mom took us to the library in the Pratt County Courthouse.

My sister, Lisa, and I share some reading time

Pratt opened a new library when I was in grade school. The children's room was like a reader's Disneyland. I still remember that shelf of Happy Hollisters books and all the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries where he needed me to help decipher the clues.

The last time I was inside the Hutchinson Public Library was March 14. On that day, I picked up books I had on hold and spent some time canvassing the new book section.

While no one could have imagined it at the time, the "dark and stormy" clouds of a pandemic were beginning to ripple through the land. The Big 12 had just canceled the rest of its tournament. The NCAA called a halt to the Big Dance. I decided that some extra books in the pile were warranted.

Little by little - between cattle feeding and cattle moving and KFRM reports and blog posts - that "to be read" stack of books dwindled and became the "already read" pile, and I returned them on our infrequent trips to Hutchinson to pick up medicine or get parts at Case.

I still looked forward each Wednesday to the Wowbray email from the Hutchinson Public Library, summarizing the new books available.

And, then, tragedy! My "hold" list reached the maximum number allowed. I was unable to put additional books "on hold." In desperation, I started a paper list to keep track of the new arrivals.

By the time I picked up the books on May 11, I had returned all the books I'd checked out in March. And I'd read 6 of the books in my "stash." Some of those paperback books shoved into the cabinet under the television were from our church's Oktoberfest book sale. Others were picked up for a few dollars when Hasting's book store in Hutchinson went out of business several years ago.

"See?" I told Randy. "I knew my packrat tendencies and my hoarding of books would pay off someday!"

Oh ... where to begin?

Once upon a time, there was a pandemic.
It was a dark and stormy night.
But she escaped reality in the pages of a book ...

Found while Googling, "It was a dark and stormy night."

***

Reading is such a personalized activity. A book I love may fall flat with the next reader. I read for enjoyment and diversion, so if you're looking for a list of literary classics, this isn't for you.

But if you're looking for a few books to add to your list, both Randy & I have liked our first dive into the 14-book pile from the library. These initial books are mysteries. (I guess I am still trying to be Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew or the Happy Hollisters.)

I have enjoyed Jason Pinter books before, so when Hide Away came up on Wowbray, I signed up for it. It didn't disappoint. It appears that Rachel Marin will be the heroine in future novels, too. I'm in!

From Amazon: On the surface, Rachel Marin is an ordinary single mother; on the inside, she’s a fierce, brilliant vigilante. After an unspeakable crime shatters her life, she changes her identity and moves to a small town in Illinois, hoping to spare her children from further trauma. But crime follows her everywhere ...

Same goes for Peter Swanson's Eight Perfect Murders. I have read Swanson's other books. Randy read this one in a day. (It's been rainy all week, and 2.30" of rain have curtailed his outside activities.) He kept saying, "You'll like this book!" I started it last night. 

From Amazon:  Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders. An FBI agent comes calling, looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list ... 

Randy actually finished his second of the books last night, A Reasonable Doubt. It's another mystery. And, again, it's an author I usually enjoy, Phillip Margolin. I knew Randy would like it when I realized it had a magician at the center of the mystery. (Randy got interested in magic during a 10th-aniversary trip to Las Vegas and has since used it for church children's sermons, family birthday parties, etc. He's more into golf now, but I didn't get any golf-themed mysteries.) This is the third Robin Lockwood book in a series.

From Amazon: A magician linked to three murders and suspicious deaths years ago disappears in the middle of his new act. Criminal defense attorney Robin Lockwood must unravel the tangled skein of murder and bloody mischief. ...

Yes, he's finished two books and I've only finished one. But, in my defense, I've done KFRM radio reports, worked on editing photos and writing three blog posts. Yesterday, I made three recipes of drop cookies and put them in the freezer for a Core meal for 43 I have to deliver next week. And, of course, there have been the customary meals and laundry and "stuff." With the sun shining today, Randy's reading time will drop significantly.

Happy reading to you bookworms out there!

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Random Post

During the past few weeks, I've captured sunsets and faint rainbows and the first flowers of spring. I haven't used them in a particular blog post or even on my Facebook page. Often, when I'm out in nature, one of my favorite hymns, "For the Beauty of the Earth," plays in a never-ending loop in my head. Then an email devotional from Guideposts came, and it seemed to fit this time of uncertainty, too. I don't want to forget these beautiful moments (or the random photo or two I've found as I've cleaned out cabinets), so I'm sharing them in a kind of random post today.

A Time to Think

Our lives are full of supposes.

Suppose this should happen or suppose that should happen;

 what could we do; how could we bear it?

But, if we are living in the high tower

of the dwelling place of God,

 all these supposes will drop out of our lives.

We shall be quiet from the fear of evil,

 for no threatenings of evil can penetrate

 into the high tower of God.

—Hannah Whitall Smith

A Time to Act

When fear comes, counter it with an affirmation of faith.
 

A Time to Pray

Lord, in a world filled with change and uncertainty You are my constant Hope.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

Hebrews 13:8 NIV 

 (Guideposts email devotional - Spring 2020)

For the Beauty of the Earth

Can you find the rainbow? It's faint, but it's there.

For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies, 

 

 For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies.

 

Lord of all to Thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour,

Of the day and of the night, 

 

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

 Sun and moon, and stars of light.

 For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child, 

 Friends on earth and friends above,

For all gentle thoughts and mild.

 

For the church, that evermore

Lifteth holy hands above, 

Offering up on every shore

Her pure sacrifice of love.

 

For Thyself, best Gift Divine.

To our race so freely given, 

 

For that great, great love of Thine,

Peace on earth and joy in Heaven.

Lord of all to Thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.