World Cup Winter

Yes, the USA-Iran World Cup match was on the screen as my students wrote their essays today. Glad the U.S. advanced. Not a big fan of a World Cup during November and December. I've never had the WC conflict with school before. But, guess that's what you gotta do when you decide to put the tournament in a corrupt, authoritarian desert kingdom.

The Enchanted Rock

 

During our stay in Fredericksburg we drove about twenty minutes north to visit Enchanted Rock State Park. The weather was drizzly and cool but made for great hiking weather. We are used to hiking in 90 degree temps so the mid-50 degree temps were very nice. Enchanted Rock is a spectacular display of pinkish granite. The terrain almost seemed Martian. Everywhere you hiked provided fantastical views. Unfortunately, due to earlier rain the trails to the summit were closed. But the loop trail was super fun nonetheless. 

Fredericksburg

 

 

Over the Thanksgiving Break we traveled down to Hill Country and spent a few days in the quaint German-Texan town of Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg was settled in the 1840s by German immigrants and retains much of it's Bavarian character. It's a cool place to see. We also went to nearby Enchanted Rock State Park and experienced great hiking. We enjoyed our AirBnB which was just a couple of blocks from Main Street and right next to a field where we saw deer each day. It was a nice quick getaway.

San Antone

 My son's high school marching band qualified for the State Marching Competition this year. So that gave us a nice opportunity to visit one our favorite cities in Texas...San Antonio. We always enjoy our visits to the Alamo City. 

 

We had a rooftop pool at our hotel on The River Walk with a nice view. 

 

We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton. This is us on our boat tour passing by our hotel. 

 

We are suckers for the River Walk boat tours. We do them every time we're here. 

 

Mi Tierra is also a place we always go. The best fajitas in the world. No joke. 

 

The Alamodome where the State Marching Competition takes place 

 

 

fire of dragons

"Well...I have thought, perhaps I may come to work with the Master in the Tower, to be one of those seek among the books and the stars for lost names, and so...do no more harm, if not much good...."

"Maybe," said Vetch, "I am no seer, but I see before you, not rooms and books, but far seas, and the fire of dragons, and the towers of cities, and all such things a hawk sees when he flies far and high." 

- from A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

Where I Stand

Just so people know where I stand (not that anyone will even see this)...as a member of the United Methodist Church I am in favor of staying with the United Methodist Church. I do not support, in any way, any UMC congregation splitting off and joining the Global Methodist Church.

Cat in a bag

 

 

Infinite Bleh

Ugh. This was my latest long-form read project where I read only 2-5 pages a day of a notoriously long and difficult work. This allows me to read other works where I tackle more challenging reads. I started Infinite Jest in May of 2021. It is over 1,000 pages of garbage. I like David Foster Wallace's essays and talks etc. But this, his most famous work, I found a drudgery. 

It is obviously the work of a mad genius and maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it. I tried. This is, after all, considered one of the most important works of the late 20th century. It has sold over a million copies worldwide. My guess is hardly anyone finishes it. And I tell ya, as someone who did plow through it, it ain't worth it.

It begins nicely enough but soon bogs down in ridiculous minutiae...like spending dozens of pages describing an on-court tennis war game that simulates a world war. It's not as fun to read as it sounds. The book famously never resolves. I knew that going in but still it's frustrating.

This work hurt my head and not in a good way. Again, maybe I'm just not at that intellectual level to enjoy it. My friend Kurt in Chicago loves this book and will be ticked at my review. I, on the other hand, loathed it. Gen X blasphemy I know.

So since I began these long form (or long term) reads I've tackled Joyce's Ulysses, Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and DFW's Infinite Jest. I enjoyed the Joyce and Pynchon projects even if I didn't understand everything that was going on. IJ?...bleh.

Next up...War and Peace by Tolstoy. This work is only 696 pages, a trifle compared to IJ. Plus, I've read Tolsoy before. Anna Karenina is a favorite of mine. So I'm hoping for a more enjoyable experience this go around. 
 

Books Read in 2021

 

This post is embarrassingly past due (not that anyone would notice). This is a list of the books I read in 2021. It is a short list. Only 12 works here. However, some of these works are rather lengthy. The Mars Trilogy is long but great. Swann's Way? So yeah, a short list but some lengthy and complex stuff here. Quality over quantity right? For comparison I've already read twenty-one books in 2022 and we're still in October. 

What sticks out to me about this list is that 2021 was the year that I finally was re-introduced to the works of Kim Stanley Robinson. I first read KSR in grad school but for one reason or another I didn't read another of his works until last year...much to my detriment. Since 2021 I have read seven of his works and am currently on my eighth. He has become one the most influential thinkers on my thinking. He is a compelling writer and brilliant thinker. 

Books I Read in 2021 

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

The Places in Between by Rory Stewart ( a second read )

The Ministry For the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust ( A long form read, I read a few pages each day until finished )

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu ( Read this every day during meditations ) 

Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ( a second read )

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

What is the Bible by Rob Bell

The Tripods: The White Mountains by John Christopher

Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Pumpkins, Hay and Corn

 

We like to celebrate the arrival of Fall by going to one of the many pumpkin patch farms in North Texas. This year we returned to one located in Grapevine. Nice little family farm now surrounded by the suburbs. Got some good pumpkins, rode on a hay ride, conquered a corn maze, fed some animals. It was a nice evening out during our Fall Break last week.