Oberon's Second Thread of 2023

Welcome to my second thread of 2023. I am behind in posting and reading for the year but I am due for some updates.

The photo above is from our recent trip to Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii (also called the big island). We took a family trip in early July. We had been to Hawaii five years earlier when Kilaueu was erupting but because of the eruption the national park was off limits. No eruption this year so we made it into the park.

I am an attorney in private practice in Minnesota where I live with my wife and three children. This year marks a big change for us as our oldest is leaving in less than a month to start her freshman year at San Diego State University. Despite that change, I expect our focus will continue to be travel, soccer (including the Loons aka Minnesota United), and theater.

Also, new this year is my nature themed Little Free Library entitled Knowledge & Nature and focused on nature books. It sits right outside the house in front of the pollinator garden I established last year. The LFL also has pollinator seeds and adjacent to it is a small table where I have been giving away oak saplings.

Top Books for 2022:

1. Still Life by Sarah Winman
2. Plunder: Napoleon's Theft of Veronese's Feast by Cythia Saltzman
3. Bewilderment by Richard Powers
4. Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James
5. Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
7. Within These Woods by Timothy Goodwin
8. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
9. Freezing Order by Bill Browder
10. The Only Street in Paris by Elaine Sciolino

Best of 2023 (so far)

1. Silent Spring Revolution by Douglas Brinkley
2. All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley
3. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
5. Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez

Books Read in 2023:

January

1. Fox and I by Catherine Raven
2. Dancing in the Glory of Monsters by Jason Stearns (audiobook)
3. Britannia, Vol. 3 by Peter Milligan
4. Conan the Barbarian, Into the Crucible by Jim Zub
5. The Final Secret of Adolf Hitler by Mathieu Mariolle
6. Guardians of the Louvre by Jiro Taniguchi
7. Leave it As it Is by David Gessner
8. Godzilla: Complete Rulers of Earth, Volume 1 by Chris Mowry
9. Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman

February

10. The Sword of Hyperborea by Mike Mignola
11. How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman
12. A Little History of Archaeology by Brian Fagan
13. The Silver Lantern Club by Mike Mignola
14. The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki
15. Silent Spring Revolution by Douglas Brinkley (audiobook)
16. All the Wild that Remains by David Gessner (audiobook)

March

17. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
18. Hellboy: The Bones of Giants by Mike Mignola
19. G.I. Joe: Rise of Serpentor by Larry Hama

April

20. Magdalena: River of Dreams by Wade Davis
21. Saving Yellowstone by Megan Kate Nelson (audiobook)
23. The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian
24. Guardians of the Valley by Dean King (audiobook)
25. Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez (audiobook)

May

26. TR’s Last War by David Pietrusza (audiobook)
27. All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley (audiobook)
28. Green Phoenix by William Allen

June

29. To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth by Phil Keith (audiobook)
30. The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
31. Last Stand by Michael Punke (audiobook)
32. The Fisherman's Tomb by John O'Neill (audiobook)
33. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (audiobook)

July

34. The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian
35. Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
36. Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian

August

37. The Hunt for Mount Everest by Craig Storti
38. Babylon by Paul Kriwacek (audiobook)
39. Dracula: Vlad the Impaler by Roy Thomas
40. The Mice Templar, Vol. 2 by Bryan Glass
41. Shanghai Dream by Phillippe Thirault

September

42. Red Roulette by Desmond Shum (audiobook)
43. Ducks, Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
44. Frankenstein; New World by Mike Mignola
45. The Swamp by Michael Grunwald

October

46. Chivalry by Neil Gaiman
47. The Wager by David Grann

Few other photos from Hawaii:



For Mark - the world's rarest goose, the Nene.



The USS Missouri - we went to Pearl Harbor for one day. My first visit.



My son with the short-nosed spearfish we caught while deep sea fishing.

One other note before turning the thread over to others. Despite a slow reading year, I finished my reread by Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin series last night. Took my two years of intermittent reading.

Happy new thread, Erik.

I love the Hawaii shots and especially your son's spectacular catch!
Congratulations on re-reading all the Aubrey/Maturin books.

Happy new thread!

>6 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! Definitely the high light of the trip for him.

>7 drneutron: Thanks Jim. Appreciate you stopping by.

>2 Oberon: I have All the Beauty of the World near my reading chair, glad it was a hit for you Erik.

Looks like you had a good time in Hawaii.

>5 Oberon: I need to get to these. I have them in nice Folio Society editions to commemorate an uncle who was a merchant seaman.

>9 Caroline_McElwee: I am a big fan of All the Beauty in the World Caroline. I was recently discussing the impact of art and its ability to impact the human condition in the context of an art space a friend is trying to develop. Right after that, I picked up All the Beauty in the World and saw a lot of that discussion really nicely distilled in the book. I actually bought a second copy and gave it to my friend.

Also, Aubrey/Maturin is excellent series for Folio Society editions. Bet it is beautiful.

Went to see an excellent production of Into the Woods at the Guthrie Theater last night. The Guthrie always does excellent work and this was no exception. Only my second Sondheim, I have seen a production of Sweeny Todd before.

The Hunt for Mount Everest by Craig Storti

So I might have bought this book for how gorgeous the cover is but the book itself was pretty good too.

The Hunt for Mount Everest is the story of how Everest was identified and eventually confirmed as the world's highest mountain. For quite awhile it was believed that Cotopaxi in Ecuador was the highest mountain. Once identified as the tallest, Everest became something of a beacon for British explorers. The mountain was inaccessible for years because Tibet refused to allow foreign visitors. At the same time, mountain climbing became a recognized and accessible sport as Europeans took to the Alps and, in the process, developed the gear and the techniques necessary to scale the much higher Himalayan mountains.

The Hunt For Mount Everest does a solid job of combining the science of surveying and mapping in its explanation of how and why it took so long to identify the height of Everest with the geopolitics of the Great Game between Russia and England in Asia. Finally, a dash of adventure writing to cover the mountaineering itself makes for an interesting and quick read. Recommended.

>12 Oberon: That sounds like a very interesting book, Erik. It makes me think of the book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster that I read so long ago. I'm pretty sure you've probably read it as well.

>13 SqueakyChu: One of my favorites Madeline. Also one that I routinely pick up cheap to stock my LFL with. (mostly nature related!)

Started reading The Swamp by Michael Grunwald about the Everglades after listening to a very good podcast called Fieldtrip about the National Parks produced by the Washington Post. One of the episodes focuses on the Everglades and they discuss the book in the credits. So far, it is excellent.

>15 Oberon: My one trip to the Everglades had me jumping out of our car to run up to and take a picture of an alligator. I had NO idea how dangerous what I did was!! Fortunately, the alligator did not attack me. I don’t even know where that picture is now. I always thought before that alligators were slow, lumbering creatures. I had no idea how quickly and violently they can attack!

>16 SqueakyChu: Ha! You were almost like the people who try and get bison selfies before everything goes wrong.

>17 Oberon: LOL! That’s for sure.

Loons update: the Loons got knocked out of the Leagues Cup by Nashville. It was a pretty tight game until one of our players drew a red card (soft in my partisan opinion). Nashville proceeded to blow the doors off after we went down a man.

On the plus side, the team looked really dangerous and in form so there is hope that a return to league play will at least get us back to playoff contention.

In other news, we leave tomorrow to deliver our oldest to college for the first time. She will be attending San Diego State. Nice and far away. It will be a big change in the household.

>20 Oberon: Good luck to the new college gal, and to the parents whose chicks are starting to fledge.

>19 Oberon: Good luck to the Loons as they resume regular season play. Dc United got knocked out by losing to Philadelphia and Pumas UNAM. I've been watching Messi play, as much as I hate Florida and all that's associated with it. That has been a real joy as I've always been a Messi fan. I can't say importing his former soccer colleagues to play with him (as well as coach Tata Martino) is fair to the other MLS teams, but I have no say in this so I'll just continue to watch Messi play and be amazed at his skill.

>20 Oberon: What an exciting time for your daughter! Wishing her success and fun at the university.

>21 Caroline_McElwee:, >22 SqueakyChu: This college move in stuff is HARD. Tempers and emotions are certainly dialed to 11. I need a beer (or 3) and a book.

>23 Oberon: I'd love to be able to just hand you a beer (or three) right now, Erik, but you're too far away! LOL! Books I suppose you have on hand. Our kids are all out of college. Our two grandkids will both be in elementary school this fall. That I can handle. You'll get through this. Lots of changes going on for everyone. Hang in there!

Hey! Remember when you were my sounding board for when my daughter was in law school (and about to drop out?)! Thanks for your support back then. She's now a lawyer of counsel for two different firms (after leaving her first job and trying out a partnership which did not work out). She's keeping busy and seems happy with her work.

>24 SqueakyChu: I do remember - glad she is enjoying the profession.

You are correct that I brought a book but I was too distracted /agitated to read much so I ended up watching much of Season 1 of Slow Horses on Apple TV (recommended by the way).

Well, move in did not go as planned but she is there so that is what counts. We ended up having a chunk of free time so I persuaded my long suffering wife to go to San Diego's Maritime Museum. The highlight for me, as shown above is the HMS Surprise!

For those not in the know, the Surprise is the ship sailed by Captain Jack Aubrey and crewed (and eventually owned) by surgeon Stephen Maturin from the long running novels by Patrick O'Brian. I am such a fan of the series that I completed a reread of all 19 or so novels over the past year and a half. Not surprisingly, (ha!) I am also a big fan of the movie adaptation Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World, with Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey. This is where the HMS Surprise came from. The ship was built as a replica of a British frigate from the Napoleonic Wars called the Emily Rose. When they were looking to film Master and Commander, they refitted the Emily Rose to look like the (fictitious) HMS Surprise. Following the filming of the movie, the HMS Surprise ended up berthed in San Diego where you can now tour it. Props from the movie - like the named cannons and a violin in the captain's quarters all remain on board.

I thought it was well worth the price of admission.

>26 Oberon: Glad to read your daughter is now in San Diego, Erik, I hope she settled well.
Thank for sharing the picture of the HMS Surprise, I loved the Aubrey-Maturin books! Sadly the Dutch translations ended with The Far Side of the World.

>27 FAMeulstee: Oh no! That happened to me with Arturo Perez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste series. They stopped putting out English translations even though the later books (in Spanish) have all been published. Very, very frustrating.

>26 Oberon: I do like a good ship, though has to be said I wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in that kind of life.

>29 Caroline_McElwee: Very much agree. I couldn't climb the masts in harbor. I certainly couldn't do so as they were swaying back and forth at sea. No thank you.

Yikes. A very long time since I have done any updates. My reading is significantly behind putting my ability to get to 75 for the year in jeopardy. It isn't that I am not reading, the pace has just slowed down. My most recent completion was The Wager by David Grann. It was excellent.

The Loons update is almost as bad as my reading. Our only coach since moving to MLS was dumped two games shy of the end of the season. The Loons responded with a win. Shockingly, despite our terrible run of play, the Loons could still make the playoffs with a win this weekend and one of the teams ahead tying or losing. Not super optimistic but there is a chance.

In other news, oldest child visited from college for the first time this past weekend. She seems to be doing really well in school. So far, so good.

>31 Oberon: Your Loons and my DC United…Ugh! My team is out of the playoffs, they sacked Wayne Rooney, and Tyler Miller earlier sustained a season-ending shoulder injury. I was crushed when they sent Rooney packing, although I knew they would.

On a good note, my ten-year-old grandson is now playing soccer! Yay!! Finally!!! He loves to play goalkeeper, although a hip injury sidelined him during his last game.

Glad things are going well for your daughter at college.

>32 SqueakyChu: I saw DC United didn't make it over the playoff line. Console yourself with the fact that the Eastern Conference is much better than the Western. Too bad about Rooney - though he sure got a replacement gig quickly.

Have a great time with your grandson's soccer. Nothing better.

>33 Oberon: His season ends in two weeks as well. It's been joyous so far...just to see the kids play, regardless of their skill level.

Hey! Acorns are hitting me on the head in this mast year! Did you give away lots of oak saplings at your Little Free Library? I tried to give away a tulip poplar sapling, but I had no takers. I have no room for another tulip poplar in my yard. The one I have covers our whole tiny yard! LOL!

>34 SqueakyChu: It is indeed a mast year and my acorn collection for the next year is overflowing. I did give away all of my oaks and a lot of pollinator garden seeds at my LFL.

I should have counted and didn’t but I think north of 50 oaks were given away. I ran out in August.

>35 Oberon: Sounds terrific!

I can't tell you how much I love the idea of your nature themed Little Free Library and your pollinator's garden. Yay for the oak seedlings! Oak trees are very uncommon here in Montana.

>37 streamsong: Thanks Janet. What is predominant tree by you? I know lots of Montana is plains and thus there isn't much in the way of tree cover there but I was thinking about some of the valleys.

BTW, did you happen to catch the Ken Burns, American Buffalo on PBS? I noticed that Michael Punke who wrote Last Stand about George Bird Grinnell got a lot of air time in it. I am pretty sure it was your thread where I got the recommendation for the book.