Week #8

Week 11/20 through 11/27/2011

Thursday (11/25)           (11:50 – 12:30pm) Still Life with Woodpecker

Sunday (11/27)              (11:40 – 2:15pm) Still Life with Woodpecker

Total minutes=195

An easy continuance of reading Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins: The family went on a road trip for Thanksgiving.  For the first time in my fourteen years of marriage, I let my wife drive.  It’s not so much an issue of being a stereotypical male (if one exists), as it is a matter of anxiety.  I simply do not enjoy being a passenger and out of control of something moving so fast.  In fact, it doesn’t have to be something moving fast.  I am extremely uncomfortable riding horses – They have a brain and I can’t predict what it’s thinking, or might do.

So, off on the road trip, I intended to read for coursework only (at least on the destination trip).  I had a book critique and needed to finish John Dewey’s School and Society.  After finishing this halfway through the trip I decided to log some pleasure reading minutes.  This was a difficult decision considering I needed to read two chapters in the text for my Action Research class, but with less than an hour I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

On the return trip, I knew I had to read for my Action Research class, but I couldn’t put myself up to it.  I was actually enjoying not having to drive.  This is one of those drives that a person does so regularly that two and a half hours might as well be eight, it seems like it anyway.  So, I went back to my pleasure reading.  This is book is so hilarious it’s hard to break it up into disconnected sessions, like watching a movie ten minutes at a time.  The thing that I find interesting is its unpredictability.  I simply cannot forecast what might occur, the plot is outright absurd-and I love it.  Sure, the author is crude, but let my engagement speak for itself.  I feel like I’m reading at novel pace (faster than a Kerouac novel and almost half way through the book in only a handful of sessions).  Perhaps I need more pop fiction in my life…

Weeks #6 & #7

Weeks 10/8 through 10/20/2011

Tuesday (10/16)              6:15 – 6:45am Still life with Woodpecker Tom Robbins

                                        12:50 – 1:10pm “The Door in the Wall” H.G. Wells

Wednesday (10/17)         6:25 – 6:50am Still life with Woodpecker Tom Robbins

                                        12:40 – 1:10pm “A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner

Thursday (10/18)             6:15 – 6:45am Still life with Woodpecker Tom Robbins

                                        2:10 – 2:35pm Prairie Wings Audubon of Kansas

Friday (10/19)                 6:15 – 6:45am Still life with Woodpecker Tom Robbins

Total minutes=185

          This week brought about a lot of change in my reading time having to make up missed minutes from the previous week.  Instead of finding time to read, I had to make time to read.  This was an easier adjustment then I first perceived.  I began waking earlier with my wife and found an easily accessible half hour in the morning prior to the time that both my sons are awakened.  The other adjustment I made was during my lunch break.  Usually, I rush through eating, taking very few minutes, and returning to work even though I’m entitled to more time.  I found it easy to locate a short story on the internet, print it out and sit calmly and read.  http://www.readbookonline.net has a lifetime supply of short stories.  I haven’t even looked at the texts and essays.  It may harken many back to the earlier education, but I’ve always had a love for them.  Because of the limited plot development, some can even be difficult to analyze; most are still enjoyable to read and you can get through meaningful literature without the larger commitment of an entire text.

          It’s sad to say, but I always see Drew Barrymore in the movie Fifty First Dates reading the book with a cover that looks like a pack of Camel cigarettes.  This is kind of a poor reason to search out a book, but fruitful none the less.  I discovered that the book is Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins author of the more well-known Even Cow Girls Get the Blues (popular in the nineties).  I will say I wasn’t prepared for the level of vulgarity, but never do I remember laughing out loud so much when reading a book.  Besides its comedic unfolding plot, Robbins is masterful at using words and creating thought-provoking phrases.

          The two short stories read during my lunches were such a nice break to my normal routine.  H.G. Wells “The Door in the Wall” was written as a conversation between two men about one’s childhood experience of blissful wonder behind a green door and his search to find the door.  I’m sure I’m missing some of the potential theme, but the imagery of returning to childhood wonders and longer for opportunity to revisit such experiences.  The second short story, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner was a mystery in many ways about a wealthy spinster who lived a secret life aside from society in her town.   The narrator builds up sympathy for her treatment by others, only to conclude with a strange and deceptive twist.

          At lunch on Thursday I read through the latest edition of the Audubon Society of Kansas publication (printed in Manhattan, KS).  For an environmental cooperative, they sure print on some high grade paper.  There was an article on Greater Prairie Chickens linked back to back with an article on autumn grasses in the Flint Hills.  I read two other pieces on threats to the Prairie.  One covered the changing landscape caused by wind farming.  This included some convincing photos.  Another piece discussed the emergence and spread of the invasive species Sericia lespedeza.  interestingly there is still research being conducted to determine the best course of action.  There are other invasive plant species in the conservation lands of the prairie, but cattl egrazing and trampling have kept them from expanding their ranges.  Sericia is not palatable to cattle and too resilient to trampled down.  K-State Ag research is still working on potential solutions, but trying to avoid chemicals as much as possible.  

week #5

Week 10/31 through 11/6/2011

Saturday (11/5)              9:25 – 11:00pm   Audubon Magazine (Nov.-Dec. 2011)

Total=95 minutes

This week I put in my ninety minutes in a sustained uninterrupted manner, reading to the quiet sweet Latin sounds of Pancho Sanchez.  I usually don’t read more than a few articles, at best, from the Audubon periodical, a bit hypocritical for an environmentalist.  This single reading session let me move through most of it.  As usual, there are interesting pieces on birds.  These are good reading as I work with one ornithologist and an avid amateur bird-watcher.  This usually provides good information for stimulating conversations.   FYI-during the winter months, most seed mixes suffice for feeding birds.  I’ve noticed that it’s about the only time that birds get desperate enough to eat milo, despite other information to the contrary.  During the summer months, I work as a conservation volunteer in Minnesota placing and monitoring floating nest sites for recruitment of the common loon.  There was an article on the wildlife in the arctic which showed the presence of a sub-species of this bird (the yellow-billed) among a variety of other organisms.  I had no idea there were loons extending that far north.  Even when you think you know a lot about something, there’s always room for improvement.

The feature piece was on the Florida everglades; this was good.  Patomology, the study of rivers, is my main interest in the ecological sciences.  Interestingly, the glades are at an all-time wetted condition.  This is good news considering human efforts to channelize and control its extent. Although it is sometimes described as a swamp or wetland, it flows and is therefore a river in every aspect.  Among others, a photo piece showcases a variety of beautiful plankton (love it!).  I’ve never been to the glades, but have adequate experience in airboats.  I can only imagine how awesome it would be for a naturalist like me, or anyone for that matter.

My short session of reading Harry Potter with my son last week was effective.  He continues to read for forty minutes every evening on his own.