Reading

I have learned how to download library books to my HP Touchpad. Choosing a book and having it available to read in a matter of seconds is truly amazing!

I enjoy reading and usually have several books on hand so as soon as I finish reading one, I can begin reading another.  Physically holding a book, turning the pages, placing a book mark and flipping thru photos is part of my enjoyment when reading, consequently, I never thought I would like reading an ebook.

Surprise! Surprise!

I not only enjoy reading electronic books on a device, browsing the list of books at the library while sitting in a comfy chair at home is also a pleasure. Choosing the type and size of the font, turning pages with the lightest of touches, and not having to worry about returning books when due, has made me an ebook convert.

I'm not ready to give up owning real books though. I will still visit the library and browse the sale table for goodies the librarian weeds from the shelves.



eBook

Morro Bay by Richard

We have had our summer home in Morro Bay for 35 years and have made many trips there during this time. It all begins with preparation: checking the items and things we need, then packing for the trip. As we load the car, our two dogs know it's time to leave.

Leaving Santa Clara, we take local freeways until we turn south on Highway 101, which is also now a great freeway. A few years ago it was a mixture of two, three and four lane highways which required slowing down and went through the center of all the small cities on the way.

The road south, through the Santa Clara Valley, is busy with traffic in both directions and with each passing year it increases. The Santa Clara Valley has many interesting places to see and we have been to most of them. Ahead we encounter rolling hills as we near the Hollister turn off until we enter the Salinas area. Here we stop for lunch and a short break as we stretch our legs.

Back on the road again, it takes us through the vast Salinas Valley, which produces much of the country's fresh produce. As we continue south, we pass thousands of acres growing huge amounts of different vegetables.

There are two mountain ranges, one on the east side of this vast valley and one the other on the west side. As the road moves more to the right, it begins to rise and we can see more of the valley. After about 50 miles, we enter King City and head for Starbucks for a coffee and a short break. The dogs also get a chance to stretch too.

Continuing south, the road rises up into the rolling hills leaving the valley behind and looking ahead all we can see are enormous vineyards, stretching for as for as the eye can see. Moving on, we approach Camp Roberts, which has two garrisons, the right side was the training site for thousands of solders during World War Two but now is used by the National Guard. The left side is the Armor Garrison. The next major city is Paso Robles, which also has several small vineyards and produces fine wines that many come to see taste and buy.

From Paso Robles we turn right on State Highway 46, going west up over the coastal mountain range down to State Highway 1, turning left and following the road along the Pacific Ocean on our right, into beautiful Morro Bay. Reaching our home I unload the car and help put things away. I then take my afternoon rest.

The trip is 185 miles from door to door and it takes us about three and a half hours. Through the years we have enjoyed our place in Morro Bay, and we would not trade anything for time we have had together there. Time is passing by too fast, so France and I will keep the summer home for as long as possible.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]




Morro Bay

King Tutankhamun

I have always been impressed by the dedication of those who choose archeology as a life's work. The search for ancient tombs, deciphering of hieroglyphics and the persistence in the belief that something exists in a vast landscape of sand, rocks and boulders surrounded by cliffs, are stories ringing with romance and mystery.

Having previously read about the discovery of King Tut's tomb, I thought I knew a lot about it, but the book I'm reading by Thomas Hoving, “Tutankhamun, The Untold Story” is rich in detail and a delight to read.

The researched history of the dig, the relationship between the discoverers, Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon and those representing Egyptian authority, plus the description of 5,000 dazzling pieces of art being removed from the tomb, is an extraordinary accomplishment by the author.

One of the most remarkable accounts in the book is the finding of numerous items by an American millionaire 'treasure hunter', Theodore Davis. In 1906, Davis, who had been successful in discovering several tombs while excavating in the Valley of the Kings, found a small cup in light-blue faience with the royal cartouche of Nebkheperure  the throne name (prenomen) of Tutankhamun. He made a note of it, then forgot about it. In the following season, 1907-1908, he came across a crude pit measuring four by four by seven feet containing jars filled with linen, clay cups, bones of animals and birds, bags of some powdered material, wreaths of leaves and flowers and a miniature funerary mask. There were two small brooms. One of the jars had been broken and wrapped with a cloth inscribed with the name, "Touatankhamanon". Davis misread the importance of the items since the leavings were of such modest character and gave them to a curator of Egyptology at the Metropolitan Museum, Herbert Winlock, a member of the museum's expedition working near by.

It wasn't until 1921 that Winlock finally got around to examining the profusion of articles collected from Davis. Winlock concluded after studying the items they were materials used in a ritual banquet held within the tomb of Tutankhamun just before sealing it for the last time. This clue led to the discovery of the tomb 12 years later.

What I find so astounding is that Winlock not only deduced the nature of the ritual banquet, but its menu, number of guests and some of the clothes they had worn. Eight individuals wearing floral and leaf wreaths and linen headbands, one with the last known date of Tutankhamun, the sixth year of his reign, ate 5 ducks, several plovers, a haunch of mutton, and drank beer and wine. They had reverently used the two brooms to sweep up after the ceremony. The eight priests gathered up the dishes and cups,then stuffed leftovers in the pottery jars and buried them in the pit dug for that purpose. To have left these items inside the tomb would have rendered it unclean.

King Tut lived over 3,000 years ago, died at the age of 18 or 19, and was buried around 1350 B.C. Its mind boggling to realize his tomb and treasures, the richest ever discovered in the history of archeology, existed in silent tranquility thousands of years before being unearthed November 26, 1922.



Nebkheperure
prenomen of Tutankhamun

Wheel by KimB

Wheel

Seasons cycle one another,
Love revolves two together.
Three's the first to build the wheel.
Time as long as Love resides.

Then there's Four, the cycle's spinning,
For each a spoke, the pattern building,
Strengthens that which came before.
Love as long as Life endures.

Five and Six then Seven soon follows,
Eight and Nine, the pattern's laid.
Until the Tenth, the cycle's ending.
Life as long as Time prevails.

KimB 5/2000


note:
This poem was written in honor of my
Grandmother and Grandfather Abbott,
my Mother and all my Aunts and Uncles.

Political Conventions

The political conventions I watched on television this year were so different from the Democrat convention I attended as a spectator in Philadelphia years ago. Prior to that experience, my only involvement in politics was voting for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Having the opportunity to go in person to a political convention was a novel experience for me. We did not attend the Republican convention, which had taken place in Philadelphia a few weeks earlier, but had listened to it on the car radio while driving to Philadelphia to spend the summer with my husband's family.

Spectators were not allowed on the floor of the hall where the delegates from all the states sat, but directed to an upstairs balcony which was so crowded there was standing room only. The noise was deafening with shouting, horns, whistles and the singing of delegations as they spontaneously marched marched in a big circle around the sitting delegates of other states. The chairman would bang his gavel and beg delegates to please be seated while speeches continued on the podium. It was a scene of utter chaos. If delegates were not marching, they meandered among other delegates. Colorful banners and flags outnumbering delegates created a kaleidoscope matching the hustle and bustle of activity below us. As soon as one delegation obeyed the chair, another would burst into song and start marching. How anyone knew what was being said by speakers and what was being voted on was a mystery to me.

Many topics mentioned by speakers were subjects I had never paid much attention to and in many cases, had never heard discussed before. In the evening when my husband and I returned to his parent's home, we talked about the proceedings heard and witnessed during the day. I discovered that the unemployed are actually counted. Agricultural subsidies, taxes and the national debt was mentioned in every speech. When the convention was over, many of the delegates milled around outside the convention hall answering questions and visiting with old friends.

This year the convention plans by both republicans and democrats were affected by weather. Delegates were less rambunctious, more attentive to speakers. Gone was the jazzed excitement, color and civility of past conventions. Instead, reasons and blame for the current economic condition permeated speeches, increasing antagonism and intolerance toward those with an opposite opinion.

But there is hope.... what goes around, comes around, so maybe future conventions will rediscover the ways of publicizing why their party's policies are better for governing than their opponents, and we can have the jazzed excitement, goodwill and color once again.

June 23-27, 1936 Convention Hall, Philadelphia
Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas Chaiman
1936 platform
Nominee for President: by Acclamation

Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York  [speech]

Nominee for Vice President:

Vice Pres. John Nance Garner of Texas

Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936

John Nance Garner