Travel, Horses, and Life

Images

The Cone of Doom, or Not, Yes, Definitely

So here I am waiting for a hurricane.  It turns out that waiting for a hurricane is a lot like waiting for a baby.  You have a due date and certain expectations, but the baby always has other plans.  Right now the baby has missed his due date  and is staying in his cozy Caribbean home fattening up before his “arrival”.  Will this be a painless birth with a well functioning epidural or a drawn out and painful affair.  We do not yet know.

About a week ago there was a “Tropical Storm” way out in the ocean.  As a new year-round Floridian I did not yet realize what this “Tropical Storm” could turn into, so I barely paid attention.  Real Floridians drew my attention to the addictive game of “watching the storm”.  Everywhere I went there was the question,  “Do you think it will turn into something?”.   Umm I am pretty sure that it won’t turn into a toaster or anything so best not to worry.  Most people seemed to share my careless attitude on the subject.  Monday was my daughter’s first day of school and we were busy with all of the beginning of the year form-filling-out orientation-attending hullabaloo.  So I was rather surprised when Tuesday morning the collective attention of the great state of Florida turned eastward like fans at Wimbledon following a ball, and began to stare into the Caribbean.  The lowly Tropical Storm Dorian had ambitions above his station in life.  Not content with tropical storminess he aspired to be a Hurricane.

For months we have had a very good plan of action for our horses.  As all horse people know it is horses first, then everything else.  However, I had sort of supposed that we would not really need to implement this plan.  We are so fortunate to have the ability to take our horse to a facility rated for category 5 storms which can be safely enclosed, is elevated, and even has a generator.  Lucky horses! Maybe I can go too.  But no matter how well planned something is there is always the last minute struggle to HURRY UP, before commencing to wait.    When should the horses go?  What should we take with them? How many days will they stay and how many of those days will they be unaccessible to the outside world?  Should we pack enough supplies for two days or two weeks?  Fortunately, as equestrians, we go to horse shows so packing horses for trips of various lengths is sort of our thing.  I quickly had the essentials sorted and various plans for supplies based on the projected path and duration of the storm.

But here is the thing.  The projected path and duration is pretty much a complete mystery.  A week ago we thought this Caribbean interloper would remain a blustery tropical storm, by Tuesday the weather Gurus thought that he might “develop” into a Hurricane and make landfall, well somewhere (have you seen the spaghetti diagrams of these storms?).  Pretty much all of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas made it into the cone of doom.  Some even thought that perhaps Dorian would swoop around the tip of Florida and pop out in the Gulf like some sort of tricky basketball player driving to the net around a slow to react defensive player.

While getting the horses ready was of course my first priority, I tried to get provisions for my family too.  The tv and radio said that we should get gas.  So we all got gas, all the Floridians, all at the same time.  Kate and I waited for 45 minutes in an angry mob to fill my truck with diesel.  Soon there was no gas left.  The tv said to get water and enough food to last for a week.  We all went to Publix, again all the Floridians all at the same time.  Everyone was much more sedate at the grocery store.  I bought two cases of water, some snacks, and chocolate.  Everyone else seemed to be doing the same thing.  I got to the checkout and went back for more chocolate, you never know.  I tweaked my back moving patio furniture inside and called the home front prepared.

By Friday the projections were dire.  We were going to take a direct hit by a big Cat 4 storm.  I packed more supplies for the horses and had everything ready to take them to their “safe house”.   Then Dorian decided to slow down and fatten up a bit more.  He crept along towards the Bahamas gorging himself on warm tropical waters.  The gurus, for reasons unclear to me, decided that he was going to make a northern turn.  On Saturday,  were released from the cone of doom and told to just expect a bit of wind and rain.  Dorian was going to drift up the coast into the Atlantic and give his Florida vacation plans a pass.  And then I woke up today to find myself back in the cone of Doom with a super morbidly obese Cat 5 Dorian lumbering right at me.

 

Today we spent the entire day moving the horses and putting everything away that wasn’t nailed down.  I left the horses out all morning while we packed up brush boxes, bathing supplies, cross ties, and tack trunks.  Fortunately we have a fabulous team and we all worked together to get it done.  The Havensafe farm manager Christy has been incredible, helping us prepare and making plans to keep the farm and our horses safe.  About mid day we loaded the horses up and took them to their “Hurricane Camp” which is truly more of a five star resort for horses.  The barn will be full of horses weathering the storm.  They will be cared for by a High Performance groom, Carly.  A vet tech is staying on site as well which is a big comfort.  

 

My horses will being enjoying the storm with the aid of a little cocktail now and then.  Whatever it takes to make them feel comfortable when the wind starts blowing and the rain starts lashing.  I have a nice bottle of wine that I have been saving, and of course all of the chocolate that I bought.  I convinced Kate that the storm would be fun because we would spend the whole day, or two, together at home watching movies.  I hope that our supply of downloaded kid movies and back up battery charges hold up even if the power and internet do not.  Most of all I hope that we are all safe.

Old Fashioned British Mysteries

antique bench booth box
Photo by Mikes Photos on Pexels.com

Everyone has the equivalent of “comfort food” reading and mine is the British Mystery.  In this blog, I will focus on British mysteries written before 1960. 

Sir Basil Thomson – Inspector Richardson Series

Part of the fun of reading these books is first reading the biographical details of the author.  I won’t spoil the fun, but suffice it to say that Sir Basil Thomson worked as a British intelligence officer, a police officer, a colonial administrator in Fiji, Tonga, and British New Guinea, a farmer in Iowa, a prison governor, and a writer.  He was once arrested along with a young woman of questionable reputation for “committing an act in violation of public decency” in Hyde park.  Though his life seems pretty complicated his books are not.  There are some twists and turns in the plots, but the books flow along easily.  Inspector Richardson is organized and generally likable.  I read all of these books in pretty quick succession and was disappointed when there weren’t any more.  In a few years I can read them again (as I age the number of years I need to forget a plot grows shorter) but Sir Basil himself passed away in 1939 so I won’t hold my breath for a new book in the series.

Dorothy Sayers – Lord Peter Wimsey Series

Lord Peter Wimsey is the prototypical aristocrat who dabbles in sleuthing.  He is so good at solving crimes that Scotland yard calls him in when things get hairy, and he is apparently quite welcome to contaminate any crime scene in the British Empire.  Lord Peter falls in love with a strong female character named Harriet Vane (a crime novelist).  He spends many books wooing her with poetry while ruminating his way through solving the crimes which have baffled mere Scotland Yard detectives.  Dorothy Sayers was a true scholar, not just a novelist, and is reported to have said that her best work was her translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy (I have not read any of her scholarly work).  I enjoyed all of her Peter Wimsey books with the minor exception of The NineTailors  – the plot of which revolves around the intricate art-form of “change ringing” church bells.  I think that the math confused me!  I am a big fan of the more contemporary author P.D. James and must comment on the similarities with her aristocratic, poetry writing sleuth Adam Dalgliesh.  If you enjoy P.D. James you should try reading her predecessor Dorothy Sayers.

 

Dame Ngaio Marsh – Roderick Alleyn series

While some of Marsh’s books were written after 1960, most, and all of my favorites, were written before.  A prolific author, Marsh penned over 30 crime novels featuring her star detective Roderick Alleyn.  Her crimes and plots are usually complicated and many of her characters a bit off balance.  Marsh’s other great passion was theatre, and the world of the stage is a frequent setting for her novels.  I do not always love the books set in the theatre and I am not sure why.  Perhaps because the authors love of the theatre somehow overshadows the crimes, or maybe because I am not a theatre buff.  I enjoy most of her other books and am partial to the 1941 Death of a Peer.  I also like her books set in New Zealand which have a slightly different tone and richly described scenery – but still feature Roderick Alleyn (the poor man is often on vacation, but crime follows him to ends of the earth).  Colour Scheme which is set at a New Zealand hot springs resort during WWII is full of suspected Nazi’s and is a lot of fun.  

 

Agatha Christie 

I just couldn’t write about British crime fiction from this period without including the Queen of the Golden Age Mystery (and yes, Margery Allingham should get a nod here too).  Christie’s books are not pure literature, but they are incredibly readable – she is still one of the best selling authors of all time. She is often criticized for having formulaic plots and stereotypical characters, but these were clearly formulas and stereotypes which appealed to the readers of the time.  I grew up reading these books and I doubt that there are many that I have not re-read at least once.  I admire Christie’s fortitude as an author, publishing 66 crime novels in addition to other work.  She was obviously well read herself as she references literature constantly in her books and titles.  Several works allude to Shakespeare.  My mother always favored the Miss Marple series while I liked the Hercule Poirot books, but they are all good.  I always keep a few of these on hand in my Kindle and read one as a pallet cleanser between other books.  A couple of my favorites are And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. Continue reading Old Fashioned British Mysteries

Boy Books

war museum perspective army
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Daniel Silva  – The Gabriel Allon Series

Daniel Silva’s novels are somewhat more high brow shoot-em-up boy books.  While they offer a great deal of action and lots of guns, there is also art, culture, and international travel.  The protagonist, Gabriel Allon, is a Mossad assassin but also an incredibly talented art restorationist.  He restores old master paintings while hunting down the enemies of Isreal.  As an art history major who loves a good thriller these books are particularly appealing to me.  The writing is good and Silva easily transports you to richly described cities around the globe.  Gabriel is a tortured soul with a complicated personal life that pulls at your heartstrings and compels you to turn the page.  Many characters and plots resurface in consecutive books so they flow better if read in order, but can stand alone as well.  If you like art, travel, and espionage this series is for you.

Brad Thor  – Scott Harvath Series

These books are a little more traditional boy books.  They are populated with guns, special forces soldiers, and pretty women.  All of the stories involve an intense crisis of international terrorism.  Often Scott Harvath jets off to interesting places around the globe, offering a nice opportunity for vicarious international travel.  Thor’s stories move fast and are good to listen to while driving or exercising.  Though all are stand-alone novels they are part of a series and aspects of the backstory are better understood if read in order.  As a bonus, I have learned a lot about tactical sub-machine guns (whatever they are)  from reading these books.

Brad Taylor – Pike Logan Series

 After an initial sense that I would not like these books because all the characters had ridiculous “call signs”, I found myself pulled along by a pretty good shoot-em-up series.  The author uses liberal splashes of humor even in really intense fight scenes, which makes them much more readable.  The narrator is male,  but there is a female character who is not completely one dimensional – a rare bonus.  While everything blows up and at least one main character is near fatally wounded in each story, these books flow easily and lightly.  They are good as audio books and perfect for driving or working out.  There is usually some pretty exotic travel and the Taylor does a nice job describing the scenery.  Despite the funny call signs I am usually happy to read a book from this series.

Dan Mayland – Mark Sava Series

This dark and brooding series introduces Mark Sava, a former CIA station chief who is trying to peacefully live out his days.  Unfortunately, he is sucked back into the crazy world of international espionage when circumstances conspire against him.  These stories are a little grimy and brutal, much like the region in which they take place.  I had to consult a map a couple of times because Azerbaijan, Iran, and “the Stans” (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) don’t easily arrange themselves on my mental map.  I enjoy reading novels that transport me to a place I have never been and will likely never go.  Like the other boy books these novels move quickly and cover a great deal of geography.  They are good as audiobooks, but check out a map before you get confused.