SEASONAL TRANSITION IN MAINE

I feel sorry for the people in the deep south and south west where every day is the same – different strokes for different folks, I guess.  Here in the north-east the seasons move through changes – and these changes remind us that nature is still in charge.

The fall colors this year were gorgeous; but over the last two weeks the bright reds have gone and the world has moved to orange and brown, but still beautiful.  

  

Rain finally moved into the northeast last night dropping about two inches.  The prediction for today is continued rain with winds beginning this evening gusting to forty knots.  By tomorrow most of the color will be gone, and the stark transition to winter begins.

The frost is on the pumpkin and some snow is predicted for higher elevations – first of the year. 

I still have maintenance work to do before the temperature drops: winterize the well house, PM the snowblower and split and stack a cord of firewood (will be made easier with my new wood splitter.)    Then it is settle down with wood fires and reading and cats in my lap and making love to my wife – not a bad time of life – not a bad time of year.

The Ol’Buzzard

SO MANY BOOKS SO LITTLE TIME

Books are timeless.  What was written yesterday is often still an explanation for today. 

 I went to the library and picked up Little Scarlet, from Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins' series.   It takes place in 1965, in the time of the Los Angeles riots.   Mosley explains, through Easy Rawlins, the feelings of that time that sparked the riots; that same feeling seems to be the motivate of the Black Lives Matter movement.    Times change, but social issues don’t change.

I don’t often read westerns; but for some reason I picked up the first of a four-part series, Sin Killer, by Larry McMurtry who wrote Lonesome Dove.    The story is about a wealthy English aristocratic family chartering a hunting vacation in the American west during the Indian wars of the 1830’s.   Every member of this family is so self-absorbed and feels so privileged and superior that you don’t actually feel sorry for the loses and hardships they bring upon themselves.  As I read it I can very easily replace Lord Berrybender and his family with Donald Trump and his family. 

I expect that the people alive today will probably be the last book readers.   It seems likely that future generations will receive their news and stories solely via video; that books and periodicals will be considered passé.   Information, stories and history will have to be formatted in 3-d, virtual reality and holograms in order to keep people’s attention.

To me, reading is a quiet and contemplative endeavor; it activates the imagination portion of the brain and places you as an observer in a story.  As such, imagination is a requirement for reading enjoyment.  

When I was young I could take half a dozen toy soldiers, go outside, construct forts, imagine scenarios and entertain myself for hours.  I built many of my toys and often occupied an imaginary world.  

Today’s children are raised in front of a TV.  As soon as they are old enough to understand cause and effect parents switch them to computers.   By pre-teen they have been grafted a new appendage called cell phone.     A day without a cellphone would be like an amputation.  These children will probably not be readers – except perhaps on-line.  

It begs the question whether these children, constantly entertained by technology, will develop the area of the brain that allows imagination.  It is an evolutionary trait that if you do not use a function of your physical or mental facility, over generations, you lose it.

We live in a college town; we constantly frequent the library; I observe very few children reading or being encouraged to read.   When I see students with reading material they are usually wearing ear buds.

Where am I going with this?   Hell I don’t know.    I’m old – I am expected to ramble.   That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

the Ol’Buzzard

DYSLEXIA AND ME

I am a voracious reader.  It is rare that I am not in the process of reading one or more books.  I even enjoy technical manuals and text books.

I had a hard time in school because I was a poor reader.  I did not realize until later (actually in college) that I had struggled with dyslexia.   I might read the word was as saw, often having to spell the word to identify it.  Having to read word-for-word was excruciating and the meaning was often lost. 

 In high school I pulled excellent grades in algebra, geometry and the sciences but barely got by in literature and history.   And yet, outside of school, from about the age of thirteen until I graduated, I read every issue of Field and Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield; and practically memorized the U.S. Navy Survival Manual.

By the time I graduated high school I was compensating for my inability to read rote by reading context.  I became very good at reading for content and found I could read very fast and with high recall.  

I know this sounds strange; but when I look at a line of print I do not read word for word, but I read the sentence.   I can digest a manual, a how-to book or a fiction or nonfiction book within a few reeds with good comprehension; but when I try to slow down and read aloud it comes out faltering.    

 My wife and I have often read together; most of the Stephen King books we shared – which means that she did most of the reading.   When I would read to her it tended to drive her crazy, because if she was following along I would be skipping words, inserting words or abbreviating sentences; the meaning was there but the rhythm, the meter and the beauty of the sentence was missing.

In order to slow down I must run my finger along the line beneath each word.   Especially when dealing with numbers I still follow my finger, otherwise 12345 may come out 12354.   When reading poetry or Shakespeare I use my finger to slow down and sound each word in my head in order to hear the beauty of the writing.

I am not too sure that reading will be important in the future.   Most technology now comes without manuals; how-to are now on video; cellphones and computers now talk to you; and the reading most of the young people do is in abbreviated form within 140 characters. 

We may be near the last generation to read books, magazines and newspapers.  Print, one day in the near future, may be considered arcane.

the Ol'Buzzard