Throwback Thursday: The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

In December of 2013, I read a book by Elizabeth Gilbert that I thoroughly enjoyed. No, it wasn't Eat, Pray, Love. It was a novel written after that blockbuster book. It was about a woman scientist in the 19th century and that book was recently recalled to mind by something that I read. I reread my review of it and decided to feature it as a "Throwback Thursday" post. I hope you enjoy it.

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The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert: A review

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame has written a remarkable novel featuring a remarkable woman of the 19th century. Alma Whittaker, born in 1800 to the richest man in Philadelphia, grew up to become, in fact, a female counterpart to Charles Darwin in the century of Darwin, a time when the idea of a female scientist would have been laughed at.

Before we meet Alma, though, we meet her father, Henry Whittaker, a low-born Englishman who was banished because he stole plants from Kew Gardens, where his father worked as a plantsman. Instead of having him hanged, as could have happened, his father's employer sent him on a ocean voyage to assist his plant collectors. Henry already knew much about plants from his father, and now he learned even more as he traveled to exotic locations around the world. He grew into a man with an unquenchable thirst to succeed and accumulate wealth. He did both.

After his ties with Britain and Kew Gardens were severed, he went to Holland where he acquired a well-educated wife, named Beatrix, from a famous academic family. Together, they emigrated to the new country of the United States, specifically to Philadelphia and it was there that Whittaker built his prosperous plant empire. There, Alma was born and was educated by her mother and learned plants almost by osmosis it seems from her father.

Alma's world is disrupted when her parents adopt a child, a little girl whose parents died tragically on the Whittaker estate. She and her new sister, Prudence, who possesses an ethereal beauty, will never be close. In contrast to Prudence, Alma was plain as a baby and young girl and she grows into a plain woman, large, big-boned, and with an unruly crop of red hair which seems to sprout in every direction.  

Her gift is not physical beauty but a beauty of the mind. She is a brilliant child who grows into a brilliant woman, ultimately a self-taught botanist of considerable gifts and some renown.

At the age of sixteen, Alma discovers erotic literature and the capacity of her own body to give her sensual pleasure. For the rest of her life, masturbation will be a part of her routine.

While her sister and best friend marry, Alma remains single. She becomes a spinster who is most excited by her love of knowledge, but at the age of forty-eight, she does fall in love with a man named Ambrose Pike, a utopian artist who paints incomparable pictures of orchids. Ambrose leads her to delve into the realm of the spiritual and the magical - quite a journey for a clear-minded scientist like Alma.

The two marry quickly but their marriage is doomed by misunderstandings and they soon go their separate ways. At this point, Alma's story is just beginning!

This sprawling novel takes us around the globe and is peopled by so many unforgettable characters. Among them are abolitionists, adventurers, sea captains, missionaries, astronomers, geniuses, and some who are quite mad. But most unforgettable of all is Alma Whittaker as she passes from the Age of Enlightenment to the age of the Industrial Revolution and witnesses all the extraordinary changes along the way. New ideas in science, religion, commerce, and class were coming fast and furious, and Alma is a part of it all.

Some reviewers have described this book as Dickensian and indeed it does seem to be written in the spirit of Dickens' time. But it is in a thoroughly modern voice and is very accessible, an easy read. I liked Alma Whittaker very much and I am glad that Elizabeth Gilbert chose to give her to us.

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Wordless Wednesday: Red-breasted Merganser

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - December 2015

My line-up of blooms in December looks almost exactly like my November Bloom Day post. Here we are at mid-December, still waiting for our first frost of the season. 

Maybe it's just as well that we have not had any cold weather and very little cool weather because I still have a couple of dozen of these little guys munching their way through the last of my milkweed.

Monarch butterflies have been passing through my garden on a daily basis since early spring and they've left behind a good-sized population. I am encouraged by the presence of these caterpillars to think that perhaps the beautiful butterflies that have, in recent years, been beset by loss of habitat, terrible winter weather on their wintering grounds in Mexico, and losses from the profligate use of pesticides and herbicides in the United States may actually be making a comeback.

The caterpillars are present in different sizes and different stages of their development.

These are getting close to the end of their lives as caterpillars. Soon they will begin transforming in a chrysalis.

This one is still pretty small and has a ways to grow.

As do these.

But here are some more that are getting closer to their time of transformation. 

The Copper Canyon daisy is still in full bloom.

As is the pineapple sage and the little marigolds behind it.

Several roses are putting on a show here at the end of their season. This is 'Molineux.'

Here is 'Darcy Bussell.'

The old polyantha 'Caldwell Pink.'

'Graham Thomas.'

Pink Knockout. 

Red Knockout - 'Radazz.' 

A tricycle loaded with pansies.

The violas are flourishing. Here's traditional purple.

But they come in many colors - all pretty.

The lemongrass gets knocked back when the first frost comes, but so far it is loving this extended autumn. 

And so are the red kalanchoes, still blooming on the patio table.

I do have a few new blooms this month - such as this Turk's cap.

The Fatsia japonica, or Japanese aralia, is putting forth its weird little blossoms.

As the blooms age, they attract a steady stream of pollinators, such as the tiny wasps and flies that you can see here.

The "yellowbells" or yellow Tecoma stans have finally joined their bronze sisters in putting out some blooms.

And, finally, my brugmansias have been a major disappointment this year. They normally bloom in late summer and right through our long autumn, but this year there was not even a bud showing until November. Now, in December, two of my three plants are finally sporting a few blooms.

This blush pink one has been the most prolific with its blooms.

This very pale yellow one has added a few blossoms as well, but my oldest plant, with its bright yellow blossoms, has not given me as much as a single bud this year. Wait'll next year and hope...

Thank you for visiting my garden on this December Bloom Day. As we near the end of the year, I want to wish all my readers peace and happiness for whatever holidays you celebrate at this time and may this coming year be your best one yet.

Thank you, also, to Carol of May Dreams Gardens, our hostess for this monthly meme. Happy Bloom Day!  

The Narrows by Michael Connelly: A review

The Narrows by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When it comes to reading series, I admit I am obsessive/compulsive. I read the books in the order of their publication and, if I find that I have accidentally read one out of order, I circle back and read the overlooked book(s) as soon as possible.

Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series is one of my favorites, but I hate it when he combines Harry with one of his other primary characters in books. I don't really mind Mickey, the Lincoln Lawyer, but I never liked Terry McCaleb. So, when it came time for me to read #10 in the Bosch series and I downloaded it to my Kindle and noticed the description of it as "Terry McCaleb #3" I groaned aloud and considered skipping it.

Then my OCD kicked in and I started to read. It didn't take long for my groan to become a chuckle. In the first few pages of the book, we find that Connelly has killed off Terry McCaleb. Nice move, Michael!

Terry had had a heart transplant and had to take medications to keep his body from rejecting the organ. He took the meds faithfully and should have been okay, but something went wrong and he suffered heart failure while out on his fishing boat with his partner and a paying customer, and he died before medical help could reach him.

The autopsy confirms heart failure as the cause, but his widow is not satisfied and has his meds tested by a lab. She learns that his capsules had been tampered with and believes her husband was deliberately murdered. She contacts Bosch, who is now a private detective after having retired from the LAPD, and asks him to investigate.

As Harry digs into the case, he discovers some troubling links to an old case involving a serial killer. Following the clues takes him to a desert site in Nevada where he finds the FBI in the process of digging up bodies - eight so far - from a burial site. He stumbles into the middle of their investigation, eventually hooking up with Agent Rachel Walling.

Walling was the agent who had tracked and shot the serial killer known as "The Poet" in the standalone novel by that name that Connelly wrote some years back. Though he was wounded, "The Poet" survived and escaped capture and went on to kill again. Now, it seems evident that the Nevada site is the work of that killer and the old team that tracked him is gathering to try to put an end to him.

The Narrows continues the saga of "The Poet" and the hunt for him. Many of the characters from the earlier book appear here. But now they've also got Harry Bosch on their team. Can there be any doubt of the outcome?

Meanwhile, on the personal front, Harry is getting to know the daughter that he just learned about in the last book, Lost Light, and he is still entangled in a tormented relationship with her mother, his ex-wife Eleanor Wish. They can't live together, but it seems there are too many connections - mainly the daughter that they both love - to ever allow them to completely disconnect from each other.

Also, in the middle of his investigation, Harry is contacted by old friends from the LAPD informing him of a new policy implemented by the department that would allow him to rejoin it without having to repeat time at the academy. His old partner, Kiz, wants him back to help work cold cases, the kind that Harry never gives up on. Harry admits that he has missed having the badge and is sorely tempted to return. So, will he or won't he?

Michael Connelly is a very clever writer and he basically had me from the first sentence on this one. He moved the narrative along at such a pace that I really found it hard to put down. Plus, I loved the little shout-outs that he found a way to give to some of his fellow mystery writers like Ian Rankin and Clive Cussler. He also has some references to a movie that was apparently made by Clint Eastwood from one of his novels - although I didn't see it - and it seems that Connelly probably didn't care much for it. Just another juicy little fillip to add to the pleasure of reading this very good book. Reader's OCD sometimes pays off.



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Poetry Sunday: Goodwill to Men - Give Us Your Money

Pam Ayers is an English poet, comedian, songwriter, and presenter of radio and television programs in the U.K. I think she catches the spirit of the season pretty well with this poem. 

Goodwill to Men - Give Us Your Money

     by Pam Ayers

It was Christmas Eve on a Friday
The shops was full of cheer,
With tinsel in the windows,
And presents twice as dear.
A thousand Father Christmases,
Sat in their little huts,
And folk was buying crackers
And folk was buying nuts.

All up and down the country,
Before the light was snuffed,
Turkeys they get murdered,
And cockerels they got stuffed,
Christmas cakes got marzipanned,
And puddin's they got steamed
Mothers they got desperate
And tired kiddies screamed.

Hundredweight's of Christmas cards,
Went flying through the post,
With first class postage stamps on those,
You had to flatter most.
Within a million kitchens,
Mince pies was being made,
On everyone's radio,
"White Christmas", it was played.

Out in the frozen countryside
Men crept round on their own,
Hacking off the holly,
What other folks had grown,
Mistletoe on willow trees,
Was by a man wrenched clear,
So he could kiss his neighbour's wife,
He'd fancied all the year.

And out upon the hillside,
Where the Christmas trees had stood,
All was completely barren,
But for little stumps of wood,
The little trees that flourished
All the year were there no more,
But in a million houses,
Dropped their needles on the floor.

And out of every cranny, cupboard,
Hiding place and nook,
Little bikes and kiddies' trikes,
Were secretively took,
Yards of wrapping paper,
Was rustled round about,
And bikes were wheeled to bedrooms,
With the pedals sticking out.

Rolled up in Christmas paper
The Action Men were tensed,
All ready for the morning,
When their fighting life commenced,
With tommy guns and daggers,
All clustered round about,
"Peace on Earth - Goodwill to Men"
The figures seemed to shout.

The church was standing empty,
The pub was standing packed,
There came a yell, "Noel, Noel!"
And glasses they got cracked.
From up above the fireplace,
Christmas cards began to fall,
And trodden on the floor, said:
"Merry Christmas, to you all."

This week in birds - #185

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment: 

A handsome Redhead Duck (Aythya americana) which I photographed on a small lake near the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Wildlife Refuge.

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Some referred to it as an "airpocalypse." It was smog so thick that it brought Beijing to a standstill and caused the Chinese government to issue a "red alert," warning people to stay indoors and to take precautions against breathing the polluted air.

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Should the world's nations, now in climate talks in Paris, agree to limit climatic warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead of the previously agreed upon 2 degrees? It would a goal that is extraordinarily difficult to achieve because the greenhouse gases already released into the atmosphere and expected to be released - meaning it's too late to stop them - will most likely heat the planet by that amount. 

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The climate talks are more urgent for some nations than for others. They are most critical for places like the Marshall Islands which are disappearing beneath the waves of the Pacific. Most of the islands are less than six feet above sea level and any rise in the ocean's level represents a catastrophe for them.

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The Northern Spotted Owl population continues to decline in every place where its habitat has been invaded by Barred Owls. The Spotted Owl is unable to successfully compete with the more aggressive Barred. This has led the Fish and Wildlife Service to kill some Barred Owls in areas where they have moved into the Spotted Owls' space, in an effort to protect the endangered species.  

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Loon-like diving birds with teeth at one time paddled through the now-vanished sea that used to cover middle North America in the Cretaceous Age. These were Hesperonis and Fumicollis and there are actually quite a lot of their fossils lying around in museums for scientists to study.

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Unfortunately, politics often plays a large role in the decision of whether or not to add a species to the endangered list. All too often the opinions of Fish and Wildlife Service scientists are overruled by those political considerations. This seems to have been the case in the recent decision not to give the protection of the endangered species status to the wolverine.  

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The Columbia River, once a refuge for salmon, has become too hot for them. Thousands died earlier this year as they headed up the river from the ocean to try to reach their traditional spawning area. A new refuge is needed to save the fish, preferably one with cooler water.  

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Tiny Blackpoll Warblers have the longest migration route of any North American warblers, making a nonstop flight each fall from New England along the Atlantic Ocean and down to northern South America. Those warblers that nest in the western part of North America migrate east first in order to fatten up for the long flight.

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Bald Eagles are flourishing throughout their range. A recent survey in Wisconsin revealed that the numbers of the birds in that state have reached new highs.

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One way to impact the generation of the greenhouse gases that are the human component of climate change is to decrease food waste. An effort has been going on at the sidelines of the Paris talks to encourage a movement to sell, purchase, and consume food that might ordinarily be considered too unattractive for the marketplace. The catchphrase of the movement is "Let's eat ugly!"

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The blog "Anthropod Ecology" introduces us to some interesting critters from the Arctic that seem almost indestructible. They are Arctic pseudoscorpions. 

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A Bald Eagle that had been shot in the leg was finally rescued from a tree in a backyard in New Jersey after a three-day effort. The bird was taken to The Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey for treatment and a hoped-for recovery.

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Some homeowners find it hard to give up their addiction to a bright green lawn. This is a particular problem in drought-ridden and water-rationed California. Some people have taken to putting signs on their lawn to announce that they are watering their lawns with gray water or with well water, hoping to escape the criticism and condemnation of their neighbors. 

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Ashy Storm Petrels spend most of their lives at sea. Unless they are incubating, they spend just a few hours on their nests at night. This makes them uniquely difficult to locate and to study, but scientists have managed to locate a nest by studying acoustic recordings.

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The blog "Spiderbytes" has information about some of the tiniest, but no less interesting, spider species.

  

Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones: A review

Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have previously enjoyed reading Dan Jones' books, The Plantagenets and The Wars of the Roses, and I find the history of 13th and 14th century England and Europe in general quite fascinating, so I looked forward to reading Jones' new book, Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty. But even though the subject interests me and Jones is a very good writer of histories meant for the general population, for some reason, I just couldn't get connected to the flow of the narrative. Maybe it had more to do with my distractions than with the quality of the writing.

As most people probably do, I had some general knowledge of the Magna Carta as a founding document of western democracies but I wasn't especially knowledgable about the intricacies of how it came about and the background that led up to it. Nor was I really aware that the original didn't last more than a matter of months and that it was reissued again and again in the decades that followed the end of John's reign.

It turns out that John was just as unsavory a character as we were led to believe in all those Robin Hood stories, although, as Dan Jones carefully points out, the real Robin Hood did not actually come along until later, long after John was dead. As king, it seems that John was almost universally hated and with good reason, too.

John was, of course, the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Two of their five sons lived to be king of England. Richard the Lionheart was first after the death of his father. He was mostly an absentee king, often on crusade and then banged up in prison for a while when he was captured by enemies and held for ransom. England paid the ransom and got their king back, but he was soon off again and died abroad.

Richard had no heirs and so his brother was next in line. John became king on April 6, 1199 and ruled until his death on October 19, 1216. During that time he carried on a dispute with Pope Innocent III but was later reconciled with him, and Innocent supported him in his later battles with the barons of England.

The barons hated him for many reasons and finally forced upon him the agreement known as the Magna Carta at Runnymede near Windsor Castle on June 15, 1215. It was meant to rein in the worst of John's excesses, but, as I've already noted, it didn't endure for long in its original form.

It's interesting that this failed document has had such a deep and lasting impact on later societies seeking to establish governments, including our own. It was one of the documents which inspired the writing of the Declaration of Independence and later the Constitution. So, perhaps Jones is right in characterizing it as "The Birth of Liberty."

Jones' books are carefully researched and this one is well-documented with footnotes and with an extensive bibliography. Moreover, he lays out the history of the document and its later influence on government in a straightforward and easy-to-follow manner. I'm not quite sure why it didn't grab my interest more than it did, but I certainly would not hesitate to recommend to anyone seeking information and an understanding of this important episode in the history of England and the West.


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