Spirit of the Woods Hike - January 2019

 
Today was the monthly Spirit of the Woods hike, and we had 13 hikers! Since it was out and back, people could choose their own distance. About half turned around to do a five mile hike, but some of us stuck with it and did the full eight miles. This is at the bridge over Jenks Creek.



The fog was still lurking in some places. I liked the way it looked at one of the two-track crossings.



We walked through Sterling Marsh, where I hiked with Cathy last fall.



This sign about wetlands is posted near the marsh, but I don't think I've showed it on the blog before. Our youngest hiker, Sophie (not the dog Sophie of course!) says she's going to try for the Hike 100 Challenge this year.



And I have to show you the sunrise again. The foggy frost was really cool.



After hiking, six of us went out to get something to eat and visit. That was fun because three of those people are always way out front and I don't get to talk with them very much.

Hike 100 2019: 8 miles

In other news: I did a little bit of bookwork and made split pea soup.

North Country Trail, 76th St to 96th St and back, Lake County, Michigan

	See Spirit of the Woods Hike- Dec 2018 See Sterling Marsh with Cathy
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Field, Pond, More Purchases

 
I took my little 3-mile walk today. The sun was shining, and that was a good enough reason to get out and exercise.

The light made the fields a creamy golden color



The bypass pond is frozen and still, but the shadows almost look like waves.



Apparently, so many things happened in 2018 that I pretty much forgot a bunch of the year happened. Here are three more purchases that were really good.

First up is the messenger bag I bought as a retirement/birthday gift for myself. The only picture you've seen of it was the advertisement, not the bag as I actually received it. Well, it has been perfect! I had to mend one little thing that wasn't right when it arrived, but that was easily dealt with, and I've been really happy with it. Its main fault is the lack of a good place to put pens and pencils, but I found a leather pencil case (really a small clutch purse, but it's perfect) at a store that was going out of business, and bought that too.



The other two neat purchases are fabric. The first is for the next pair of pajamas pants. Loretta was with me and we got enough so she will get some too.



This next picture isn't going to look like much, but I am really happy about it. After the saga of the ruined pants on my fall hike, I started thinking about fabric for the next pair that don't come off a thrift shop rack. I got to thinking about my favorite hiking pants of all time, and they were a cotton/nylon blend fabric. This has some of the better properties of pants for hiking because of the nylon, and doesn't give me a rash. Since I have to order most any fabric I get any more, I went looking, and found this great woodsy color. So, probably in the spring there will be more sewing!



In other news: Wow. I accomplished a lot today. Errands all over the place, laundry, one more trip to the grocery store because apparently everyone was making split pea soup last week. But today I found some. Miscellaneous stuff. Maybe early bed, since I didn't sleep well last night.

	See Best Purchases of 2018 See Commence Level Five
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Best Purchases of 2018

 
As you've heard before, I hate shopping.

This was a pretty normal year, with only a couple of purchases worth mentioning as worthy.

The first item has become an ongoing purchase, or best "shopping find." I've been eating a lot of salads, and trying to incorporate a lot of dark greens. Since that goofy intestinal infection (that was never identified) I had in May of 2014, I've been working hard to re-establish my gut bacteria. Not such an easy task when they are all destroyed. I've been proclaiming myself at 100% OK for about 6 months, but I'm still trying to eat a lot of pre-biotics. (Please notice that it took FOUR YEARS to get my guts back to functioning correctly.)

So.. dark greens. I like kale. I like kale a lot. And it's cheap. But it gets pretty harsh day after day in the dinner salad. Spinach is usually $3 a bag or more and it gets slimy fast.

However, I've found these tubs of Artisan Lettuce at Aldi. Usually $1.79 or $1.89, and they contain four little heads, usually two green, two red. Sometimes the green ones are two different kinds of lettuce. They last very well, and don't get slimy. I mix them with boring old iceberg. Yummy!



You've already seen the other great purchase, made before my Midland to Mackinac hike. But what you don't know is that these shoes fit so well I ordered a second pair. I should be good on shoes for a while!



And just for something more natural, no purchase required, here's tonight's sunset.



In other news: I ordered enough books for my upcoming trip east (sticker shock!), did more bookwork, and re-installed some software I need to be able to begin work on North Country Quest again. Tried to find something I wrote a couple of years ago. No luck. Hope it's not lost, but who knows?

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Best Books Read in 2018

 
We are finally getting some actual snow. It was pretty wet to try skiing, but maybe tomorrow.



I made up for not reading as much last year. I think I read 102 books this year. The computer crash mid-year forced me to try to recreate some of the list, but I know I didn't read fewer than 102. That's 28,588 pages. 31 of them were non-fiction. Most of the fiction were mysteries (cozy, thriller, traditional, whatever). I doubt you'll be surprised by that!

Anyway, here are the ten I have selected as the best reads of 2018, in alphabetical order.

Title	Author	Genre
Brief Review
A Certain Justice	P.D. James	mystery
This is classic James, but one of her best. She explores the twists of the legal system and the depravity of human morals while spinning an intriguing story. Really a literary work as much as a mystery.
Crimes of Love	Donald Levin	mystery/police procedural
Don is a "new" author friend of mine. We met this summer, and I've become a huge fan of his books. This is the first in the Martin Preuss series. The main character of Preuss is truly well-developed and complex. The plot was compelling and fast-paced, trying to locate a little girl who has gone missing.
Escape from Camp 14	Blaine Harden	History
The account of the only person known to ever escape from the North Korean prison camps. These are not military prisoners, but citizens who have been deemed political liabilities. Shin Dong-hyuk was born there, as were many children. He had never known any life except the living hell where one lived and ate only through betrayal and self-preservation. He heard of the "outside world" from another prisoner, and they attempted to escape. Shin succeeded. The remarkable story includes the young man's continuing struggle to adapt to a world where freedom and love exist.
Facing Down Evil	Cliff VanZandt	History
This is a memoir by Cliff VanZandt, the chief hostage negotiator and profiler for the FBI for many years. Although we've now become used to profiling through popular television series, this is the real deal, and much of what he shares is from the early days when it was a brand-new technique. He was involved in capturing the Unabomber, and correctly profiled Timothy McVeigh.
Incursion	J.D> Coleman	History
I never expected to like this book as much as I did. In the first place, it's a straight-up war history, filled with dates, details, place names, military terms and minutiae. I picked it up because it covers the period of the Viet Nam War when the US went into Cambodia to root out North Vietnamese supply bases. I have some reason to believe that this is the time period when our Joshua was airlifted to Saigon, so I thought there might be some general information in the book relative to actions like that. There was not. Nevertheless, I was fascinated with learning about a period of that war when we were actually winning, and how the realities there were so much in contrast to the ways my generation was strongly protesting our presence there.
The Onion Field	Joseph Wambaugh	True Crime
This is the true story of the kidnapping of two policemen, and the subsequent murder of one of them. The title refers to the place where the murder occurred. Although the events happened in 1963, and since then many better practices to protect policemen have been established, this is a frightening story of what can go wrong on any given night. The court battle at the end is enlightening as well.
Original Sin	P.D. James	Mystery
What can I say? I read through a whole pile of James' mysteries this year. This one really stood out. She manages to bring all the expected menace and evil of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century book to a more modern setting. This setting is a publishing company located in London and rigidly controlled by the old guard. Reference the title for plot possibilities!
The Sign and the Seal	Graham Hancock	Speculative History
Hancock is a journalist who takes on a personal quest to find the lost Ark of the Covenant. Although this was over 500 pages, I could not put it down. I love a good real-life mystery!
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicker	Kate Summerscale	True Crime
This was an absolutely fascinating account of a murder which took place in England in 1860. A three-year old child was found with his throat slit and thrown into a privy. Real detecting by the police was just beginning to be implemented, and this case became the downfall of perhaps the best detective of the times, probably through no fault of his own.
Winter Prey	James Sandford	Thriller/Mystery
I like Sandford's style, and this was a fast-paced thriller with multiple suspects chasing through the frozen landscape via snowmobile, jeep, etc. Just a good solid read.

In other news: I spent all day doing bookwork, and then running errands and shopping. It's all part of the indie author life, even though no actual writing occurred.

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Top 10 Events of 2018

 
I usually do some "Best Of" posts about the previous year when we hit January. But I don't think I've ever tried to choose the best events. Probably I should have, but it was hard to limit myself to 10. I know... what an arbitrary rule! Nevertheless, from a list of 15 standouts, I narrowed it to 10 outstanding events of 2018. Here they are in chronological order.

And when a person has to struggle to pick only 10 great events of the year, it was a VERY good year!

Retirement

April- Actually, all this did was phase me from one job back to being self-employed as a full-time author. But it was a much-anticipated transition.


One More Shift

Hocking Hills with Marie

April/May- This includes the North Country Trail/Buckeye Trail Celebration, and an extra few days with just Marie. Spending time with the friends who care the most about the trail I love the best. Hiking. Seeing plants and rocks. Finding a newly emerged luna moth. Best Friend time.

Buckeye Trail Surprise


Finding a Yellow Red Trillium

April- This is a rare color variant, and I correctly identified it despite being the wrong color. In Ohio


Red Trillium Color Variant

Visiting Alabama with Loretta

May- This trip included seeing Ester and celebrating joint birthdays, of course time with Loretta, lots of new plants, visiting a wildlife refuge, hikes, birds, great friends, selling books, parties. Just wow.


Author Event, Florence, Alabama

Michigan Outdoor Writers Association Award

June- One of my Get Off the Couch Columns took 3rd place for the James H. Hall award

James H. Hall Award from MOWA

Mystery Writers Intensive Workshop

June- I spent five days at Interlochen improving my writing skills and interacting with other authors. We had to write group stories about this murder mock-up. Just outstanding. Took a few walks too.


Interlochen Mystery Writers Intensive

Impossibles Reunion

July- The 50-year reunion of the Impossibles Bible Quiz Team.


50 Years of Impossibilities

Hiking the Midland to Mackinac Trail

Sept/Oct- Hiking this 210-mile trail.

Conclusions about the Midland to Mackinac Trail

Finding a Picture of Great-Uncle Ben

October- for some reason, this just brings me a great deal of joy. Not really able to explain it fully.

Startling Family Resemblance

Writing Six Books!

December- I actually wrote six books this year. I'm sort of in shock myself. The four children's mysteries: The Secret Cellar, The Hitchhiker, The ABZ Affair, and The Bigg Boss. Then I wrote the Midland to Mackinac Hiking Trail Guide. Finished the year with Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe.


Trail guide only at Smashwords.
All others at Smashwords or Amazon.


Conclusions about the Midland to Mackinac Trail

Thanks to SO many of you who participated in making this a great year!

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