Books, teachers, a sweet mouse and turtles...

The man went into BCN on the weekend, and picked up a book, "Mischief in Patagonia" by H.W.Tillman. A fantastic sailor and climber and soldier at various times in his life. We love his books. When the man got back with this find, he mentioned that there were many more books in the store that we would love. Politely declining to shriek, "WHY DIDN"T YOU BUY THEM THEN????" I quietly decided to go in today and pick up some more. Fortunately for marital bliss, the man also independently decided that he should have picked up a couple of others...here's what I got:

"A World of my Own" by Robin Knox-Johnston...the story of his non-stop sail around the world. The first acknowledged, although there is debate about whether Bernard Motissier did in first. I think he did, he just chose to keep going, and went for an additional several months eventually stopping in Tahiti...It looks to be a good book and I haven't read it before.

I picked up two books by Eric C. Hiscock, "Atlantic Cruise in Wanderer III" and "Around the World in Wanderer III" Hiscock and his wife Susan are the Great grandparents of cruising, being one of the first to write definitively and clearly about how to go about this business for those who are going in small boats with just yourself and your spouse. Susan and Eric sailed and sailed and sailed and loved it....they are referenced by Knox-Johnston, who used their books to rig his boat, and by the Pardeys, and just about everyone else...their how to book is still valuable reading from the perspective of basic good seamanship.

Two more Tillmans..."Mischief goes South" and "Mostly Mischief" Mischief was his boat...the guy is amazing. I think I am glad that I never sailed with him, he brings stoicism to new heights, and never sailed with a woman...indeed seems to have had little to do with them EVER, but an amazing navigator and sailor.

Finally two books by Miles Smeeton, "Because the Horn is There" and "Sunrise to Windward" He was married to Beryl Smeeton, an amazingly driven adventurous woman and together they led astonishing lives. I think I am glad I wasn't their daughter...maternal instincts seem to have ridden low...but amazing travels.

OK, so that made me very happy.

If you want to do a little sailing reading yourself, here is an article written by a friend of ours about the quest for the perfect coffee afloat. I've had some of their coffee, and they know where from they speak. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

We have a new pet as well. A little tiny field mice kinda sweety has been sited in the herb planters outside the kitchen window...we are now putting out oatmeal and popcorn for him...he's cheap to feed and has come back for three nights running. He looks like the most adorable meatball you've ever seen, and his tail has got to be twice as long as he is. He has all of us girly gushing about how CUTE he is. Well, not the husband, but even he smiles and acknowledges that he is kinda sweet. He has the most absolutely adorable face and paws

The younger daughter's teacher continues to be a bit of a pain in the *ss. Today before lunch she confiscated the drawings of half the class, many of which were gifts to each other, seems that their drawings do not cover enough of the paper....as I am supplying a good portion of the paper....

Time for another meeting with her I think. She seems pretty constantly angry. If you don't like your job.....

Ho hum.

Lets hope we don't get her next year.

One of my questions is going to be who else is going along for this three day, two night field trip next week, because I cannot picture this woman as the stand in Mama for that long....

d*mn.

Finally, here is an incredibly cool website. Pacific leather back turtles have lost 90 to 95% or their population in the last 10 YEARS. Yes ladies and gentlemen, on our watch....so one thing that researchers and activist have done is create this really cool Turtle race! They've tagged 11 or 12 turtles while they were nesting on Costa Rica, and you can follow them on line as they swim towards the Galapagos. They can dive to 300 feet and hold their breath for an HOUR! The site is amazing, there is tons of kid-friendly funny well-written information, you can spend a lot of time on this site, and there are concrete ways you can help this species that is critically endangered and has been around for a mere 100,000,000 years....It is extremely well done.