The King of the Golden River

One of my favorite books from childhood is this fairy tale that features good little Gluck winning out in spite of all obstacles and with the help of Southwest Wind, Esquire. The author is John Ruskin (1819-1900), who is most famous for art criticism. The book was written in 1841 but published in 1851. Have any of you read it before? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_the_Golden_River.
There have been several illustrators starting with Richard Doyle in 1851. The pictures I soaked up as a child (see above) were by Fritz Kredel in the 1946 edition (World Rainbow Classics) and this edition is for me the only real King of the Golden River.
Although reading a story online is less than thrilling--nothing like having the actual book in one's hot little hands--here is the complete text for the next time you need escape reading.
http://www.kellscraft.com/ruskinkingcontents.html

Decisions, decisions

I decided not to decide (for now).

They're all too big and dazzling for my small garden.

Doggone it, here's a shout-out...

.... that needed to be said if you care about the English language at all. Maureen Dowd has hit the nail on the head once again!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05dowd.html?ei=5070

Hike yesterday: St. John's Pond Preserve

This little gem of a park (14 acres) in Cold Spring Harbor is maintained by the Nature Conservancy. It has some old growth areas with huge trees... the terrain is so steep farming was impossible. A sawmill once used the water power of the pond but is gone now, replaced by a fish hatchery. Along the trail there's a steep upward slope on one side and a steep downward slope to the pond on the other side.
Looking down the slope at a colorful mossy log.


Looking downward at another spot. Forgot to take pictures of the cathedral effect of very tall beeches, yellow birch, black birch, tulip trees, maples and oaks.

As Ovid has told us in the Metamorphoses, animals and people CAN turn into trees. Here we have a bird (see the eye?) turning into the root of a chestnut oak.

Seeking help for automotive problem

My car's sun visor has gone on strike. Something inside has popped...a spring?... and the darn thing won't stay in the up position., just flops freely. They tell me a new one would be amazingly expensive. Does anyone have any ideas for a solution? Those black marks are bits of velcro I stuck there, but that didn't work (glue too gooey; doesn't hold for more than 10 seconds.)

This is how it should look...and does for 10 seconds.

The passenger side visor is okay. So, all you engineering brains out there, what should be secured to what, and with what, to make the visor stay up?

This is Banned Books Week

Little Red Riding Hood? Banned? Ye gods!

In celebration of Banned Books Week here is a list of books that have at one time or another been banned or suppressed and some of them may surprise you. We need to be ever vigilant that our freedom to read what we choose is not limited or abolished by any group or individual.

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html

http://myweb.dal.ca/barkerb/fairies/grimm/026.html The version called Little Red-Cap

They're all we've got