Shadow Shot Sunday #28

Wrought Iron Table Shadow

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Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

I originally began the Charlaine Harris "Sookie Stackhouse" vampire books because they take place in my part of the world and often mention places with which I'm quite familiar. I met Harris at a book signing in her hometown and she spoke at an event I attended in my own community.

Several of my family members read the series, so we pre-ordered it from Amazon and it arrived last week, right on schedule. I took a break from my challenge reading and jumped right in. Dead Reckoning is the eleventh book in the series and I'm afraid it's getting a little stale. In addition, there seem to be several continuity problems with earlier books. Don't get me wrong...it's still fun, entertaining, mindless reading, but it just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I plan to keep on with the series because Harris promised she would wrap it up within a set number of books, but I'm not sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one to come out.

Ponderings #6

Tell me your choices. Mine are in bold green type.


1. Coffee or tea ? (I drank coffee daily for years, but much prefer hot tea now.)

2. Coca Cola or Pepsi ? (I rarely drink sodas, but always liked Coke best. If it has to be diet, make it a Dr. Pepper.)

3. Digital or Analog clocks and watches ? (If I see a time in digital format, I have to picture a regular clock face in my mind.)

4. Morning person or Night Owl ? (This really depends on what's going on in my life. I can be either.)

5. Fir trees (evergreens) or Deciduous trees ? (I love the colors of autumn.)

A quick rant

I try to refrain from ranting on here too often, but this is one of those times I just can't help myself. 

I've posted twice about something that really, really bothers me - improper use of ATVs.  You can click here and here to see those rants.  This week I experienced yet another irritating (and dangerous) ATV scenario.  As I was driving down our county road I met a 4-wheeler going top speed with two young girls aboard.  In addition to the usual offenses (underage, riding double, driving on a public road) the driver had one hand off the controls, obviously looking at something on her cellphone!!  Arrrrghhhh!!!!

I have a feeling it's going to be a long summer.  *sigh* 

Shadow Shot Sunday #27

Ookpik shadow

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Fish, No Fish, and Cicadas

I currently have two tropical fish tanks, a 23-gallon hex-front flat-back in the kitchen and a 55-gallon rectangular tank in the living room.  The kitchen tank houses a gourami and a tiger barb.  The larger tank has two glowlight tetras and three large silverdollar fish.  I recently saw the cutest little angelfish at WalMart and decided to buy some for both tanks.  In addition, I got a plecostomus for each tank to cut down on the need for algae scraping.  *sigh*  My fish obviously didn't roll out the welcome-wagon for the newcomers.  Both the plecostomus and the angel I put in the small tank are dead.  I found the bones of the former this morning and all traces of the latter were gone within the first 24 hours!  Of the three angels and one plecostomus I put in the larger tank, only one lone angel remains.  I've noticed it hides all the time.  Good luck little angel!

We've had so much wind and bad weather lately we haven't been able to do any fishing.  We finally gave it a go yesterday evening.  Temperatures have been fairly chilly during the past week and there is a lot of new water in the pond, so I wasn't sure how well we would do.  It was really slow at first, but my husband ended up catching three - one of them fairly large.  Me?  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  The sad thing is I forgot to carry my camera with me and I missed some nice photo opportunities.  Cows, Cormorants, Canada Geese....all sorts of nice "naturey" things.  Oh, well.  Maybe next time.

I should have waited a week to post about the Cicadas.  The volume of their "singing" has doubled and there's no doubt now what is making it.  It's truly amazing!! 

An Incredible Award

How about this... John over at FULL-ON FORWARD gave me an award! I'm honored that he finds inspiration from my thoughts and ramblings. Thank you, John!!

Now, what I'm actually supposed to do is pass this on to ten more bloggers that I find inspiring. I'm always hesitant to single folks out because sometimes people don't like doing this kind of stuff. What I'm going to do instead is offer this award to any of the blogs that I visit. You know if I read your blog and comment that I consider you deserving!

For those of you who have never visited John's blog, click on the link above and check it out. I can guarantee you will be entertained!

What IS that noise??

About a week ago I stepped outside and heard a curious sound.  At first I thought it might be a small leak on the gas pipeline near our house, but no... it wasn't coming from that direction.  There's a set of high-voltage power lines in the direction it did seem to come from, but sound can be deceptive.  Either notion was mildly disturbing.  Occasionally I wouldn't hear it, but other times it was so loud I could hear it in my home with the doors and windows shut! 

Turns out "Mother Nature" is to blame.  It's nothing more than Brood XIX of the Periodical Cicada!!  It led me to do a little research and see what I could learn.  I grew up plucking little brown shells (the exoskeletons they leave behind) from trees.  We knew they were left by what we called "locusts", but I now know are actually Cicadas.  There are annual varieties (which is why I found the shells every year), but there are also Periodical Cicadas which only emerge on a 13 or 17-year schedule.  The ones in our area are the 13-year variety and belong to Brood XIX.  Come 2015 we may see some again when Brood XXIII emerges.  The little critters spent the past 13 years underground and have all emerged simultaneously to "sing" for the next month.  It's an amazing sound!  My newspaper reported that there was a case a few years back where the sound was so intense near the Memphis Airport that it was louder than the jet engines!

I tried to capture the sound on my cellphone to share here.  It's a poor video, but maybe if you turn up your volume you will be able to hear the steady hum of the Cicadas in the background.  Oh, and that tree in the clip is the same one pictured here.    

A Vine in the Blood by Leighton Gage

I don't usually like to read books in a series out of order, but when Leighton Gage left a comment on my review of his first Mario Silva book and offered to send me his latest .... well, I couldn't resist!  I told him I had already completed my South American requirement for the Global Reading Challenge, but he said that was fine and he'd send me the file for my Kindle anyway. 

Football, or soccer as it's known in the US, is big business worldwide, but especially in Brazil.  As A Vine in the Blood begins, the mother of Brazil's most famous player, Tico "The Artist" Santos, has been kidnapped and held for ransom on the eve of the next World Cup.  Was the motive really money or was it just an attempt to throw the national hero off his game, thereby diminishing Brazil's chances at winning the Cup?  Everyone wants to help with the investigation, even the shadier elements of society. 

As in Blood of the Wicked, I was quite drawn to Inspector Mario Silva.  His likable personality meshes well with his co-workers and is a good counter to those in the novel who are meant to be disliked.  (and oh, how I despised The Artist's girlfriend!!)  The story was fast-paced and exciting, yet not nearly as violent as Gage's first novel.  A winner all around!

Although A Vine in the Blood is the fifth book in the Silva series, it can easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone.  I still plan to read the books that I've skipped since I enjoy the series so much. 

A Vine in the Blood is already available in Australia and will be released in the US at the end of December. 

Shadow Shot Sunday #26

Rosemary Shadows

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