The Hermits' Rest

Book Report: The Land and its People

Yeah, I already finished another book. Reading is about all I can manage right now. So, this is the latest essay collection by David Sedaris, a writer I’ve always found funny. A lot of his funniness comes from his voice when he’s reading his essays, which I’ve enjoyed more than once. The Santaland Diaries is really great. I got his latest collection, The Land and its People (2026), on my most recent foray into Barnes and Noble, and the book’s time at the top of the to-read list finally arrived. I was ready for something not about nuclear warheads, for sure.

I do find the rants of an aging gay New Yorker comforting and entertaining. I don’t find them uproariously funny but that’s okay. I’m sure I’d be guffawing more if I knew (or cared) more about life in New York City among the literate elites. But at least I’m fairly culturally literate, so I followed most of the references to famous people and their buddies who hang out in fancy restaurants and hotels.

You know, I just might not be in the mood for rich people feeling sorry for themselves, me included (borderline). So don’t let my negativity steer you away from this collection. There are some gems in there, especially toward the end. I giggled at the essay about how people mispronounce words they e never heard aloud before —there were some new ones in there for me. And I enjoy his undying love for his husband and siblings (especially Amy and Gretchen).

I’d say if you like self-deprecating humor and wry observations of the human condition, you can’t go wrong with anything David Sadaris writes. And the f you get a chance to see him live, treat yourself to the performance!

Book Report: Seek Immediate Shelter

I thought the idea for this book was fascinating. It’s about various members of a community who experience an announcement of an incoming ICBM missile telling them to seek shelter (immediately, as the title implies). Seek Immediate Shelter, by Vincent Yu (2026) focuses on new characters in each chapter, but since they’re nearly all members of the town’s ethnic Chinese community, it’s not surprising that they go into the same shops or have met each other.

As much as I loved the premise of the book, I found the characters so incredibly human, flawed, and often unkind that I found it hard to empathize or even like them. You do eventually find out how some of the folks came to be so damaged and “messed up,” which helped me understand more. The people are really different from most characters in books, and I credit Yu with creating such a unique community.

Yu writes beautifully, with spare prose that provides the reader ample opportunity to read between the lines and come to their own conclusions. I enjoyed reading the book, even though I’ve had nightmares about bombs coming ever since “duck and cover” training in the 60s. I liked that each chapter could be read as its own novella. It’s an easy book to read in chunks.

I’d say it’s a challenging book to read, because the characters are a bit sad and directionless, but honestly, it’s kind of fun to read a book about average people in extraordinary situations. Hmm.

What does Cameron need?

What’s one thing that would instantly improve your city?

The town I live closest to is Cameron, Texas, with between 5,000-6,000 people. It could use many things, though it’s improving over the past few years. There’s just one thing I wish we still had, a hospital.

Cameron has had one in the past. This was on Crockett Ave.

Like oh so many small towns in Texas, Cameron had a hospital not all that long ago, the replacement for the one shown above. There were questionable management practices and it failed in 2018. The other hospital in the county, which was owned by the same company, bit the dust not long afterward.

The Cameron Hospital is now where most of the county government offices are. The Rockdale one is now being renovated as an educational facility.

All these other uses are great, but that leaves the entire county with no place to go for emergencies. It’s 45 minutes to the closest hospital in Temple, where our family spends a lot of time. I’d go to College Station and hope the extra ten minutes to get there wouldn’t kill me.

We do have two clinics, and I really like the local one I go to, where I know the people. But these aren’t for urgent care or emergency care. And there are no hospital beds in this county.

You’ve probably heard of the rural health care crisis. It’s real! Of course it’s just one piece of the healthcare problems in the US. What a mess.

But hey, I have a very pretty plant on the porch. That’s my little glimmer of the day.

I used to go places

What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken?

Hello. I can answer this question in two ways. The longest distance I ever traveled was to Switzerland, which I have done twice, one when my children were young, and then when Lee and I went on the Rhine River cruise. the first trip was pretty much a nightmare and the second was the best vacation I’ve ever been on. I wish I could go on another Viking Cruise. Just the right mix of relaxing and seeing new things.

The longest length of time I’ve ever traveled was when I went to Toronto for three weeks to work. I had a wonderful time. It was probably the highlight of my time at Planview. I felt respected and valued by the nice people at CIBC (a bank).

Still feeling down. My Mom’s birthday was today, 104 years ago, so unlike many of my friends, I’m not freshly grieving or treasuring a living parent. But mostly the remembrance of 9/11 and all those lives lost hurts so much. (I’ll not repeat my personal tale, preferring to stick to the big picture).

Today’s coloring. Not scanned so it doesn’t look great.

And it’s so hot. Etc. So I colored and tried to enjoy football. However political ads and the fixation on gambling tamps my enthusiasm down. Whine.

So annoyed at Paxton ads that I made a drab mandala.

I’ll be back soon

Just not quite myself, so I’m pretty boring. Highlights? It rained .03” yesterday. I have spent most of my time the past few days working (not today), doing necessities like feeding animals, listening to birds (migrating sandpipers are here), and reading.

Other than that, I’m coloring. Keeps anxiety attacks at bay.

Lee scanned these for me. They look better in person, because some of the colors have metallic sheens in a second color.

If pets could talk

If your pet could talk, what would be the first thing it says?

Feed me. Now I need a nap.

I’m worried about various illnesses. Dogs have bad allergies (Penney got steroids). Black widows are on the prowl again. My mental health is slipping—I can’t make myself do things i know I need to do. I just want to read.

I guess I couldn’t do much outside anyway, since they fertilized the field across the road and it smells like a very ripe diaper. I still have humor.

A book I regret reading

Have you ever regretted reading a book — which one and why?

Shoot, I wasn’t going to do the prompt today, but when I saw the question, the answer immediately popped into my head. I know the Sidney Lanier Elementary School librarian thought I was a mature child due to my vocabulary and reading skills. And I know she was aware that I loved books about horses. I’m guessing I’d pretty much gone through the entire horse collection during the hours Mrs. Atwater sent me away from the class so she could teach reading to the rest of the class in peace. But really. A ten-year-old girl is not a good candidate to read and appreciate the life lessons taught in John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony. Spoiler alert: the pony doesn’t fare well.

I don’t know if a 68-year-old highly sensitive adult woman who loves animals is a good candidate. Yep. I regret reading that book because it gave me many years of bad dreams.

Honestly, as hard as I’ve been trying, I feel like my attempts at seeing the good in the world, being friendly, and appreciating what I have can’t keep the mental struggles away. If you’re feeling down, too, I see you and commiserate. We can hold each other up. I’m here to listen, too. It keeps us connected.

Hey, look. It’s July and August of this year. Last year there were no pink days (over 100°) in the temperature blanket.

I do have things to bring a smile to my face, though. Kathleen gave me a very pretty tree of life hanging decoration and a whole set of matching coasters that she decorated herself. Each coaster is different!

Plus, I’m boosting my spirits by taking pride in doing hard things. For example, I’ve unpacked all my bags from my trip! And though I bought some shoes, I put three times as many in the donation boxes. Bonus: it’s been over a month and my closet is still all picked up. Look at meeee!

Note the empty space on the shoe shelves.

I will not dwell on the things I’ve not done that I should do. I’ll just try again tomorrow.

Airport survey time

What’s the best and worst airport you’ve been to?

Today I rested, as a worker I supposed to do on Labor Day. You’re also supposed to protest, so once again I’ll complain about the irony of being a contractor and being told not to work, but also not get it as a paid holiday. Sheesh. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

I’m not paying attention, Suna. I’m just glad you’re home.

I’ll just answer the blog prompt, then. You can answer too, unless you don’t fly, of course.

Favorite airport? I have a few I like, especially any airport with clean terrazzo floors. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is one I recently visited with great floors, interesting seating, and lots of light. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it looked.

Weird seats, shiny floors, lights. Myrtle Beach.

My other favorite airport is Hilton Head Island, also in South Carolina. It’s tiny, intimate, and oh-so-easy to get in and out of. I think they’re expanding it, which is sort of a bummer.

Runners-up include Greensboro/High Point, North Carolina, with just enough space for a friendly bar if you need one, and Portland, Oregon.

Least favorite airport? Just about any huge hub like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta. I have PTSD about O’Hare thanks to being there on 9/11, so I’ll add it to the list.

Outside the US, I like Toronto and I really don’t like Heathrow. Thanks to marrying a non-flyer, I don’t get to go many places outside the US anymore.

Feel free to share your favorites!

I’m glad to be back to be with all the birds. I missed them. I restocked the feeders and sat in the birding hut a while, even though it’s still darned hot. The new shades that were put up for me help a lot. My garden spider companion didn’t mind me one bit!

Air can come through, but the sun is blocked

I’m also glad to be back with the family, too. Travel is fun but regular routine and being a hermit are also good.

I was really happy to have Penney take a nap on my lap this evening. She seems less anxious about Benito being around.

There’s a lot of Louisiana in Louisiana, too

We didn’t do quite as much wandering as we headed home today, but we did take backroads through Louisiana after successfully navigating the big bridge across the big river.

I didn’t take as many photos out the car window today, because it’s love bug season. If you’ve never experienced it, give thanks. These things were so bad when I was in college that there were special stations on the Florida Turnpike where you could clean our windshield and radiator. So many cars overheated! You can see below why they are called love bugs. I remember my dad struggling to explain them to my brother and me as we played in our backyard kiddie pool.

Common love bug (***Plecia nearctica)***

We met no charming locals, but did get to see some interesting plants around our hotel and when we stopped at a ranger station somewhere along the way. We didn’t want to do more jungle exploration. We did see the scary jungle plant, kudzu. I didn’t know before today that it has pretty flowers that smell nice.

I had nightmares as a child that I’d wake up and kudzu had swallowed my house. I think I’d seen too many buildings covered in it on the roadside.

Today I learned that it’s a common ingredient in Asian food, as a thickener. The roots can be eaten like potatoes but are stringy. It was also used in Japan to make kuzufu, a traditional cloth. Huh!

It can be used for netting and baskets, too.

The first article I read said that it’s hard to decide if it’s invasive or not, since it’s also a crop. The claim is the best way to get rid of kudzu is to harvest it. Hmm. So many ideas.

Here are a few plants I found at the hotel and on our stops. I’m always impressed at the variety of plants you can find wherever you go!

One thing traveling through Louisiana will tell you is that it’s a very wet place. No matter when I looked at Apple Maps I could see water, whether a river, a creek, a bayou, or a lake. No wonder they call it sportsman’s paradise! I noticed we went by many lakes that appeared to be part of where a river once ran. I wish I had photos. Thanks, love bugs!

We’re home now. Other observations I can report are that there are fewer songbirds in Florida than farther west, at least right now. And I only saw two signs declaring allegiance to the current US President.

That will have to do! Thanks for traveling along with me.

There’s a lot of Mississippi in Mississippi

Today we set off from the edge of Florida, zipped through Alabama, and ended up in Lee’s favorite place to do bird watching, the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. He’s even come here without me.

I have never actually seen a crane here, though I see them often enough at home. My favorite part of this site is the nature trail, because it takes you through many fascinating plants that I’ve never seen elsewhere, including pitcher plants, my carnivorous favorites. Last time I was here I got great pictures of them, as well as flytraps (those weren’t blooming now).

I’m also fond of the bayou behind the trail, which is absolutely pristine and often has many water birds (not today). Photos don’t do it justice.

Rain held off for us, so we were able to go through the whole trail. I think I found new plants I didn’t see last time, which was a different season. It was extra humid, though. Whew. I’ve got some photos for you. I swear I omitted most tedious plant closeups.

I needed a cold drink, so we stopped at a gas station with an intriguing sign saying “We have deer burritos.” Well, that sounded interesting. We went in to find a shiny clean convenience store with people buying food that smelled really good. Everyone was extra friendly, and I enjoyed my conversation with the guy behind the counter about my love of boudin (it’s a Cajun rice sausage). He had, get this, boudin in an egg roll wrapper. That was my lunch, while Lee got deer burrito. Both were yummy.

Next, Lee said he had a surprise for me. He was going to the only “park” he could find between where we were and Laurel, the next stop. So we drove and drove. We saw a lot of tiny towns and trees.

We turned onto smaller and smaller roads, never seeing signs to any park. But the map software said there was a park!

We realized we were in a National Forest, but no sign said which one. We arrived at the park. It was a forest road not near any houses or anything.

Since we were there, we made the best of it and looked around. The woods were teeming with butterflies and native bees. They weren’t scared of us, so they zipped all around us. Magical! I found a few more plants, too.

On our way out, we kept going on the road to the “park” and saw that if we’d have come in that way, we’d have seen signs about numerous forests, preserves, trails and other places. At least we knew it was ok to be in there!

As we continued across Mississippi, which has lots and lots of tiny towns, lakes, and forests, we eventually made it to the edge of the state, Natchez. There was actually a hotel room available in the scenic River area. I was glad to see the Hampton Inn had been remodeled since I was last here.

We tried to go eat somewhere nice, but Lee got frustrated trying to find hidden historic areas. We ended up at Dairy Queen. It’s ok. We are tired from all the meanderings!

Home tomorrow.