Life at these Speeds (2003) by Jeremy Jackson

We got this book because the movie based on it, 1 Mile to You.  It's about a high school runner who runs to, among other reasons, cope with a tragedy.  It's a decent story and motivates me off the couch and out for a mile jog or so.

mulch poem

A New Years Wish

the Lopez Tree Service blessed us with

a hot, sweating pile of mulch

that it dumped in our driveway.

We threw on some used coffee grounds courtesy of Starbucks.

then we added table scraps.

And finally we put on Griffith Park compost,

or zoo animal poo.

These castoffs provided

a cardio, muscle and brain workout,

and karma points from keeping stuff out of the landfill,

and will,                            

when mixed with sunshine, seeds and rain,

produce a good portion of our food for next year.

May your 2019 be filled with useful trash.

Why Religion? A Personal Story (2018) Elaine Pagels

This is a memoir by author and scholar, Elaine Pagels.  She is the author of Gnostic Gospels, which I read with interest in college.  This memoir is her backstory and personal take on the subject she's written about in her career.  She goes through heavy stuff including the loss of a son and husband in rapid succession.  The book is worth reading but only if you also read the Gnostic Gospels.

Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road (2018) by Kate Harris

This is a memoir of a couple of ambitious Canuck young women who traveled the silk road from west to east. It's a good travel story, somewhat informative, and inspiring. 

The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder (2018)

This is an odd book that was difficult at the start but really came together at the end.  The author had certain phrases he would repeat like mantras throughout that made more sense as I got into it.  The thesis is that Russia is basically at war with the US and other countries presently and is converting us (and others) into Russia-like countries. This denies their citizens hope that another place and anothe system can be better. 

This book is a good, strange insightful read.  It helps to make sense of the current events.

old glass bottle found in back yard

I found it digging by home plate, which is in the northwest corner of the back yard.  It says DES PAT 98424, which was a bottle design patented in 1935. It could have held a chemical for killing pain smell or medicine, or maybe something else.  Who knows.  But it does seem old.  It was buried under the roots of the removed oak tree, which likely preserved it.

from a website: http://www.historicbottles.com/medicinal.htm

"Classic Oblong" style drug/chemical bottle - This commonly encountered bottle on mid-20th century historic sites is what the maker - the Owen-Illinois Glass Co. - called in their catalogs a "Classic Oblong" and listed in those catalogs "Drug & Chemical Containers" sections (Lucas County Bottle Co. 1940s; Owens-Illinois Glass Co. 1952; 1962).  This example is 5.5" tall, holds 4 oz., has an external screw cap finish, and made of colorless glass that is slightly straw colored indicating glass decolorization with arsenic and/or selenium.  Click side view to see such which has several staggered vertical ribs defining the edge of the side.  Click base view to see such which, although hard to read, is embossed with DES. PAT. / 94824 along with a mold number "2" (to left side of base) and the glass makers marking (the earlier "Saturn" marking) with an undecipherable plant number, but a likely "38" date code (to right side of base).  The base also shows some of the suction scar made by the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine.  The best way to understand the somewhat "Art Deco" design is to view the original Design Patent #94824 which was issued in 1935 to an (apparent) employee of the glass company.  The patent date along with the noted catalog information indicates this bottle was popular from 1935 until at least the early 1960s, this being an earlier example indicated by the 1938 date code.  (All of the later examples would also have date codes on the base, if decipherable.)  It is likely that these bottles were also used for other products like hair tonic, aftershave, and other toiletries.

Strawberry towers-- start up costs

dripper line-- $13
strawberries-- $27
towers-- $22
soil-- $39