Little House in the Big Woods

As a girl I read all the Little House books, and endlessly played 'little house' with my friends Clare and Laura. Laura always got to be Laura Ingalls because she had the right name. (No one wanted to be Nellie Olsen). I have copies of all the books and re-read them every now and again. I've read the first few books (before they get too 'girly') with the boys, which they enjoyed - I was surprised - they liked the accounts of making bullets, travelling in the wagon, and the stories about hunting!

I'm in Rochester Minnesota again for business. I left San Jose bright and early at 6:30 so ended up with an afternoon at leisure so I decided to make a trip to Pepin, Wisconsin, to Laura's birthplace.

The drive from Minneapolis to Pepin was gorgeous: I took the Great River Road, along the Mississippi until I got to Pepin. Lake Pepin, which the Ingalls family crossed while it was frozen, is part of the Mississippi River, and again, was just beautiful in the crisp autumn day.

Pepin itself is a very small town. It boasts a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, but it didn't really have anything of Laura's: just some contemporary stuff. The Little House itself is no longer there, but a replica is on the site.

The little house is indeed tiny, and still seemed isolated, although it sits on one of the main roads out of Pepin. There are no woods any more, the area is really agricultural now, but it was peaceful and pretty, and I was glad to spend my afternoon in Wisconsin.

Tonight there is snow forecast in Minnesota - I'm glad I bought my coat, but fear I didn't bring enough knitwear - what an opportunity missed!

The end of an era

This morning I finished reading "Blue at the Mizzen" the 20th book in Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin series. This is the last complete book in the series (there is a partial unfinished work that has also been published) and I read it really slowly to spin it out.

These books are rip-roaring accounts of Napoleonic seafaring and fighting, based on the life and activities of the fictional Jack Aubrey, the sea captain, and Steven Maturin the surgeon/spy.

For the last several years since I discovered this series they have been such a treat for me. I have not rushed through the series (as I sometimes do) but have saved them for vacations and business trips when I can really enjoy the narrative and the language of these stories. Mostly I have been getting the books out of the library, but have a few in the series that I particularly enjoyed.

The Patrick O'Brien books were the basis for the Russell Crowe film "Master and Commander" which is a combination of stories and characters from multiple books. I did enjoy the movie too, it was pretty close to the books and I liked the casting (although suspect Russell Crowe is maybe too good looking to be a true Jack Aubrey...in the books he is decribed as florid and overweight, but I liked to think that he might be handsome).

Sometimes reading fiction can open up a world of information, and these novels sent me reading other non-fiction works about Napoleonic sea life, and also to HMS Victory when we were last in the UK. It's great when the boys ask me questions about pirates, because I can answer a lot of the questions...

I'm told (Diane) that these are 'men's books' but I can recommend them to anyone of either sex who likes a good story, with a strong narrative, lots of excitement, and some interesting characters! I'm sorry that I have finished the series, but maybe now I can look forward to re-reading them.

Harry Potter

Along with 11 million others, I dived into reading this weekend. I pre-ordered my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and it was waiting for me when we got back from vacation.



I read it over the weekend, staying up far too late, and reading at every opportunity. No spoilers here* but I thoroughly enjoyed it.


* Gill and I used to watch Ally McBeal, although the series broadcasts were out of sync between the UK and USA. Once talking about where the action was up to I asked her "Have you got to the one where Billy dies yet?" which of course she had not! This phrase has become a generic in our dialog where there might be a spoiler in a book, or film.