Its Still Spring, Elephant Book Review, Easter Plans

We awoke this morning to rain again.

Spring preparations have started.

Easter Plans

Sue and I are hoping the family will be interested in going to the Fremont Farm this Easter. We will be setting up picnic spots and hope that everyone can come and have a great time.

We all met their a few Easters ago and it was wonderful. The weather at the time was a bit windy but it didn't dampen our spirits.

We plan to bring all the fixins so if you are wanting to come and don't have a thing to bring.. come anyway. There is always things to do there and its got a great combination of sun and shade.

I hope that Dad, King Easter Bunny will be hiding eggs. Do you think Dom will get the one with the money it this time?

The Merced Farm

The rain has actually helped the garden. The pansies are hanging in there hoping against hope that we have a long cool Spring. At one point their sensibilities were damaged by the quick warm up we have had. Some days were reminiscent of Puerto Vallarta in February.. ha

The peaches on the front yard trees have set heavily. A goal this year is to get them thinned so that energy from the trees will go to the peaches that have the greatest chance of making it. I have already started to pinch off the peaches and nectarines that have set too close.

Congrats are Due!

Congrats go off to the BrownKorbel patriarch for passing his exams and also getting another year older. He is the first of our "born in 1950" crowd of three that get the next year older designation.

Book Review

I just finished water for the Elephants. Its a great book that Dad has read in the recent past. Its headed for a new movie opening this month. It stars the Reese Witherspoon and should be pretty exciting if it doesn't stray too far from the book.

The author presents the story in semi memoir form from the prospective of a nursing home resident in his 90's that retells the story of depression era veterinarian that kicks up on a circus train that acquires an elephant that the previous owner characterized as "dumber than a sack of hammers." It is very well written and a pretty easy read.

A major drawback to this book is the depiction of animal cruelty. While it is not condoned it contributes to the atmosphere of this story. It was a pretty cruel era with many people out of a job. This circus train does not move to a happy ending. In fact it describes a historic circus tragedy of the era.

There is a love story, which of course I enjoy. The characters and their roles are pretty realistic for the era. The author claims to have spent four years researching this content for this book. Much of the content had to come from people that owned permissions to photos and their underground connections. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) had put many of these people underground even for research purposes.

Its Thursday, and for Kelly its Friday.. so everyone looks forward to the weekend.

Love to All

Pat