The World of Sherlock Holmes

I don’t remember when I first encountered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. I imagine I read some if not all in High School. I became a fan, a Baker Street Irregular, if you will in the mid 1970s when I began as librarian at Holy Ghost Prep. I purchased facsimile Sidney Pages editions of the 56 short stories and four novels. I bought the 1975 green dust jacket, William S. Baring- Gould’s “The Annotated Sherlock Holmes.” In addition I purchased dozens of pastiche take offs, literary criticisms, Doyle biographies and books about Holmes’s London and other detectives. I even subscribed to the “Baker Street Journal” for several years.

In 1976 while in London, we went to The Sherlock Holmes, a pub I believe on Northumberland Street, where on the second floor is the recreated sitting room from 221b Baker Street. I don’t recall looking for 221B but was disappointed when we did not get the time to book a Holmes tour. We did get to Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland where Holmes and Morarity fought, leading to the “staged death” of Sherlock. He reappears in “The Empty House” when Doyle needing money agrees to bring Holmes back from the dead. Around the same time we saw The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of “Sherlock Holmes, “ at the Broadhurst Theatre. John Wood played Holmes. A framed poster still hangs in our laundry room. Naturally I watched Sherlock Holmes movies. At first the Basil Rathbone (Holmes) and Nigel Bruce (Watson). There were fourteen in all. I recently watched the most famous, “ The Hound of the Baskerville,” (1939) directed by Sidney Landfield.

I was drawn back to Holmes after reading, “The Great Detective: the amazing rise and immortal life of Sherlock Holmes,” (2015) by Zach Dundas. Dundas was drawn to Holmes when he was twelve years old. He has been an “Irregular” ever since. In two novels and one short story, the Baker Street Irregulars were street kids whom Holmes hires to investigate. In 1934 Christopher Morley organized a group that held an annual meeting and published a journal taking the name of the Baker Street Irregulars. There are similar chapters in cities across the world.

Dundas attempts to find the reason(s) that have immortalized Holmes and Watson. Fictional characters that are often written about as real. Characters repeatedly, constantly reborn, recreated in print, on stage, film, television, cartoons, art of all kinds. He explores many of the original Doyle stories, starting with the first, a novel, “A Study in Scarlet,” published in Benton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. It is here recorded the meeting of the medical student, consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and the Dr. John Watson who had joined British forces in India with the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers before being attached to the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot, saw service in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, was wounded at the Battle of Maiwand (July 1880) by a jezail bullet, suffered enteric fever and was sent back to England. Watson was looking for a room; Sherlock had rooms at 221B Baker Street in a building owned by Mrs. Hudson who will cook for them and clean the rooms to the extent allowed. Holmes would like someone to share the rent. A lifelong, should I say immortal partnership is born.

Although it wasn’t said until the beginning of “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange,” when Holmes awakens Watson by saying, “Come, Watson, come. The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!” From their first meeting they become partners, solving crimes. The first novel “A Study in Scarlet” involves a murder, a flashback to Salt Lake, Utah and of course Holmes amazing ability to observe and deduct upstaging Scotland Yard detectives, Lestrade and Gregson.

Dundas finds Watson who narrates most of the stories, despite criticism of sensationalism from Holmes, is a major reason for the endurance of the duo. Watson brings a humanity and every man quality to Holmes’s mystique. Holmes can go off on a tangent or if unchallenged by a case, a cocaine high. Watson is the rock always by his side. Of course the cast of characters, some make appearances in multiple stories. Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade and Gregson have been mentioned.

But then there is Mycroft, Holmes’s older brother and archenemies, Sebastian Moran, henchman to James Morariaty who Holmes describes: He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed — the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught — never so much as suspected.

And who could forget Irene Adler. In “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Watson writes, “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex… there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.” There are many other victims and villains. One of my favorites is the red headed Jabez Wilson who in “The Red Headed League,” is hired to copy an encyclopedia as a cover for bank robbers. Another is Miss Violet Smith in “The Solitary Cyclist.”

The setting is compelling. London, Hanson cabs, winding streets, cobblestones, Baker Street, Saint Bart’s Hospital, Scotland Yard, Simpson’s on the Strand, Lyceum Theatre, Cafe Royal, Speedy’s Cafe, Bloomsbury, Charing Cross station, trains into the countryside, Dartmore Moors, Sussex. Then the rooms at 221B. Deerstalker hat, pipes, tobacco in a Persian slipper, chemistry lag, magnifying glass. Then there was the gasogene for producing carbonated water; and a violin to assist Sherlock’s meditation. It was here that Sherlock and Watson met and interviewed many clients.

Sidney Paget illustrations

But is this enough to create a immortality where fans, “Irregulars” meet annually for dinners, publish numerous Holmes related books, movies and television series? Holmes was not the first consulting detective. Edgar Allen Pope’s Auguste Dupin came before him. But Holmes set the standard. Sidney Paget’s illustrations for the Strand magazine contributed a visual Holmes bringing to life Doyle’s verbal descriptions.

Doyle killed Holmes at Richenbach Falls but by 1897 needs money. A play he decides and William Gillette, an American actor brings Holmes alive on stage. Gillette portrays Holmes 1,3000 times. He introduced three elements that became synonymous with the famous detective: his deerstalker cap, his long traveling cloak, and his curved briar pipe. Gillette adds to the immortality of Holmes-Watson. Several years ago we visited the Gillette medieval castle he built in East Haddam on the Connecticut River. The castle with has 24 rooms, puzzle locks, secret doors, and even hidden mirrors that allowed Gillette to spy on his guests (including Albert Einstein and Calvin Coolidge) in order to time dramatic entrances for their amusement is fascinating. The estate, now called Gillette Castle is a state park, hosting approximately 100,000 visitors a year. Holmes lives on.

I’ve seen several Holmes plays in the area. In 2014 I saw “The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence” by Madeleine George at the Walnut Street Theatre. Amazon reviews: “Watson: trusty sidekick to Sherlock Holmes; loyal engineer who built Bell’s first telephone; unstoppable super-computer that became reigning Jeopardy! champ; amiable techno-dweeb who, in the present day, is just looking for love. These four constant companions become one in this brilliantly witty, time-jumping, loving tribute (and cautionary tale) dedicated to the people-and machines-upon which we all depend.” I remember having a drink in Doc Watson’s Pub before the show.

In 2015 I saw Ken Ludwig’s “Baskerville” at McCarter in Princeton. “Get your deerstalker cap on — the play’s afoot! Comedic genius Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) transforms Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic The Hound of the Baskervilles into a murderously funny adventure. Sherlock Holmes is on the case. The male heirs of the Baskerville line are being dispatched one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Watch as our intrepid investigators try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises, and deceit as five actors deftly portray more than forty characters. Does a wild hellhound prowl the moors of Devonshire? Can our heroes discover the truth in time? Join the fun and see how far from elementary the truth can be” (Concord Theatricals).

Books, theatre and films keep Holmes and Watson alive. Between 1939 and 1946 Basil Rathbone (Sherlock) and Nigel Bruce (Watson) stared in fourteen films based on the Doyle stories. I’ve been watching them again. “The Hound of the Baskerville” (1939) is oh so classic. “Terror By Night” (1946) and “Dressed to Kill” (1946) have been recent views. Rathbone became in face of Sherlock Holmes. Some of the films were set in World War II. Holmes and Watson could be transported fromVistorian London.

On television, from 1984 to 1994, Jeremy Brett played Sherlock Holmes in 41 Granada TV episodes. Edward Hardwicke played Watson. A great series. From Wikipedia: “Brett was obsessed with bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes’s rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, “he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety.”

Holmes’s obsessive and depressive personality fascinated and frightened Brett. In many ways Holmes’s personality resembled the actor’s own, with outbursts of passionate energy followed by periods of lethargy. It became difficult for him to let go of Holmes after work. He had always been told that the only way for an actor to stay sane was for him to leave his part behind at the end of the day, but Brett started dreaming about Holmes, and the dreams turned into nightmares. Brett began to refer to Holmes as “You Know Who” or simply “HIM.”

From 2010-17 Benedict Cumberbatch played Holmes in a Masterpiece production “Sherlock.” Martin Freeman played Watson. There were thirteen episodes created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatis. “Gatiss has criticised recent television adaptations of the Conan Doyle stories as “too reverential and too slow,” aiming instead to be as irreverent to the canon as the 1930s and 1940s films starring Rathbone and Bruce, which were mostly set in the then-contemporary interwar era.” (Wikipedia). In the series, it’s set in the present day with Holmes using GPS, cell phone and internet. Holmes evolves, is reborn, reinvented for a dedicated audience.

“Over the years, over 350 actors have portrayed Arthur Conan Doyle’s titular detective character, Sherlock Holmes. From the early days of silent films to today’s streaming giants, the world cannot seem to get enough of the deductive hero and his inquisitive sidekick, Dr. Watson. The character has been reimagined several times over the years, and has been modernized to fit the sensibilities of an ever changing audience (Caroline Young, 1922). I recently watched Billy Wilder’s “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” (1970). “Holmes and Dr. Watson take on the case of a beautiful woman whose husband has vanished. The investigation proves strange indeed, involving six missing midgets, villainous monks, a Scottish castle, the Loch Ness monster, and covert naval experiments. Can the sleuths make sense of all this and solve the mystery?” (IMBD)

I didn’t like the recent Robert Downey, “Sherlock Holmes” (2009) and “A Game of Shadow” (2011). His Holmes was too fast paced for me. I did enjoy “Enola Holmes” (2020) and “Enola Holmes 2” (2022). Millie Bobby plays Enola, Sherlock’s younger sister. She is a welcome addition to the world of Sherlock Holmes.

Reading “The Great Detective” brought me back into the world of Sherlock Holmes where “it will always be 1895.” True but like so much in the Canon, dates and events get confused, can be contradictory. But Holmes and Watson live on, 221B Baker Street will continue to be a safe haven from crime and mayhem. Our consulting detective and his partner, roommate will live on. I will continue to rewatch films. I have Brett and Cumberbatch and Peter Cushing (a1965 series) on DVD or VHS. In my bedroom closet there is a shelf full of Doyle’s books, pastiches and reviews. Hours and hours of reading and watching.

The game is afoot. Elementary.

Hemingway and Cooper

I thought I knew a lot about Ernest Hemingway. I’ve written before that my first college paper in an English class was about Hemingway. I read everything he had written and all the criticism that I could find. Then I had difficulty finding a topic for my paper. See my post Hemingway, https://vprofy.wordpress.com/2021/07/01/hemingway/

I did not know that Hemingway and Gary Cooper became lifelong friends until I read “Ernest Hemingway & Gary Cooper in Idaho: an enduring friendship” (2017) by Larry E. Morris. It a well written History Press book. In the late 1930s, Hem was ending his marriage with Pauline Pfeiffer (his first marriage to Hadley Richardson had ended in 1927) and having an affair with Martha Gellhorn who he would marry in 1940. He and Marty escaped to the Sun Valley Lodge in Idaho. Hem took a room where he would work on “A Farewell to Arms.” A local paper reported that Hemingway might be joined by movie star Gary Cooper for some fishing and hunting.

Coop came and they talked hunting and fishing. Activities they both enjoyed. As the years passed Hem and Coop stayed in touch. Their careers took off. Hemingway’s books; Cooper’s films. They met together in Idaho for hunting trips several times. Coop followed Hem’s publishing; Hem followed Coop’s film. Their friendship grew and flourished despite personality differences. Hemingway was loud, brash and hard drinking; Cooper was much more quiet, humble, reserved. They would meet in Idaho and met in Hollywood, New York, Paris and Cuba.

I’ve been a Hemingway follower since I was a sophomore in high school. I’ve enjoyed many of Gary Cooper’s films. I was familiar with Hemingway in Idaho but had never heard of his friendship and hunting and fishing trips with Gary Cooper. I particularly likes the photographs of them together.

Both got sick in early 1961. In May, Gary Cooper died. Two months later on July 2 the world learned of the death of Ernest Hemingway. It was reported that he shot himself with a shotgun. It was believed to be suicide. They had remained friends to the end.

The Quiet Zone

Have you ever heard of Green Bank, WV? How much time do you spend on your cell phone, Wi-Fi? Is too much screen time dangerous? Are radio waves from our devices, microwaves and all kinds of electronic gadgets a health issue? Can people be so sensitive to radio waves that they get sick ?

I just finished reading, “The Quiet Zone: unraveling the mystery of a town suspended in silence, (2021) by journalist Stephen Kurczy. It was a Christmas gift; I probably wouldn’t have bought it myself. But it was a fascinating, engrossing story and it is a commentary on the questions I’ve posed above. Green Bank, west of Charlottesville, is a rural area (Pocahontas County), the site of a National Radio Astronomy Observatory. It’s a federal funded facility listening for signs of life in space, established in 1956. The Observatory has attempted to limit, even restrict radio waves that might interfere with the telescope. No cell phones, Wi-Fi, microwaves and other radio wave emitting gadgets within a number of miles. Enforcement has never been complete but for years, offenders would be tracked down and asked to eliminate the technology creating the potential interference.

Kurczy is fascinated at the existence of this “quiet zone” and visits several times prior to 2020. He meets with NRAO people, tours the facility and begins to talk to local residents. Personally he does not have a cell phone. But he wants to know what it’s like without Wi-Fi, cell phones, microwaves, etc. He also uncovers the high degree of non- compliance which increases so that by 2020 there is little left of the “quiet zone.” He spends a lot of time talking with and socializing with locals.

Quiet Zone Green Road Sign In Front of Dramatic Clouds and Sky.

In one chapter he explores the addiction we have to these devices and the potential harm the waves may cause. It made me think about my personal screen time. It’s high. I start with morning coffee, I read the newspaper on my i-pad, check email, check and maybe post of Facebook. The email and FB checks continue regularly during the day. I look up all kinds of things on the Internet, political news, book reviews, travel ideas, word definitions, on and on. I write my blogs on the I-pad and my photo project converting slides to digital results in a lot of screen time as I organize the images. In the evening I watch the news and maybe a movie or TV episode— all on the pad. In some respects it’s a tool that helps me get something done. The FB time keeps me in touch with some friends and relatives. The phone contact with people not on FB or for longer conversations. I share my blogs on FB. I think this use is positive but admit there is also much unnecessary, wasted time. My sisters and Jenny do not use FB so I must communicate with email, phone call or text depending on the message and person. What’s your use, dependence, addiction to electronic devices?

Kurczy discovers that although the population of Pocahontas County is small, people have been moving there. One group are those who believe they are sensitive to the radio waves and get sick from them. They have a range of symptoms and phobias. Some achieve conspiracy theory status. They move to the Green Bank area to be protected by the Radio Observatory’s attempt to limit waves. Some get extremely vocal about anyone who does not follow regulations.

Kurczy also discovers that beginning in the 1960s the area became a haven for hippie homesteaders. There is a book with that title. Some of these settlers and their children still live in the area. For years hippies there celebrated with the Rainbow Gathering.

“The Rainbow Family, a loosely organized group whose main activity is its annual reunion, has been variously characterized as hippies and drifters or as peaceful nature lovers and ecologists. The annual gatherings grew out of social, political, and cultural movements that had gained popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s. Included in these movements were back-to-the-landers, people who sought to return to a simpler, self-sustaining way of life; anti-war protesters; and hippies. In 1970, recognizing their common approach to life, they decided to stage a yearly event. The name ‘‘rainbow’’ was chosen to signify the diversity of people involved. The first gathering, in 1972, was near Aspen, Colorado, in the Roosevelt National Forest and on private land” (West Virginia Encyclopedia).

An unidentified member of the Neo-Nazi National Alliance parades a flag with a swastika in front of the US Capitol during a rally of about 300 demonstrators, 24 August 2002 in Washington, DC. The members, who were met by counter-demonstrators on the march but avoided violence, were protesting American aid and support to Israel. AFP PHOTO/MIKE THEILER (Photo by MIKE THEILER / AFP) (Photo by MIKE THEILER/AFP via Getty Images)

Kurczy also discovered that a neo-nazi, white supremacist group had established a compound in the “quiet zone. It was in the hills, unpopulated, secretive. He visited several times.

“Kurczy ventures into the mountain compound of the National Alliance, the militant white supremacist hate group founded by William Pierce. Pierce, who died in 2002, is best known as the author of The Turner Diaries—the novel recounting a fantasy vigilante assault on Washington D.C. and the mass lynching of whites in biracial marriages and families. But since Pierce’s death, the National Alliance had relocated its headquarters to Tennessee; what remains of the original West Virginia site is now largely a shrine to Pierce, together with a makeshift library and chemical lab. By the time Kurczy leaves, the remaining hangers-on at the site sell most of it off and fan out to other neo-Nazi frontiers in Trumpian America” (New Republic, 2021).

“The Turner Diaries” may have help inspire the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“In the 1978 novel “The Turner Diaries,” an underground revolutionary group of self-proclaimed patriots known as the Organization attacks the U.S. Capitol. A car bombing of FBI headquarters kills hundreds. On “The Day of the Rope,” members of the Organization publicly hang members of Congress, journalists and others they deem traitors. The goal, of course: to overthrow a federal government they believe is engaged in a vast elitist conspiracy.

When historian and author Kathleen Belew watched a white mob of Trump supporters attack the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, leaving five people dead, she immediately thought of the novel, partly because others have thought about it too: the white supremacists who stormed the Capitol and the law enforcement agencies that monitor them. The FBI has called “The Turner Diaries” ‘the bible of the racist right’” (Los Angeles Times, January 2021). Frightening.

If you want a strange read about a strange place, “The Quiet Zone” may be for you. It may get you thinking about electronic devices, radio waves, and extraterrestrial life, hippies, nazis and radio-wave sensitives escaping to the mountains of West Virginia. Maybe you’ll want to visit? Give up WiFi and cell phone or at least limit use. Let me know?

The Walden Experience

When John Hanson Mitchell separated from his wife, he decided to build a small cottage on his their property and to live “in the woods.” “Living at the End of Time” (1990) is a record of his year living in the cottage. The account is rich with commentary about Henry David Thoreau’s two year stay in the cabin he built on Walden Pond outside of Concord. Mitchell’s property is not far from Concord, near Interstate 495 that circles Boston. At the same time he was constructing his cottage, a tech company, Digital was building a huge box building in the Interstate corridor. Thoreau’s cabin made from recycled and cut material cost $28.12. It was 10 feet by 15 feet and he described the interior as having a fireplace, table, desk, bed and 3 chairs. “I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” While there Thoreau read, wrote, and communed with nature. It was 1845 and Henry was 28 years old. His two years is documented in “Walden” published in 1854.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Henry David was close enough to Concord that he visited friends, like Ralph Waldo Emerson who let him build the cabin on his land. I discovered Henry David Thoreau and “Walden” in my freshman year of college. I was pulled in by the romance of living in the wild, gardening, walking, reading, writing, and observing nature. Surprisingly I never visited Walden Pond until we spent several nights in Concord in 2015 and I finally made the pilgrimage to Walden Pond viewed the site of Henry’s cabin that is marked by a cairn of stones.

David B. Williams (GeologyWriter.com) wrote: “By the early 1870s, Thoreau’s fame had led to a regular stream of pilgrims seeking out Walden. They found little to mark Thoreau’s life until June 1872, when Bronson Alcott, father of Louisa May, visited with his friend Mary Newbury Adams and showed her where the small cabin had once stood. Noting that it was pity that there nothing to mark the spot, Adams suggested building a cairn and “then let everyone who loved Thoreau add a stone.” Alcott, a life-long friend of Henry’s agreed and added a stone to the one left by Adams. He noted in his journal of July 12-13, “Henry’s fame is sure to brighten with years, and this spot be visited by admiring readers of his works.” I added a rock to the cairn. We also explored a reconstructed Thoreau cabin built in the Pond near the parking lot.

Mitchell’s cottage was hand made (he recruited a carpenter friend) but it was quite different from Henry’s humble cabin. Mitchell built a Victorian cottage with a gothic roof and gingerbread trim. His inspiration came from landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing. He had no running water or electricity. Eventually he built a fireplace for warmth. Like Thoreau, Mitchell kept a journal. He also read Thoreau’s journals and journals written by his father. He worked off site but spent much of his free time hiking in the woods that surround his property. Like Henry he was a keen nature observer.

Mitchell has contact with his children who live nearby with their mother. Occasionally they sleep over. He also has encounters, acquaintances and friendships with people in the area. Some live off the normal grid. He also communes with spirits of the past, Native Americans and early settlers who lived on his land. He doesn’t explain if these characters are real or imagined. However in his book “Ceremonial Time” he describes how past, present and the future can be experienced simultaneously. I found the concept very real and it explains his deep feelings for land and what it means.

Mitchel and Thoreau are not the only writers who lived alone in the woods. A month ago I read “A Year in the Maine Woods” (1994) by Brendan Heinrich. A college professor for a year he lived alone in a cabin in western Maine near Bethel where our friends Melody and Garret Bonnema live. We spent a summer in 1974-75 in Bethel and looked at land but never took the plunge. Heinrich is a scientist and he brings students to his cabin to study. His speciality is the study of ravens. He adopts one and raises it until it can fly away. Road kill and mice which he freezes provide food for ravens. He also writes detailed observations of insects. Quite amazing. It reminded me of Anne Dillard, “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.” What I really enjoyed though was Heinrich’s description of everyday life. He uses the word “maintenance” in the same way I do. What we need to do to get through the day, the week. He talks about cutting wood for the stove. I buy it cut but carry some upstairs almost every winter day. He skips washing coffee cups and dishes which will only get dirty again. He sometimes eats one of the mice or insects — not for me. His typical meal is a can or beans or baked potato. “A Year” was a good re-read from 2018.

Another 2018 book was “A Place of my Own: the education of an amateur builder” by well- known food writer, Michael Pollen. He decides to build a small cabin on his property. Here is Amazon’s review: “When writer Michael Pollan decided to plant a garden, the result was an award-winning treatise on the borders between nature and contemporary life, the acclaimed bestseller Second Nature. Now Pollan turns his sharp insight to the craft of building, as he recounts the process of designing and constructing a small one-room structure on his rural Connecticut property–a place in which he hoped to read, write and daydream, built with his two own unhandy hands. 

Invoking the titans of architecture, literature and philosophy, from Vitrivius to Thoreau, from the Chinese masters of feng shui to the revolutionary Frank Lloyd Wright, Pollan brilliantly chronicles a realm of blueprints, joints and trusses as he peers into the ephemeral nature of “houseness” itself. From the spark of an idea to the search for a perfect site to the raising of a ridgepole, Pollan revels in the infinitely detailed, complex process of creating a finished structure. At once superbly written, informative and enormously entertaining, A Place of My Own is for anyone who has ever wondered how the walls around us take shape–and how we might shape them ourselves. 

A Place of My Own recounts his two-and-a-half-year journey of discovery in an absorbing narrative that deftly weaves the day-to-day work of design and building–from siting to blueprint, from the pouring of foundations to finish carpentry–with reflections on everything form the power of place to shape our lives to the question of what constitutes “real work” in a technological society.”

I’m sure there are other examples of building a cabin, living in the woods, getting away from civilization. In the 1960s, Merritt Ryder a banker, friend of Diane’s parents built a log cabin on a lake that he owned. At least once we stayed in the cabin. I was always impressed with Mr. Ryder’s cabin building. I like it when experiences and readings blend together, a bit like “ceremonial time.” Living for a year in a cabin in the woods is a dream. Maybe I’ll re-read “Walden” and Thoreau’s journals for inspiration.

A New Year – 2023 – Plans

I don’t usually make resolutions but I do like to plan what I should be doing in the coming year. I am also fully aware I will not complete, maybe not even start everything on my list. But I am a collector, a list maker.

I desperately want to remain positive. We seem to be so consumed by the negatives, falsehoods, lies, bad vibes. I recently read that bird watching and art experiences contribute to mental health. So I need to continue, increase my walking, nature observations and explore more art in museums an online. I believe I need to listen to more music and view more films. Continue reading and writing. Blogging gets me to reflect, connect and understand myself. I need to continue to explore with my camera. The slide scanning projects must continue.

Gardening, food shopping and cooking should remain important. Again, I want to read, use cookbooks more frequently. I’ve improved diet and it must continue, less carbs and sweets. The basement and balcony need major cleaning. I need to sell stuff. There are clothes I can give away. Organization is so important.

I should go to museums and theatre more often. Take several short trips in addition to Cape Cod. Be open to some new experiences. I need to keep in touch and find more ways to give to others. My time is limited.

A plan. I’ll review in January 2024. God willing.

The Best of 2022

Most years I write up a summary of events. As usual in 2022 there was no shortage of the annoying, frightening and negative. Our political culture remains divisive. Donald Trump still dominates the news, dining with antisemitic, white supremacists; announcing a Presidential run in 2024; being accused of being responsibility for January 6; having his lack of paying federal tax made public; continued claims of a stolen election and endorsement of radical right wing fringe candidates. Covid continues although not as rampant as a year ago. The war in Ukraine rages. My personal medical issues give me some bad days. But I want to forget all of it today and focus this year on the best of 2022.

I read two articles recently. The first linked bird watching with positive mental health. The second claimed that viewing art in museums, even online was good for our mental health. I already watch birds at our feeders regularly; I’ll begin to do some virtual art tours. Smithsonian published a list of ten great ones. The articles made me reflect on my own mental health and the positives in my life. And there are many. I reviewed memory and and journals, so here goes. Some are major events; others are daily or regular routines. Robert Beck (above) who we discovered at a Mitchener show has improved my mental health.

Instead of coffee I like to switch and start off the morning with tea. There are so many flavors and I don’t suffer when I stop the coffee caffeine fix. I recently purchased a chocolate drink offered as a substitute for coffee. While Christmas shopping I bought myself a tea cup from Matt Zimmerman of Walnut St. Pottery, in Perkasie. I was drawn to the cup with seeds sprouting when Matt described that he digs local clay for his pottery, finding seeds. So just before Thanksgiving I made the switch to tea.

You’ll soon see that food, growing, shopping, reading about, cooking, eating, and restaurants are a big part of my positives. I enjoy making homemade yogurt each week, smoothies, kombucha, biscuits, and salads. I’ve been eating less bread so haven’t been making as much as past years (low carb diet). I enjoy making ice cream but again diet wise need to be limited. One sweet hard to resist is chocolate and my brother-in-laws cannolis. Had some yesterday and he gave me a few to go. Gardening continues, with some failures but always a basket of positives.

I walk fairly regularly; 4 or 5 times a week, weather permitting. It’s usually on the Delaware Canal towards Sommers bridge away from town. Some days I just reflect walk; other times call people or take photographs. I’m thinking about a Canal photo album. Contact with friends is very important to me. I phone, write e-mail or make Facebook contact. There are regulars, Pagliones, John DiGiesi, my sisters, cousin Ellen, many people from HGP and some from college and a few from Bristol days. This Spring through Fall, sitting on the back deck was extremely relaxing and rewarding. Sometimes I read or wrote or just listened to the birds and wind rustling in the trees. I keep my daily journal and wrote 47 blogs in 2022.

Food shopping is an outing for us. We buy meats, vegetables and fruits from Nonsuch farm; seafood from Heller’s; peaches and apples from Manoff’s; apples from Solebury Orchards; greens from Blue Moon Acres. Organnons for all kinds of health foods. This year we discovered Ben and Irv’s jewish deli. And I love Altemonte’s Italian market. Diane ordered platters for a New Year Eve luncheon from there. Unfortunately the Stockton Market closed this year. We occasionally go to the Yardley or Buckingham outdoor markets.

Dining out usually for lunch is always a pick me up. I’ve taken to a cocktail, sometimes a house speciality or a Manhattan in honor of my grandfather. I’ve found a Moscow Mule to be a pleasant drink. Pineville Tavern is a regular stop. Their new outside dining area is fantastic. At Christmas they offer 25% discount on gift cards. Other regular stops are Rocco’s at the Brick, The Black Bass, Rieglesville Inn. We celebrated Eli’s birthday at Coyote Crossing in Conshohocken (he loves Mexican) and sister Cissi’s at the King George in Bristol. We had a nice brunch at the William Penn Inn with the Kwait’s. Osteria Vecchio has become a favorite Italian, we had Christmas Even seven fishes there this year. Caleb’s in Lahaska and locally Villa Rosa are great take out places. Sometimes we meet friends, recently, Kathy Posey and my cousin Mary Jo Tiso and her husband David.

We finally got back to some travel this year. In June we spent several nights in Chincoteague. A nice small house outside of town. We were surprised that many places were still closed and it was too cool for the beach but we toured the area and found some good eats. In August we made our annual Orleans, Cape Cod trip with the Kwait’s. Eli and Viv are getting older, both will be in H.S. in 2023. We need to enjoy every minute of their company. We saw Murder on the Orient Express; ate out several nights. Actually one of the best restaurant finds on the way to the Cape was Matunuck Oyster Bar in Wakefield, R.I. They farm their own oysters and have delightful outside dining. Oysters were a big thing in 2022. After the “Murder” show we ate at the Oyster Company in Dennis. Local Cape oysters. Diane and I had dinner at The Pheasant and for our anniversary we all ate at Swann River Seafood, a bit homey, good food, nice views. The most interesting Cape experience was Art’s Dune Tours in Provincetown. We got to see from a distance some of the dune shacks and our guide was fantastic. Great vistas. Next year I want to fly over the area. Dinner was in recommended, Pepe’s Wharf in Provincetown. A terrific storm developed during dinner; quite exciting. Most Cape days followed our usual pattern, on the beach or one of the town access points, like Tonset, drive on Route 6A and seafood. Almost every da, seafood, lots of oysters. On our way home we stayed one night in the Griswold Inn in Essex, Ct.

Our next 2022 travel was two October nights in the Williams Cottage Inn in Beach Haven. It’s not far from the commons, across from the ocean beach. Quite nice. We walked a bit; sat in beach chairs, ate well — The Black Whale, Buckalew’s, Tucker’s Tavern. Many places were closed. We did an obligatory drive to the lighthouse and the old Mignoni property in Harvey Cedars.

Later in the month we headed for a David and Judy Sears Cushing visit. We stopped in the Sturbridge Public House then the West End Inn in Portland. Scales restaurant on a pier was a treat. Loud and crowded, we sat in a bar area and met some interesting people. Of course, oysters and seafood. It was great seeing Sears. We drove around a bit. Ate out, Oyster Bar in Rockland; had lobster. I gave Dave an oyster knife and he immediately addressed a dozen oysters we had bought. The most exciting part of the visit was our meeting photographer Peter Ralston in his Rockport studio. Dave knew Peter and contacted him. Last Christmas I bought Diane a Ralston print of “sheep in a boat being pulled to Betsy Wyeth’s Allen Island.” I’d read a book, “Islands in Maine” that he co-authored. Peter was charming; a raconteur, salesman. Totally enjoyed our visit and bought two more prints. He had stopped shooting for several years due to medical issues and I expressed a similar experience. A friend got him started again. Before we left he recommended a Canon G5X to get me back shooting. I bought one and I’m on the road to photographic recovery. Thanks Peter.

We spent two night in Ogunquit at the Hartwell House Inn. Quite nice, a member of Select Registry Inns which I joined and bought discounted gift cards this Christmas. Enough for several get always. We had good restaurants within walking distance, M. C. Perkins which is surrounded by other restaurants and shops (another seafood night) and Norther Lights where I had a fantastic pork tenderloin (trying to find a similar cut). We took a beautiful walk on Marginal Way, a trail along ocean cliffs. Fantastic views, crowded with the bright sunny weather. In the afternoon we took a ride/explore south. Unknown to us Ogunquit was having a festival downtown, music and crafts but we didn’t make it. We then drove some highway, some backroads to Rhinebeck, N.Y. We stayed in a basic motel outside of town, had dinner at La Petite Bistro — new for us. The relaxed “high” from New England travel lasted for weeks when we returned to Yardley.

Covid spared us another year and we felt more comfortable going out. Diane and I went to Evita at the Bucks County Playhouse. A solid performance. But the highlight of theatre this year was Les Miserables at the Academy of Music. We went with the Kwait’s; Eli and Viv loved the show. We had tickets to see Les Miserables when Covid hit and we got a refund so I was so pleased they brought it back two years later. We saw it on Broadway with Jenny in about 1989-90. It was the first Broadway show we attended since she had been born. We were totally awed; what a production, music, every song haunting, and such action. In subsequent years we made an annual trip to NYC usually staying over one or two nights, always going to a show. This year we decided to try a new close to Broad Street dinner spot and ended up at Giuseppe and Sons. It’s below street level, very big, classic Italian. Viv asked if it was like a speakeasy. We also made it to the newly renovated County Movie Theatre, a Wednesday matinee, to see the Banshees of Inisherin. Strange story but a fun afternoon. I’m planning on going to the County more often to their matinee performances.

In 2023 we want to get back to museums, theatre and maybe music. We did take a tour of WHYY’s Old City studio. I’m on a list of long time members, it’s been at least 40 years and in the past years I’ve been offered bonuses and encouraged to make a legacy donation. We have tickets to the Brandywine Museum from WHYY. We were the only ones on our hour long tour which was loaded with stories about Terry Gross and Marty Moss-Coane, both favorites who I’ve listened to for years. I learned that all of Terry’s interviews are now available online. I plan on accessing some. The tour also awoke me to the fact that there is much more than I’ve been watching on public television. I’ve begun to watch more.

My routine is fairly predictable. Maintenance stuff in the morning; maybe a walk. In the afternoon I sometimes nap, read and write. Beginning in October I build a fire in the wood stove, two o’clock if the weather is nasty or later most days. I read 40 books this year. Some we re-reads from my library; some new purchases; a few I discovered that I had bought it years previous but never read it. I get emails about books and now have an extensive wish list. I won’t list them all here but share a few of the most memorable. “Travels With George” by Nathaniel Philbrick (a favorite writer). “Taste: my life through Food” by Stanley Tucci; I also watched Tucci’s “Searching for Italy.” Both book and series are delightful. For Christmas Diane gave me “The Tucci Cookbook.” As usual I have quite a few food related books. “Finding Freedom” by Erin French is a great story of her journey to opening a restaurant in Freedom, ME. It’s so popular, annually she holds a lottery for reservations. I hope to sign up this year.

There were several local history books, “Notes on Bucks County” by Andy Warren. I wrote a blog about it. “Glory Days: stories of growing up in Lower Bucks County” by Terry L. Nau; a blog partially written. Another was “Acres and Pains” by S. J. Perlman. Cape Cod reading included “Storm Surge” by Bill Sargent; “The Shores of Bohemia: a Cape Cod Story, 1010-1960” by John Taylor Williams. “The Salt House: a summer on the dunes of Cape Cod” by Cynthia Huntington which led to the Dune tour that we took; A visit to a rather tacky pirate museum in Yarmouth led me to “Expedition Whydah” by Barry Clifford, the fascinating story of a ship wreck discovered off the National Seashore. Also Cape Cod set was “The Maytrees” by Anne Dillard. I had read her “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” much better than “Maytrees.”

Other food books included “DiBruno Bros, House of Cheese” which led me to order several cheeses from them. When we go to Altemonte’s again, we went yesterday to pick catering for our New Year’s Eve lunch, I’m going to look for some new cheese varieties. A follow up was “The Cheese Chronicles” by Liz Thorpe that documents small artisan cheese producers. “Ten Restaurants That Changed America” by Paul Freeman was interesting; we’ve been to five of them. Another partially written blog.

The Maine trip led to “How to Cook a Moose” by Kate Christensen; “A Year in the Maine Woods” by Bernard Heinrich; and “The Field House: a writer’s life lost and found on an island in Maine” by Robin Wood. I re-read Hugh Masekela’s “Still Grazing,” signed by him when Rob and I went to see him play at a jazz club in Philadelphia. Other biographies were “Dorothy Parker: what fresh hell is this?” by Marion Meade; and “ The Paris Bookseller” by Kerri Maher which tells the story of Sylvia Beach.

Most moving were several books that dealt with ancestry, family, fathers, memories. “My Father’s Paradise: a son’s search for his family’s past” by Ariel Sabar whose family were Kurdish Jews who lived in northern Iraq. A unusual story and re-read was “My Cousin the Saint: a story of love, miracles, and an Italian family reunited” by Justin Catanoso. Continuing the Italian theme was “Cobblestones, Conversations and Corks: a son’s discovery of his Italian heritage. It reminded me of my personal trips to Roccavivara, my grandfather’s hometown. “The Theft of Memory: losing my father one day at a time” by Jonathan Kozol was a moving story of his last years with his father, Harry, a well known neurosurgeon. “Living at the End of Time: two years in a tiny house” by John Hanson Mitchell is the Thoreau like year Hanson lives alone outside Concord communing with nature and his inner self.

About two months ago, Jerry a Alonzo sent me a dozen slides from a Cape Cod Trip in 1968. I immediately thought I need to digitize them. So within days I got out my Wolverine scanner purchased several years earlier on the recommendation of another college friend, Tom Glynn. I had tried out the scanner but never got started scanning. Now I did it. I’ve scanned about 1000 slides but have 15,000, maybe 20,000 more to go. The time consuming part of the project is assigning a date and maybe caption information. Here are a few of the slides scanned.

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Peace Corps Bound

I mentioned enjoying contact with family and friends but the best part of 2022 was interaction with Jenny, Rob, Eli and Viv. Of course there is our two weeks in Cape Cod together. Trips to Gladwyne; visits in Yardley. Following their exploits through shared photographs. Eli’s baseball and hockey games. Meeting Jill Biden at a Phillies game. Viv’s performance in the Nutcracker. Eli’s remission from neuroblastoma. Most recently their New Years Eve pizza making party.

Yes, 2022 was a very good year. Think positive, more to come in 2023.