Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I've known at least since our trip to Patagonia in 2020 about Doug Tompkins and the preservation of huge chunks of that land. This book offers a fuller story.   Title: A Wild Idea Author: Jonathan Franklin. Read by George Newbern Publisher: Harper Audio, 2021. 10.5 hours. Original Hardback by Harper One, 2021, 384 pages. Publisher's Blurb: In 1991, Doug Tompkins left his luxury life in San Francisco and flew 6,500 miles south to a shack in Patagonia that his friends nicknamed Hobbit House. Mounted on wooden skids that allowed oxen to drag it through the cow fields, Hobbit House had for refrigerator a metal box chilled from the icy cold winds off the glacier. Rainwater dripped from a rooftop barrel into the rustic kitchen. Earlier tenants include a sheepherder with little more than his dogs and a rifle. Instead of the Golden Gate Bridge, Tompkins now stared at Volcano Michinmahuida, blanketed in snow and prowled by mountain lions the size of small tigers. Shielded by wi...

Today I'm joining in with a newly-discovered blog hop with loads of reviews of Middle Grade fiction (books for roughly ages 8-12): Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays, hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . This book isn't new, but it's one of many by a favorite writer that aren't at the library, so I picked up the ebook a while ago and finally read it over the holidays.   Title: Strays Like Us Author: Richard Peck Publisher: original hardback, Dial 1998, 160 pages. Kindle edition 162 pages. Source: Purchased Kindle ebook Publisher's Blurb: Molly Moberly knows she doesn't belong in this small Missouri town with her great-aunt Fay. It's just a temporary arrangement--until her mother gets out of the hospital. But then Molly meets Will, a fellow stray, and begins to realize she's not the only one on the outside. In fact, it seems like the town's full of strays--only some end up where they belong sooner than others. Richard Peck has created a ...

While I realize I owe you all several more trip reports from fall activities, and a whole bunch of lovely fall color, I'm just not organized enough to do that this week. So what you get today... is a bunch of random photos I just kind of like. Don't look for any sense or any theme here!   Last light of the old year. Giving "neighborhood watch" a new meaning. In Chico, CA's Bidwell Park, reminders that the Upper Park is wildlands. I love pikas, and am sad to think how much climate change is shrinking their habitat. My happy place--halfway down the Grand Canyon Indian Paintbrush   Thanks for stopping by!   ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2024  As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. Don't miss a post-- Follow us !  

It's the first Wednesday of the month--of the year!--and time for the IWSG post.       Why? The IWSG is here to share and encourage, to offer a place for authors to admit their insecurities and offer help and support to each other. How? The official IWSG posting day is the first Wednesday of every month. Hop around the list and see who has worries, triumphs, and news to share.  Every month we have an optional question to spark discussion.  Our motto:  Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the January 3 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Olga Godim, Diedre Knight, and Natalie Aguirre! Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are...

  The third week of September this year I had a few days to spend as I pleased somewhere between Idaho and Colorado. I pleased to spend them backpacking the Alice Lake-Toxaway Lake loop in the Sawtooths, with a digression to add more scenery and an extra night (the basic loop is a pretty easy 2-night loop, but since I had 3 nights available...). Day One: Pettit Lake TH to Twin Lakes Unlike the previous backpack trip , this time I wanted an early start. Partly because it was a fairly long way in to my target for the night, but mostly because the trailhead parking fills up early and I didn't want to have to park a quarter mile down the road in the overflow. Since I'd spent the night in dispersed camping less than a mile from the TH, I was able to make my early start, though I ended up spreading a wet tent and fly around inside the car to dry while I was away! Most of my (clockwise) route is on here. There is a trail up from Toxaway to the Edna Lake trail that I took going up.  ...

Happy Solstice! Somewhere in the next 24 hours the days start getting longer (for us in the north) or shorter (for you folks south of the equator). Winter Solstice is a favorite of mine, because I'm not a huge fan of the dark days of winter and though nothing changes in a hurry, from here we are on our way back to light. Last week I reflected on my NaNo experience, and I believe noted that I was kind of burned out and struggling to keep writing after 40 intense days. That's still kind of true--I've dropped my characters in the middle of the short story was I crafting, because I simply can't seem to make the story gel in my mind. I'm not giving up--but I am letting things percolate in hopes that the glimpses I've gotten of how it works out will turn into a clearer vision so I can write. Meanwhile, I've had a LOT of business to tend to, personal and writer-related. I've managed to send out my newsletter (see sign-up box in the side-bar if you want to get i...

 Another of my random choices from the library, which turned out to be more nuanced than I thought.   Title: Hidden Truths Author: Elly Swartz Publisher: Books on Tape, 2023; 5 hours. Publisher's Blurb: How far would you go to keep a promise? Told from alternating points of view, Hidden Truths is a story of changing friendships, the lies we tell, the secrets we keep, and the healing power of forgiveness. Dani and Eric have been best friends since Dani moved next door in second grade. They bond over donuts, comic books, and camping on the Cape. Until one summer when everything changes. Did Eric cause the accident that leaves Dani unable to do the one thing in the world she most cares about? The question plagues him, and he will do anything to get answers about the explosion that injured her. But Dani is hurting too much to want Eric to pursue the truth--she just wants to shut him out and move on. Besides, Eric has a history of dropping things he starts. Eric knows tha...