Legacy of Harper Lee

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“I never expected any sort of success with
‘Mockingbird’ . . . I sort of hoped someone
would like it enough to give me encouragement.”
Harper Lee
Harper Lee
At the beginning of January I read a book that was on my 100 books to read list. I also read this book because I had watched the movie when I was a young girl and it left an everlasting impression on me. That book and movie was To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Mockingbird, a precocious child’s-eye view of race, justice and the mysterious ways of Southern life, was a mammoth critical and commercial hit when published in the summer of 1960. It sold 500,000  copies in its first year of publication, won the Pulitzer Prize and became an indelible part of American culture.

Shortly after reading Mockingbird, I wrote a post on January 13th Read Around the World. At the time of my post, the world had no idea that Harper Lee had written a second novel. After the world heard the news about her new second novel, Go Set A Watchman which was released yesterday, all of us avid readers cannot wait to get our hands on this book. The book that was written in 1957 and is the parent book to, To Kill A Mockingbird.

If Lee’s new book doesn’t live up to the old one, then we can choose which one we prefer. All of us bloggers, as writers, can only dream of having the same impact with our readers that Harper Lee has had on the world.  The impact of her novel which moved so many of us is the enduring legacy of Harper Lee.

Shine On

The Bumblebee Decline

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“The bee collects honey from flowers
in such a way as to do the least damage or
destruction to them, and he leaves them whole,
undamaged and fresh, just as he found them.”
Saint Francis de Sales

bumblebee

This year, according to a new study in the Journal of Science it appears climate change has now effected the population of bumblebees.

Due to climate change the pollination levels of some plants have dropped by up to 50 percent in the last two decades. The experts believe that the problem is connected to the declining populations of bumblebees and other pollinators.

This trend could have serious implications for agriculture and the overall food output of the planet. As the planet warms, most animals expand their range northward including species of bees. But not the bumblebee, they’re failing to migrate, and their territories in the southern range have been shrinking at an alarming rate.

“The result is dramatic losses of bumblebee species from the hottest areas across two continents,” Professor Kerr has added. “The bumblebee had evolved under cool conditions, and unlike other species, colonies didn’t expand into more northern ranges.”

The good news is that Professor Kerr believes that they can help bumblebees by establishing new colonies up north, and spread them into more areas in other continents.

Something needs to be done soon. The increasingly frequent weather extremes is affecting every living thing on Earth. The threats linked to climate change are already being felt by the bumblebee decline.

Shine On

Wimbledon Winners

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“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and
treat those two impostors just the same.”
Rudyard Kipling

Wimbledon Logo
Wimbledon Djokovic      Wimbledon Williams

Every year I watch the Wimbledon Championships. This year, as usual, the games were outstanding. My two favorite players defeated their opponents in two exciting matches. Novak Djokovic won his 3rd Wimbledon while Serena Williams won her 6th Wimbledon title.

Serena is headed to the US Open Women’s Finals in September. If she wins that title, she will have broken the woman’s grand slam record of all time wins since 1988. At 33 years old Serena is not only a great American sport story but she is the best female athlete in the world right now.

Congratulations Serena and Novak and to all the Wimbledon winners.

Shine On

Our Red-Tailed Hawk

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“A red-tailed hawk rose high on an air current,
calling out shrill, sequential rasps of raptor joy.”
Barbara Kingsolver
Red Tail Hawk

For the past few weeks I’ve experienced an unusual bird sighting here by the ocean. Unusual because seeing one of these birds by the ocean is rare. I would see red-tailed hawks daily on my trail rides with my horse Jimmy, but never at the beach.

I mentioned my sighting to my husband and he thought that a red-tailed hawk was not likely to be at the beach. I agreed with him, but I also told him that we haven’t seen one pigeon on our patio lately and that these hawks hunted the pigeons at the barn. My husband hates the pigeons, so he was hoping I was right.

After days of watching our new neighbor, the red-tailed hawk, I was able to get some video and still images of him perched on the light post outside our patio. My husband was pleasantly surprised to see the images and extremely glad that the hawk was hunting our pesky neighborhood pigeons.

The hawk usually comes by everyday around 5 or 6 in the evening. Magnificent to watch as he catches the ocean breeze and hovers without flapping, eyes fixed on the ground over the beach waiting to spring on any unlikely prey. I spring into action to capture images of him hovering in front of our patio.

The other thing I noticed since the hawk arrived in our neighborhood is that the Great Horned Owl that I would hear in the evening can no longer be heard. Red-Tailed Hawks are extremely territorial and will often chase away Great Horned Owls.

If you follow my blog you might remember my post about the owl on our roof, Hooting in the House. That post was about our new unusual neighbor the owl. Now we have a new and more powerful neighbor to keep our eyes on, our red-tailed hawk.

Shine On

A Bookworm

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“The best advice I ever got was that
knowledge is power and to keep reading.”
David Bailey

Good Reads Goal

We are a little more than half way through 2015 and already I’ve read 53 books out of the 100 I promised myself I’d read this year. That’s 4 more books than I read for the entire 2014 year.

At the rate I’m reading I’m sure by the end of the year, I will have easily read over 100 books.

Originally I wanted to read just the classic novels, but I find I’m reading a variety of genres and authors.

I’ve surprised myself how much I’m turning into a bookworm.

Shine On