History

It appears that Spring is here. The weather is warming, but still gets chilly so I alternate between coat, jacket, and even just a sweatshirt. Tiny buds are forming on the lilac bushes and some of the trees. I’ve been watching the bluebirds building a nest in a birdhouse. Now and then I see a crow carrying a mouthful of material for its nest. A couple of days ago I heard and saw a big flock of sandhill cranes flying overhead. We have kicked the chickens out of the garden and EJ has begun planting early veggies. However, I know that Spring is fickle so I’m not yet willing to trust that it’s here to stay. For example, this was the weather on April 15, 2019–and we’ve had snow during April in other years as well.

Even when April is nice, we have a slight chance of frost into June. So I’m making myself wait until next month before I start working in my herb garden. I am tempted, though, to put the screens back in so I can open the windows on nice days. If I do that, we will get a snowstorm for sure.

Our two little chicks are growing. They are still little and downey, but every day they are a little bit bigger and a tiny less downey. Sometimes they chirp at bedtime and Hannah Joy gets upset so I have to shut the bathroom door and turn on the fan so she can’t hear them. I took this video of her a few days ago: Hannah and the Chicks.

EJ and his friend wanted to attend an event near us last weekend so EJ drove to his house–a 2 hour drive–in the car we had borrowed from him while our truck was being repaired. Then when he left for home the next day (he spent the night here), he just drove his car home. It was an easy way to get his car returned to him. Otherwise, EJ would have had to drive to his friend’s house in the truck while I followed in the car. I’ve endured enough “hellish drives” that I don’t look forward to long drives.

What is a hellish drive? One happened when we lived downstate. EJ was working 2nd shift in another town. I think it was 30-45 minutes away. He called me in the middle of the night to ask me to pick him up because his car was very low on gas and he didn’t think he could make it to a gas station. I don’t remember why he was low because we’ve always been very good at keeping the gas tank filled. I bundled baby JJ in the car and took off. Only my car was very low on gas too. EJ reassured me that I could stop at a gas station along the way. Imagining running out of gas on a cold winter night in the middle of nowhere, I prayed and prayed that I’d make it to the next gas station, but each gas station I reached was closed. Then there was a detour because of road repairs and I had to drive several miles out of my way. It was a horrible journey, but I made it to EJ (Thank you, God!), and we were able to drive to an open gas station and fill up our vehicles. This wasn’t the only hellish drive–and I don’t even think it was the worse–so I don’t look forward to long drives. It was a relief that I didn’t have to be involved in returning our friend’s car.

I have spent the last year reading through Terry Brooks’ fantasy series. I’ve never actually counted them, but I think there are around 30 in his series–some of which I own and others that I borrowed from our library. I like fantasy because they are about battles between good and evil, which makes them metaphors for life. I just finished all the Terry Brooks series and I began a series written by C.J. Sansom. I discovered this author last November when I bought four of his books at our library’s used book sale. The books are part of his seven-book series about a lawyer during the time of King Henry VIII. Sansom is a lawyer and historian and his interesting novels are filled with historical accuracy.

Although it’s not necessary to enjoy the novels, I looked up the historical people and events mentioned in the books to give me background context. I find that it deepens my enjoyment. Looking up a name mentioned in one of the books–Blaybourne–led me to information about an actual conspiracy, which led me to read about King Henry VIII’s wives, which led me to read about Tudor kings, which took me back to reading about Plantagenet kings…and I’m still not finished. When I finish with the Plantagenet line, I might go back in time to read about their ancestors–or maybe forward to post-Tudor history. And then there is history connected to other countries through marriage, policies, or war, including my own USA. I’m not completely ignorant about British history, but there are so many Henry’s, Richards, Edwards, etc., that it gets confusing after a while–especially when there were numerous relatives trying to seize the throne. I think that American leaders are simpler to keep track of. (Most of the English royalty was very messed up and corrupt, but I think many of our politicians are too.)

I enjoy reading well-written historical fiction and researching the background behind them. In school, history is always taught as a bunch of dry facts, but my Dad often took our family on vacations to historical places and my Mom taught me that history is the stories of the people who lived during those times. “Today’s events are tomorrow’s history.” Often in reading historical novels, I learn things I didn’t know before. I follow many historians at X/Twitter and just this week one of them posted that during the Middle Ages, 97% of English art was destroyed. This is something that C.J. Sansom vividly describes in his novels.

I’m thoroughly enjoying Sansom’s series. I will borrow the books in the series that I don’t own from the library–and then start on his other books.