Summertime....

I guess between the hot weather and lots of summertime activities, we are all a little lax in blog entries lately. I have been consumed in a lot of reading the past two months to stay cool. Thursday, I went down to the library and brought home a bag of books. I have already read two of them and am deep into my third book. It really amazes me, as up until this year...I hated reading books. I would only read a magazine like Reader's Digest, where I could start and finish what I was reading in one sitting. Now I find reading is very relaxing and something I can do out on the patio in the evening when the temperature starts receding. Sasha sits on the other side of the patio screen door watching me, as I won't let her out on the patio. Knowing her, she would jump up on the railing and jump down.....I live on the 2nd floor. Not only could she get hurt, but she could run away and get lost. For now, she'll just have to be an observer!

I have read all 11 books that Nicholas Sparks has written...waiting for his next book, as I enjoy his style very much. I am currently reading Emily Grayson books as she writes much like Nicholas Sparks does. I also got a couple of James Michael Pratt's novels as the librarian said readers of Nicholas Sparks books also enjoyed his books. I'm almost dreading for January to get here, as I won't have as much time to read when I go back to college. I am keeping up with my Algebra review from the textbook one of my UMA professors gave me when I left Maine, as I will have to take one more math course...Math for Liberal Arts. I usually do 3-4 pages of algebra "homework" every morning after I do my devotions. I'm planning to explore an environmental course and a Colorado history course for starters in January. I'm planning to take a course through UMA this fall with a professor I had last semester in Maine. He teaches environmental courses involving the future, and he is offering Science, Technology, and Human Values this fall. He is going to send me the syllabus and I am going to get the textbooks on-line and "go to school" this fall semester on my own. I have had this professor for two courses at UMA and he does a fantastic job. I plan to send him my work simply for him to critique as I'll get no college credits for doing it. Thanks to the computer age, I can send him all the assignments. Just a challenge for me this fall and this course will probably be very helpful in future environmental courses I choose here at FRCC.

I would like to get more Maine authors or novels centered in New England but they have little of that here in Colorado. I especially would like to find Spoonhandle by Ruth Moore but the only place I've seen it is on Amazon and I'm not going to pay full price for any book. I have her book...The Weir...as it was a book we had to read in one of my college classes last year. She is an excellent author who centers her books around fishermen and/or other coastal situations along the Maine coast. I've even checked the second-hand book stores for Maine authors but everyone says they don't get enough call for those so they don't carry them. Oh,well; maybe someone out there can suggest good novel titles either written by Maine authors or involving Maine situations....no Steven King, please. I'm not into science fiction or murder mysteries. I like a good situation novel full of love, suspense, children, animals, etc. I have also read a few of Janet Evanovish's books and they were very good.

Well, time to get back to The Lighthouse Keeper...as it is getting closer to 100 degrees now. Supposed to be between 100-110 in all of Colorado today. God bless AC and fans.....and no humidity!