Library Notes
November 22, 2003
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
Okay, we're still cleaning up the back lot. You may be getting tired of my back-lot. But, you're not as tired as I am, I'll warrant.
I had two falling-down sheds back there in a corner, and they have been falling down more every year. I won't have that problem any more. I had a man come in, tear them down the rest of the way and haul them off.
Of course, there is still the place where they sat. In the process of trying to get everything picked up, so that when Spring comes again, I can zip around that lot on my trusty mower, (the one that isn't steering right now, but I'm thinking positive) and not have to dodge around everything.
You would not believe everything I'm coming across in my picking up and digging up as I attempt to smooth the ground. I've dug up big pieces of dead wood, broken glass, double-edged razor blades, fruit jars, a homemade boat anchor, a vacuum cleaner nozzle, more razor blades, nuts and bolts, roofing, tin, and more razor blades, a broken mirror, etc., etc., as on I dig and smooth ground.
I have found so many double-edged razor blades, I contemplated that a lot as I worked. I have decided that years ago, some Ma had fussed at some Pa about his shaving until he got fed up and disgusted.
You remember how tough Pa's were back then. He must have thrown all those razor blades out the door one day and said something like "From where I now stand, I will not ever shave again as long as I draw breath!"
You also remember how tough Ma's were back then. That could have been his last breath, if Ma was in a bad enough mood. You know "If Ma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy?"
I do not want to start finding pieces of Pa as I continue to pull stuff out of the ground. I definitely don't want to make a pile of Pa's fingers and toes. Besides the shock of finding such things, the police would put yellow tape all around my lot, dig it all up and I wouldn't be able to get back in to continue my cleaning endeavor for a year or two. See, I read detective stories too. I know how that works. And then I'd have a back lot that looked like a swimming pool, what with all the digging, and I'm not interested in a swimming pool. I think I shall just skim the surface and not dig too deeply. Whatever else is down there can just stay there.
I also pulled and cut more vines off the trees and a fence-row. It all looked like honeysuckle, but, alas, it wasn't. You can guess what was lurking among the honeysuckle. Yep! I'm scratching and cooking oatmeal again. I thought sure I would sneak by this time. I had not had anything start itching within a few hours, so I was feeling pretty good about that. By morning, however, there I was with the same ole bumps popping out. Rats!! I sure thought that was just honeysuckle! So, while I scratch, you read.
Stuart Woods has turned out another one. He's featuring the Lee family again, the family that has been in several of his books. Will Lee is the main character in this latest book "Capital Crimes". Will was first introduced, years ago, in just about my favorite Woods book, "Chiefs" I do not have the book here at the library, but I do have it on audio tape. A movie, of the same title, was made of it many years ago, but I don't believe I ever saw it. Couldn't be as good as the book, I'm sure.
"Lee again finds himself in the middle of a tangled web of intrigue and danger, politics and power. Now at the pinnacle of his career, serving as president of the United States, Lee is faced with a most unusual task- that of marshaling federal law enforcement agencies to catch an assassin who is picking off some of the nation's high-level politicos. When a prominent conservative politician with a shady reputation is expertly killed at his lakeside cabin, authorities can come up with no suspects and even less hard evidence. But then, within days, two other, seemingly isolated deaths - achieved by very different means - are feared linked to the same ruthless murderer.
With the help of his CIA director wife, Kate Rule Lee, Will trails the most clever and professional of killers before he can strive again. From a quiet D.C. suburb to the corridors of power to a deserted island hideaway, Will, Kate, and maverick FBI agent Robert Kinney track their man and set a trap with extreme caution and care - and await the most dangerous kind of quarry, a killer with a cause to die for."