For Weeks, We Were Praying For Rain; Then Today, That It Would Stop

There was a second generation of rabbits in the neighborhood that had never experienced rain. That ended this afternoon. Some three inches fell in less than an hour. The results can be amazing when the rain comes at high tide.

The streets in Hampton, Virginia, are designed to be storm water catch basins. And when the storm hits at high tide there’s no place for the water to go.




Drainage pipes leading to tidal waters are filled. The water accumulates in back yards, which, on the average along certain streets, slope down to only one to four feet above sea level.





The white dots are not water droplets on the camera lens. It’s the camera’s flash reflecting off the falling raindrops.

THREE Carl Brookins Book Reviews

THE EYE OF THE VIRGIN By Frederick Ramsey
Pub. Poisoned Pen Press
June 2010 Hard Cover.
254 pages.
ISBN: 9781590587607
Sheriff Ike Schwartz is in it again. Some odd break-ins have occurred in the area around the town of Picketsville, Virginia. What were thieves looking for in the studio of an iconographer? Why is an unknown individual discovered dead of gunshot, but in a chair in the Picketsville clinic? Are these incidents related? And who is the mysterious woman Abe Schwartz has been squiring about?

Sparkling dialogue and a whale of a climactic scene distinguish this crime novel. It's the xxx in Ramsey's continuing saga of the hometown adventures of ex-CIA spook Isaack Schwartz. He's retired from the international scene to become the elected sheriff of the aforesaid Picketsville, Virginia. He's bright, sharp, aware of the ways of international espionage so when he sees it, he recognizes it. As the elected sheriff he has to deal with a loose collection of varied and interesting characters. Some of them make life quite interesting; the president of the local college, Ruth XXX for instance. Others, inept contract spooks and burglars, for example, are dangerous. Schwartz and his deputies manage to keep the peace and solve crimes in interesting if not always legal ways.

They are aided, in their tasks, as are readers who find their way to this lovely novel, by carefully thought out if sometimes complicated plots, good pace, and crackling spot-on dialogue. Threaded through the cleverness and the funny bits are thoughtful musings on the state of world affairs today in which enemies become friends and friends enemies.

An excellent enjoyable novel

DEATH IN WEST WHEELING By Michael Dymmoch
Five Star Mysteries, Hardcover,
182 pages, Hardcover, $25.95
IBN1594144583
Who knew author Michael Dymmoch, who has written such solid noir mysteries as "White Tiger," "The Fall" and "M.I.A.", could put together such a funny, even hilarious novel as this one, set in a small town in West Virginia, or somewhere close by? Homer Deter is currently acting sheriff and he has to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a teacher at a local missionary school.

This case is just the start of something bigger. Before long, Acting Sheriff Deter is faced with three more disappearances, an odd-acting ATF agent in search of illicit stills, a few apparently random motor vehicle accidents, and including a twenty-three car pileup right in the middle of town. And the funny thing is, all these incidents eventually connect. That even includes the full-grown escaped tiger locked in the post office.

Author Dymmoch has some trenchant things to say about relationships between men and women, and about the state of our society. It's all wrapped in fine writing, a really excellent if skewed sense of our society, and some dandy plotting. Pick up this good short novel. You'll be glad you did.

HER DEADLY MISCHIEF By Beverle Graves Myers
Poisoned Pen Press, 2009
ISBN 978-1-59058-233-6
286 pages
Here we are transported to the gaiety, the intrigue and the complicated machinations of the ruling classes of that Adriatic gem, Venice. By now, mid eighteenth century, Venice is in decline, and no longer the regional superpower with absolute dominion over the Adriatic. Still her cultural climate is a worldwide force to be reckoned with. That includes her innovative grand opera.

Behind the crimson curtain of the Teatro San Marcos, difficult economic times are at work. In the lofty boxes of the well-born and the wealthy, murderous intrigue is also at work. When one of the city's celebrated courtesans, Zulietta Giardino, is murdered by a knife in her lovely chest, fingers of accusation are immediately pointed at one of Venice's leading and most desirable young scions, Alessio Pino, heir of one of the most important Murano glassmaking families. The murder occurs during an opening aria by one of the city's cultural stars, a well-known singer, the castrato, Tito Amato. Thus, Amato becomes a crucial witness to the murder and therefore a target as the plot twists along the winding and sometimes narrow canals of the city.

Drawing effectively on her meticulous and extensive research, the author brings to life not only the glittering upper crust revels of the city, and its artistic culture, but readers will come to understand the life and times of ordinary citizens of the period. The novel is well paced, the characters are enthralling and the twisting mystery well resolved. Myers continuing series about the life of the prominent singer is a very pleasurable experience whether one is or is not an opera fan.

Carl Brookins
www.carlbrookins.com, www.agora2.blogspot.com
Case of the Greedy Lawyer, Devils Island,
Bloody Halls, more at Kindle & Smashwords!

Ford Tri-motor "Tin Goose" Becomes Golden Egg: Sells for One Million $ Plus

Many people have said the Ford Tri-motor airplane, “The Tin Goose,” transcends the mere principles of an aircraft to be a work of art. One airplane has survived to demonstrate that claim.

Airframe No. 55 of 199 built, is a model 4-AT-E. It received its certification plate on January 15, 1929. Seventy-six years later, after undergoing a “no compromise” restoration at Woods Aviation in Goldsboro, North Carolina, a standard Airworthiness Certificate was issued on September 21, 2005.

The following photos were taken after the restoration. They document that the plane was a work of art.
AIRFRAME DOCUMENTATION




AIRFRAME CONSTRUCTION


GROUND SHOTS, EXTERIOR




PASSENGER COMPARTMENT




COCKPIT



IN FLGHT


The airplane was sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction to Ron Platte, a private collector, in 2009 for 1.1 million dollars.

Lessons Learned From Textbooks Were More than Readin', Writin', and 'Ritmatic

Two recent stories in the online edition of the New York Times presented two interesting views of the modern world of books.
The first story, “E-Books Top Hardcovers at Amazon,” was a news story on the announcement made by Amazon last Monday. Sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, had outnumbered sales of hardcover books for the previous three months. In that time, the company sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, including hard covers for which there is no Kindle edition.

The second article, “Does the Brain Like E-Books?” was an opinion piece, including the thoughts of a computer scientist, and an author, plus professors of English, child development, and informatics. Studies, theories, and professional conjecture, form the basis for their comments.

Those who wish to read both compete articles can do so by clicking on the respective headlines above.

These two articles reminded me how the world of books has changed since I entered grade school back in the 1940s. In those days, entitlement was not a concept that had reached the public schools of East Tennessee. There were no free lunches and no free textbooks.

Schoolbooks had to be purchased. This led to a yearly ritual at the County Book Store. The process worked as follows. Last year’s text books were presented for assessment as to their condition. This led to a store credit being issued toward the purchase of books for the upcoming school year.

Fortunately, in those days, revised editions that made the previous one obsolete did not become a reality as frequently as they do today. As a result, used books had a longer shelf life, dropping in cost for each year in use, allowing parents to buy books within their financial means.

New textbooks were available for purchase, but few families from the rural areas could afford them. The student who showed up with all new books at the beginning of the school year was viewed as having parents who were either wealthy or trying to present some snobbish front.

For me, my schoolbooks took on an importance and taught me a lesson beyond their value in the classroom. It was my responsibility to protect my parents’ financial investment. How I treated them during the school year would affect the amount of credit my parents received the following summer.

How did I protect that investment? I did not turn down the corner of a page. I used a bookmarker. I did not write in them. I learned how to handle them without breaking the binding in the spine, or tearing a page.

How they were handled outside the classroom was important. Book bags did not exist in those days. Ingenuity was required to keep them from getting wet, or dropping them in dirt or mud, while walking to and from school.

Textbooks were also the focus of physical confrontations. A favorite prank by the school bullies was to sneak up behind a student and knock books out of a hand. The code of the day demanded a physically response. If such did not occur, the offended student was guaranteed to be the recipient of the prank again.

The lessons from my youth as to how a book should be handed have stayed with me over the years. I cringe when I find a library book with page corners folded down, with “corrections” and other scribbling within the text, with stains from food or drink on the pages, with pages crinkled from being allowed to get wet, or other signs of neglect or abuse.

And from the perspective of today, I also believe that the larger lessons learned my youth through the respect and protection of schoolbooks have served me well in the larger realm of life in general.

All of which leads me to a question. If the day comes when a student starts the educational process with all of his or her “schoolbooks” reduced to files on an e-reader, will there be larger lessons beyond readin’, writin’ and ‘ritmatic for the students to learn?

Fewer Cars on Road; But More Traffic? It's the GPS. It Only Knows Interstates.

All the experts on such matters keep saying that Americans are driving less. That begs the question as to why everyone who takes a cross-trip these days complains about the amount of traffic and how much longer the trip took.

Two individuals I know left Columbia, S. C, last week to drive to Massanutten, Virginia. All the on-line maps show the trip, 394 miles, should take 7.5 hours along two major Interstates. The travelers were very upset about having to spent ten hours on the road because of all the traffic, which the experts say isn’t there.

So what’s the problem? Is it that so many all automobiles now have GPS units? Are drivers using technological gadgets to tell them where to drive instead of using old-fashioned map reading and route plotting.

I frequently drive between my home in Hampton and Williamsburg, Virginia. Via Interstate 64, it’s a 29.9-mile drive on a road with a 65 mph speed limit. But running parallel to the Interstate between the two cities is a four-lane state highway. It’s a thirty-one mile drive, with speed limits between 45 and 55 miles an hour.

Time after time I've driven between the two cities on the state highway, zipping along at 55 mph with very few other vehicles on the road. Meanwhile, I can look over my shoulder at the Interstate and see that I am passing two lanes of bumper-to bumper-vehicles, going in the same direction, but moving much slower.

It is all but impossible to find this state highway on any online map, and I've not found a salesman who can show me this state highway when demonstrating the capabilities of a GPS unit.

Conclusion? If one uses an on-line map, or has a GPS unit in their vehicle, The Interstate will be the only choice given. So American motorists are giving up their right to chose their own route through life, letting a piece of technology tell them where to go, and then griping about the consequences.

First Homegrown Tomato of The Season Begs A Special Indulgence in Gluttony

John Denver sang:
“Only two things that money can’t buy.
That’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.”

Laurie Colwin
In “Home Cooking” wrote:
“A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.”

Andre Simon (1877-1970)
In “The Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy” wrote:
“A cooked tomato is like a cooked oyster: ruined.

And there is only one way to eat that first homegrown tomato. A sliced tomato sandwich, made with mayonnaise or Miracle Whip on “white bread” as it was once called.

Casting thoughts of proper nutrition and diet to the wind and enjoying his annual treat will prove the truth of what Lewis Grizzard wrote. “It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”

A Closed Auto: How Hot Can It Get?

We read the warnings. Don’t leave pets or children in a closed car in hot weather. And we read the resultant consequences, often tragic, when the warnings are not followed. But do we know how hot it can get inside a closed automobile?

The official high for the day in the Raleigh, North Carolina,area on Tuesday, July 6, 2010, was 101 degrees. The photograph below was taken in the afternoon, inside a vehicle that had spent the day parked in the sun.

The thermometer is one designed for cooking, with a probe to measure the heat inside a dish that’s being cooked in an oven. In this case the “oven” was a tray on the vehicle’s dash.

Yes! That’s an accurate reading. Just a few ticks short of 200 degrees!