And these are my new jeans 👖 and leggings.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Monday, July 20, 2026
HBCU Made (YA/adult nonfiction)
Between my child and teen years of having both parents employed at different colleges and being the cute kid doted on by faculty and students, close friendships with people enrolled at Harvard, M.I.T. where I played on a softball team one summer, and Episcopal Divinity School, and personally attending a junior college, a four year college, and a flagship state university masters program I know my way around institutions of higher education. (It's the real world that confuses me.) But until my first semester in University of Maine's Higher Education program I had never heard of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. When I discovered their existence in Elizabeth Allan's Seminar I was fascinated and read all I could about them. They seemed to be so much more AWESOME than the historically white colleges and universities my lived experience was confined to. I wondered what it was like to personally attend one...
...until, through the magic of inter library loans, I was able to borrow Ayesha Rascoe's HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience. The title is pretty straightforward. Seventeen highly successful and proud HBCU alumni candidly describe those highly formative years. For some attending was a family tradition. For others it was their first time not being a minority in the classroom. All their narratives read like love letters.
One of the themes was the pursuit of excellence. Students were expected to put forth their best, to dream and dare, with both opportunities and the support to help meet the challenges.
Another was the closeness, the solidarity, the availability of support and empowerment under a wide range of circumstances. For all intents and purposes the campus community became family. Even after graduation they upheld this loyalty, joyfully reuniting each year at Homecoming.
Memories were made, not only in the classroom where gifted professors engaged students in assumption questioning and critical thinking, but in extra-curricular activities. Marching Band in particular elicited a lot of pride and nostalgia.
Each individual contributor shares their experiences and perspectives beautifully. It's a perfect read for prospective students, their families, and people like me who are curious about the HBCU experience. I would actually shelve it in the YA section. High school students are keenly interested in the next step in their life journeys. This slim volume could really help Black students to imagine the possibilities.
HBCU Made should be required reading for people in government who keep underfunding HBCUs despite the great good they do.
On a purrrsonal note, I had the most MAGICAL girls day possible. My good friend, Bailey, picked me up at my house. We went to Walmart to buy some new flowers to fill in bare spots in my garden. We found some exquisite pink ones that are the right size and color to fit in. I'm going to plant them this evening. Then we went to Goodwill where Bailey found a Squishmallow that are purrrfect for my collection and I found a gorgeous black dress, jeans, and leggings. All childrens. Bailey told me how purrrfect they were when I tried them on. Then we picked up lunch at McDonalds and hung around at her place with her beautiful cats. Our final destination was Black Cat Tattoo where Rob worked his artistic magic. Then she dropped me off at my place where she visited precious Tobago who adores her. She had a good time too and we're going to have another girls day, probably next month.
A great big shout out goes out to my good friend, Bailey, and my super talented tattoo artist, Rob.
Jules Hathaway
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Sunday, July 19, 2026
Sweet Clarity (YA romance)
"I haven't decided if I want to tell Kristen about me and Hannah. At first, I wasn't ready to tell anyone about us because being with her, being with a girl, was not something I ever imagined for myself. I didn't know if liking Hannah meant I was fully gay or if it meant I just really liked Hannah, and I wanted to figure that for myself. I was excited to figure it out...But after everything blew up in my face at the end of camp, I'm not ready to talk about our time together, even with Kristen."
Clarity, narrator of Rhiannon Richardson's Sweet Clarity, was a counselor at fundamentalist Christian Camp Refuge. It was her parents' idea. It's run by their church. What could be safer and more wholesome?
Well, something neither parents nor daughter could have anticipated happened at camp. Clarity met a fellow counselor, Hannah, with whom she really bonded. Meeting covertly each night after lights out, they became friends, possibly more than friends. At the end of camp this blew up when they were caught kissing. Now people she's known all her life are shunning Clarity, treating her like she's Satan spawn, doomed to eternity in Hell.
Well now Clarity is starting her senior year of high school. After her summer revelations she's got a lot on her mind.
There's her identity. Who is she attracted to? What will love feel like? Moving forward what and who does she want in her life?
Then there's the ups and downs of her relationship with Hannah. She'd like to keep it covert, still hurting from the incident at camp. Hannah, who is comfortable being out to her family and friends, doesn't like feeling like she's Clarity's dirty little secret. And it's not like they will have much time apart. They not only go to the same school, they're co presidents for a very important school group.
Then there's her relationship with her long time bestie, Kristen, who is now dating a boy they both formerly disliked. Aware that this is their senior year, she's obsessed with double dating with Clarity and a boy named Maurice.
Finally there's her devoutly religious and, as far as she knows, heteronormative parents. Sure that they would not be able to love her if they guessed, she's determined to keep them in the dark.
Richardson had no clue that she was gay until college when she had a crush on a girl and realized no boy made her feel the same emotions. Luckily her best friend assured her that there was nothing wrong with her feelings. Not everyone would accept her but plenty of people would.
"That's what I hope Sweet Clarity can offer someone else: that same lifeline. That same comfort. A reminder that it's okay to be who you are. Some people might have a problem with it--but they are not the only people in the world. They might not even be the people closest to you. But there are people who will love and accept you, and they are closer than you think."
On a purrrsonal note, I'm having a good weekend. The highlight was talking on the phone with my good friend Catherine who graduated and moved back to New York State last May. I am not good with long distance friendships maintained by email. After awhile they feel so stilted Then last night I had the semi brilliant idea of calling her. We talked a half hour and it felt so natural. For the first time I feel that I can keep a friendship alive with someone who moves away. I went to church for the first time since Easter. I spent a lot of time outside reading for the Orono Public Library readathon. I'm really looking forward to getting more flowers 💐 for my garden and getting my sixth cat tattoo Monday.
A great big shout out goes out to Catherine for getting a job in her field.
Jules Hathaway
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Saturday, July 18, 2026
Wild flowers
But not all beautiful flowers are in gardens. I love the Queen Anne's Lace at the end of my road, here being visited by an industrious pollinator.
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My garden
This enchanting butterfly is another Orono Thrift Shop rescue. Monday I'll share pictures of the creations in the children's garden that inspired me. And later this week I'll show you my new flowers 💐 💕 and my new tattoo. It's about time I got a new one, right.
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My garden
This is my second dumpster angel and a lovely ginger cat framed by Johnny jump ups. These dear self propagating purple and yellow flowers are the stars 🌟 of my this year's garden.
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My garden
This is my second dumpster angel and a lovely ginger cat framed by Johnny jump ups. These dear self propagating purple and yellow flowers are the stars 🌟 of my this year's garden.
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My garden
Here are a few critters sitting by a lake that is actually a coasters from a set of four I got in a Once Upon a Book Club package. Amber and I each have two.
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My garden
Here are a few critters sitting by a lake that is actually a coasters from a set of four I got in a Once Upon a Book Club package. Amber and I each have two.
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My garden
I have a few bare spots in my garden. Monday Bailey is going to drive me to get a few plants to fill them on. But I'm also, inspired by the children's garden fairy houses, experimenting with figurines. I've just set out a few. I want to see how they fare in the rain which is expected today. This is the stone rabbit 🐇 🐰 that has graced my garden for years and one of the two dumpster angels that I rescued from the Orono Thrift Shop dumpster ages ago.
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Friday, July 17, 2026
Little things
Some of the dearest treasures are the little ones. I bought the left and center ones at Orono Thrift Shop for a total of $.75. The happy meal Squishmallow is only the third I have that size. The right one I fished from a dumpster with the help of my friend Gretchen and off label use of a rake. I put him through the washer and dryer with some other rescued critters and my towel load. He came out looking gorgeous as you can see.
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California Blue (YA fiction)
Can you believe I ran out of library books in the middle of the readathon? Fortunately I have my emergency stash in my shed--mostly thrift shop and yard sale acquisitions. They are slightly older books, but not the oldies you had to read to graduate high school. And some of these books are as relevant today as when they were hot off the press. David Klass's California Blue is a perfect example.
John, Klass's narrator, is the youngest child in a very traditional family. His brothers followed in their father's football star footsteps while his sisters excelled in cheerleading. John feels his father's disappointment keenly.
"They [parents] had four wonderful kids and they didn't plan on having any more, and then my mother got pregnant with me and they decided, 'Oh, what the heck, why not?"
I guess they wish they had quit at four."
One night at supper his father hits John with some sobering news. He's been diagnosed with leukemia. The doctor has given him a 30% chance of survival. His parents leave to try a medical treatment, leaving John home alone.
When running through an old growth forest John discovers a very unusual chrysalis. He puts it into his terrarium where it morphs. into a beautiful blue butterfly 🦋 unlike any he's ever seen. A college professor confirms that it is unique and endangered. He starts the process to get it legally protected.
The problem is that John lives in a one industry town. His father and many of their neighbors are employed by the lumber mill. Protecting the butterfly would involve shutting down the mill that is about the only game in town and decimating the population, essentially destroying the close knit community.
Let's say John has stirred up a real hornets' nest.
Klass has created highly believable characters and a highly engaging and complex plot. I think it's more relevant than when it dropped because our nation seems so caught up in simple, adversarial thinking when it comes to really complicated issues.
On a purrrsonal note, Wednesday morning Amber sent me a video the Orono Public Library had posted about why the library and it's expansion are so important. I'm in it in two places. If you want to see it's on YouTube. Look under Orono Public Library. The vigil went really well. We got lots of honks. I got some treasures at the thrift shop. Are you making any good plans for the weekend? I hope you get to do something fun.
A great big shout out goes out to Klass for creating a narrative that continues to be relevant long after it was hot off the press.
Jules Hathaway
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Thursday, July 16, 2026
Yard sale finds
A kind woman gave me these BABW minis (which I collect) and pens for free. I was really touched by her kindness. Let's see what acts of kindness enable us to bring other people (and animals) joy.
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Yard sale finds
This backpack set Eugene back just $1! It's perfect for interviews and the student services job I'm going for. It even has a phone charger.
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Yard sale finds
Case in point: these gorgeous Mexicali Blues overalls which I never could have been able to afford. I got them free from someone who didn't want them because they were missing--you guessed it--a button. After a ten minute mend they are good as new--ready for me to rock!
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Yard sale finds
This is the button jar I found at a yard sale after looking for one forever. When I was a kid everyone's mom seemed to have one. Clothes then had a much longer use span then thanks to mending, alterations, and hand me downs. None of this fast fashion. My kids learned counting, sorting, and adding before starting school thanks to my button jar. At some point it disappeared. Now once again I have one. If you ever see one buy it as an investment. Rebel again the clothing planned obsolescence that's filling up our landfills.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Buzz (juvenile nonfiction)
One of the challenges of the Orono Public Library summer reading challenge (not to be confused with the readathon) is to check out a book with a flower on its cover. Easy peasy, right?...
...Wrong. I looked through the new YA, juvenile, and even picture book fiction and found none. I got desperate enough to scan adult fiction. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Then I tried juvenile nonfiction and found Buzz: A Guide to Bugs and Bees 🐝 and How to Spot Them written by Richard "Bugman" Jones and illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows.
I saw immediately that it was much more than a list check off. It's the perfect book to read this time of year when insects are most abundant. We admire the beauty and grace of some--say butterflies and dragonflies. We feel less affectionate towards mosquitoes and those creatures who devour our carefully nurtured gardens. We pretty much ignore the rest.
Jones, an insect enthusiast since childhood, wants us to be more aware of how complex and amazing and diverse our six legged fellow Earth inhabitants are. Readers can find the answers to many questions:
*How (and why) do fireflies create light?
*How do butterflies evolve from drab cocoon to beautiful and graceful winged creatures?
and *what are some of the weird things insects sometimes dine on?
Text is nicely complimented by vivid and sometimes gorgeous illustrations. Buzz is a wonderful read that can be so much more. Observing these fascinating invertebrates can be a great outdoor activity for curious kids and families.
This I know from experience. As a child I spent many enchanted hours studying, observing, and collecting insects. In fact when Mom took Harriet and me to Mexico she got me a permit to bring insect specimens into America. You should have seen the look on the customs man's face when a 10-year-old produced this government document!
On a purrrsonal note, I had run out of library books and was dipping into my personal emergency stash. So when I stopped at the Orono Public Library on my way to the gardens I picked out seven YA novels, sure I had no inter library loans waiting for me. WRONG! There were six. So now I have thirteen books to read and review in three weeks. Guess I better step up my reading game.
Monday evening meteorologists had predicted extreme weather storms with hail spawning tornadoes for Tuesday night. You'd better believe it scared me. Hail could destroy my flowers. But we didn't get a thing except maybe light rain. Thank goodness!
A great big shout out goes out to the people who deliver ILLs from library to library.
Jules Hathaway
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Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Side two
This is the second side. I checked off my eighth challenge Sunday when I played a beanbag toss game. I get to turn this in today if community garden isn't canceled by rain.
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Side one
This is the first side of the bookmark that qualifies me for the Orono Public Library summer reading challenge prize drawing. Of course I've read way more than eight books.
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Squirrel 1
This little acrobat was quite adept at raiding my mother-in-law's bird feeders.
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Monday, July 13, 2026
Body Electric (adult nonfiction)
Elizabeth Allan heads up the higher education program I got my masters in. She has managed the teaching and research requirements for tenured professorship while raising a family. Wonder woman's secret identity? And she takes a personal interest in each student. I greatly respect and look up to her.
My very first semester back in 2018 she impressed upon my classmates and me the importance of regular study breaks. After a certain amount of seat time we were to get up and do something active--maybe laundry, walking, whatever got us moving. This was a key element in academic success. It was the opposite of the nose to the grindstone approach taken by most academics I'd previously encountered. I loved it. Each time I came back from a break I felt a renewal of my energy, curiosity, and ability to engage with the material.
But she didn't just preach. She incorporated this into her teaching. Regularly during classes she divided us into groups and assigned us topics. After the allotted time each group would report our findings to the class. Several hour long classes just flew by.
Manoush Zomorodi, author of Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-being, would say that Elizabeth was giving us a key not only to academic success, but to life long health and well-being.
When my Adam was a little boy he wanted to be a construction worker like his dad whom he thought hung the moon and the stars. Eugene said "No. I want you to work with your head, not your hands."
Humankind as a whole is rapidly getting away from physical movement not only on the job but in the realms of home and leisure. Why bowl or go out with friends when there's TV and social media? The accessibility of screens has really accelerated the trend.
Recent science has shown the harm this sedentary life does to our minds and bodies. Zomorodi fills readers on all the ways this happens. But she holds out a very strong ray of hope for us all. And it's not through specialists or drugs or anything obscenely expensive. It's through including get off your butt and do something active breaks in your day.
In 2023 Zomorodi recruited NPR listeners to participate in an experiment by incorporating movement breaks into their days. Over 20,000 people participated. The positive results were very strong. From participants' narratives she was able to create a set of best practices. I certainly learned a lot and I bet you will too. The text is quite accessible and there is a beautiful blend of research and personal stories.
The challenge we now face is getting workplaces to see the benefits of movement breaks and incorporating them into our practices and cultures.
I would recommend Body Electric to anyone who is concerned about the effects of a screen centered, sedentary life style and to parents. Remember our kids can lead pretty sedentary lives between school and home where screens too often take the place of active play.
BTW while I was reading and reviewing Body Electric I took regular breaks for stuff like dishes, laundry which in the summer involves hanging clothes outside, room cleaning, getting the mail, walking, exercise biking, dancing, and--my favorite--playing with my sweet cat, Tobago.
On a purrrsonal note, I had an AWESOME weekend. Both days the weather was perfect--sunny and breezy. After our Governers breakfast Saturday Eugene and I went on a road trip all the way to Presque Isle. For people unfamiliar with Maine geography, that's almost as far as you can get without crossing over into Canada. We saw wildlife including deer 🦌. We stopped at lots of yard sales and got plenty of treasures. My favorites were a professional looking backpack for when I get a student services job and an old fashioned button jar. We got subs and had a picnic lunch. I spent the evening reading near my flowers 💐. Sunday I spent most of the day reading for the readathon. In the evening there was an ice cream social put on by Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund and the Town of Orono behind the Orono Public Library. It drew quite a lively crowd including plenty of kids. I was, of course, paparazzi. I had a wonderful time time taking pictures and hanging with friends. It was a truly enchanted evening. I had a special treat: regular ice cream--lemon sorbet. Heavenly!!!
A great big shout out goes out to Dr. Elizabeth Allan--exemplary teacher, researcher, leader, and, human being. The world is better for having her in it. And I am a better version of me from her presence in my life and heart.
Jules Hathaway
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Saturday, July 11, 2026
Our America (adult nonfiction)
Ken Burns' Our America is a photographic chronicle of the good, the bad, and the ugly in United States history. It's beautifully simple in format. Each page layout consists of a black and white photograph. They go in chronological order from the invention of the camera up through the 21st Century. The illustration notes in the back tell the stories behind them. The photos are the work of this nation's greatest photographers--artists like Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange, and Lewis Hine as well as lesser known and unknown picturetakers.
Some of the pictured are very famous people who played major roles in this nation's history--people like presidents, Supreme Court justices, and Civil Rights legends. Some are people known only to family and friends--soldiers, child laborers, and desperately poor folks standing in Depression era breadlines. The photographers often capture the dignity and individuality of the latter. A 1912 picture taken in Washington, D.C. shows the resolute determination on the faces of often orphaned and homeless children who earned a meager living hawking newspapers on the streets.
Some pictures are of America's finer moments. But this country's evils are also on display. A picture of an enslaved man shows his back covered with a network of deep scars from whippings. A picture of dead soldiers brings home the terrible cost of the Civil War. People express grief and shock after a church bombing that killed four young girls.
Sometimes the setting is the story as in the gorgeous photos of national parks and the architectural masterpiece crafted by human hands.
I'd call this an investment book. You can keep coming back to enjoy it, sometimes with different intentions. There are no wrong ways to enjoy it. It would be of special interest to people with a lively interest in the past or folks like me who love the artistry and inspiration that photography can be at its best.
On a purrrsonal note, I've enjoyed taking pictures since I got my first camera. When my kids were young I took pictures to preserve memories and share with my mother who lived about 1,000 miles away. As photography became digital I documented my life and photographed events for organizations, once filling in for a professional who last minute ditched Bangor Public Library right before a reading festival. A fun hobby turned into a passion after the stroke. I found myself unable to do my volunteer specialty--shelf reading. I promised the librarians I'd find another way to make myself useful. Photography was it. The first summer I took pictures of the children's garden magic happened. The kids brought out the best in me. They were so natural, so engaged in their activities. I fell in love with the art. Now I'm figuring out how to create a portfolio and listing photography as a skill on my resume.
A great big shout out goes out to the photographers who created the pictures and Burns for bringing them together and making them accessible.
Jules Hathaway
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Friday, July 10, 2026
Amber's book launch
And here's the happy couple after their successful promotional event.
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Amber's book launch
Left to right that's Brian's mom, Amber, me, and Eugene. He hates having his picture taken.
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Amber's book launch
It was the launch for her second book, Hallowed Deadly Seeds. It was held in the Orono Public Library. It was a lot of fun.
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Thursday, July 9, 2026
Street Smarts
In my much younger years I was hired to house sit for an affluent family that was going on vacation. The house was posh and obviously full of expensive possessions. One night just past midnight suspicious noises woke me up. The room I was sleeping in was just above the kitchen door. I tiptoed to a window without turning on a light. Yep a guy was working on picking the lock.
I knew if he got in and saw me things would get ugly. Especially if he was armed. But I had thought up a strategy ahead of time based on what people do in the middle of the night. I walked down the hall, turned on the bathroom light, and a few minutes later flushed the toilet. He took off like a bat out of hell.
Dannah Eve, author of Street Smarts, would have approved that strategy. If I summed up the gist of her advice it would be: shit happens (and not just to other people!); know how to protect yourself. She very much doesn't want us to skip through life blithely thinking nothing like that could ever happen to me. But she also doesn't want us paralyzed by fear. Consider her book to be a toolkit for going through life in the sweet in between space.
Eve has several of what I call overarching principles. One very important one is trust your instincts. If a person, place, or situation creeps you out follow your gut. Don't play nice and stick around. Lie if you have to. Break social conventions if that's called for. Just get the Hell out. And don't go off alone with someone if you're seeing red flags, even if your friends think he's a really nice guy.
Another is to be constantly aware of your surroundings, even if they're veryfamiliar ones. On campus or off I'm constantly seeing people walking around with their eyes glued to their phones. So not a good idea.
Another is lie to survive. Despite what society teaches us, telling the truth is not always a good idea. If a potential molester backs off in fear of your nonexistent husband--good.
In the body of the book Eve applies the principles to the kinds of situations we may very well find ourselves in: driving a motor vehicle, dating, going out with the girls, at work, living alone, traveling alone, being a college student, and using electronics. The volume is peppered with real life safety stories Her advice is comprehensive and actionable. I bet most of us could gain a lot from reading the book.
In her conclusion Eve tells readers: "My hope is that after reading this book, you feel empowered with knowledge. I want you to lean into the power of awareness, tap into your intuition, and refuse to shrink back. I want you to carry this confidence forward, knowing that with each step, you're living a life that's bold, aware, and unmistakably strong."
Amen to that!
I personally believe Street Smarts belongs in every home where there are people. Keep it in a handy place to reference it whenever you need to. It's also a valuable acquisition for college and public libraries.
On a purrrsonal note, this week I had two of my annual medical check ups. Yesterday I saw my neurologist (if you survive a stroke you get one of those) and my new primary care provider. After two years of trying I got in with a practice suited to my needs. I am very happy with my new PCP and the practice as a whole.
If you ever get stuck with a medical practitioner that you aren't satisfied with, if it's feasible, try to discuss the reasons you aren't happy. If that doesn't work find a new one. Don't just stay put in a bad situation. It's your health, your body, your agency. This is harder with specialists if you live in a state like mine where there are so damn few of them.
Oh yeah, I'm in radient health. I've got my blood pressure under control due to my adhering to the diet from Hell, commitment to exercise, and all the other due diligence stuff. YAY ME!!!
Jules Hathaway
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Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Last week's concert
This mom and her daughters were having a fine time and building wonderful memories.
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Last week's concert
Laurie (right) is really pleased with how the concert is going. She's also super excited with the library expansion and the fundraising for it. It's the third part of the library project. Not that long ago the Orono Public Library was housed in the high school. People decided the town needed a stand along library and started raising money. It opened its doors in 2009. (Which means I've been volunteering there almost 17 years.) The next step was transforming the wilderness behind the library into a lovely amphitheater and garden. Laurie has plenty reason to be pleased and proud.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Nations Apart (adult nonfiction)
I'm sure that you've been noticing that on just about any issue of substance Americans have become deeply divided in the past few decades and conversations have become more contentious and hostile. More frustrating. More how can they not see what is so obvious. You may have wondered how these divides can happen between citizens of one nation.
Colin Woodard, author of Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America, seriously questions the one nation premise. He reminds us that America was initially colonized by quite diverse groups from a number of nations. The settlers didn't homogenize as the melting pot theory suggests. Rather the differences in beliefs and behaviors widened, entrenching distrust and division between groups. This gets us to the predicament we're in today. In his first chapter Woodard gives a detailed analysis of the groups and the differences between them. Most of the book is concerned with the impact of those cultural divides on today's hot button issues. The final chapter is about potential ways to pull the nation together.
"THE INDIVIDUALISTIC WORLDVIEW is poorly suited to collective action problems, such as confronting and containing a deadly airborne virus. During the terrifying first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, regional differences--and the abdication of federal leadership by then President Trump--made the United States ground zero for the global crisis, as elected officials and large numbers of citizens across the aggressively libertarian regions mobilized not against the deadly virus but against public health measures meant to contain it."
One of the differences between the "nations" is that between those with individualistic and communitarian orientations. In chapter three Woodard compares the effects of these orientations on reactions to a crisis we all remember vividly and visceraly. States with communitarian orientations mandated public health measures such as masking and sheltering in place while states with the individualistic orientations went in the opposite direction.
Woodard analyzes regional differences concerning our most volatile hot button issues: gun control, health and survival, war, immigration, abortion, climate, and authoritarianism vs democracy. Every one is thoroughly researched and nuanced with plenty of statistics and the visuals that bring them to life.
I really like Nations Apart. It makes sense. It doesn't demonize one "side" while touting the other as salvation. And Woodard has a lot of good ideas. If, like me, you're concerned about the polarization of today's America you'd do well to check the book out.
If you like Woodard's writing you're in luck. He has six other books in print.
On a purrrsonal note, Sunday morning Eugene and I took off for an overnight at camp. We spent a lot of time with the Browns at their camp across the road. Richard Brown and Eugene have been besties like forever. We got together in the morning and then for dinner and a campfire. Eugene who usually sacks out at 9:00 if he doesn't have to plow snow has now, counting the fireworks, stayed up until 10:30 two nights! May wonders never cease!!!
A great big shout out goes out to our good friends, the Browns.
Jules Hathaway
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Monday, July 6, 2026
Concert
I took this picture right before the concert started. It is my favorite. The communication between the children and musician was so spontaneous and beautiful.
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Concert
This fine trio is most definitely excited about fundraising for the Orono Public Library expansion. As am I.
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Sunday, July 5, 2026
Getting To Reparations (adult nonfiction)
I believe it's about time for reparations to Blacks in America for all that has been done to them and taken from them by both law and brute force for centuries. I'm told that most of my fellow whites disagree with me for all kinds of reasons. I don't have slaves. My ancestors never had slaves. It's all ancient history. It will make white children feel guilty and shamed. It can't be done...
I feel that it can and must be done. A bit of self disclosure--my ancestors on my mother's side enslaved people. In fact I have reason to believe that at least one raped enslaved women. So of course I consider reparations to be a most important imperative.
I was so glad when I discovered Dorothy A. Brown's Getting To Reparations: How Building a Different America Requires a Reckoning With Our Past. Brown, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, constructs an eloquent and convincing case for reparations. Her analysis is broken down into three parts.
Part One: we've done it before--paid restitution to groups harmed by our actions. Brown discusses four instances. At the turn of the Nineteenth Century Italian families were compensated for the lynching deaths of immigrant family members. Tribal nations have been compensated for land theft. Decades after their forced relocation to horrendous camps during World War II Japanese Americans and their descendants were compensated for their losses. White slave owners were compensated for loss of their "property".
Isn't it about time to compensate a group that has suffered all those losses and so many more?
Part Two is absolutely heartbreaking. It's where Brown proves decisively that the evils being done to Blacks didn't end in 1865, but continued into the Twenty-first Century. There was the way chattel slavery shape shifted into share cropping and convict leasing. There was the brutal practice of lynching. Sometimes it was done in front of crowds including families as entertainment. Sometimes pieces of the deceased were sold as souvenirs. Often the "crime" the victim was guilty of was causing white resentment by, against all odds, acquiring land and property. It was "a tool to instill fear, seize property, and reinstate white superiority".
There was economic violence perpetrated by the government as in FHA loans and the GI Bill. There was redlining, gentrification, Urban Renewal...
In Part Three Brown explains how reparations can be achieved. Her vision is both inspiring and down to earth. And you don't have to be a policy wonk to comprehend it.
Getting To Reparations is a must read for anyone who wants with liberty and justice for all to be more than empty words we pay lip service to.
On a purrrsonal note, I'm really enjoying the long weekend. Saturday Eugene and I had our traditional breakfast at Governors. We went to a lunch time cookout at the in-laws. On the way over Eugene bought me a fabulous bomber jacket that will glean me many compliments when the weather gets cool enough for me to wear it. In the evening Eugene and I went to see the Bangor fireworks 🎆 🙃 😀. It was beautifully cool and breezy beside the river. A band entertained us before the main event. The fireworks 🎆 were amazing--beautiful and dramatic, especially the grand finale. Today Eugene and I are going to camp to spend the night. Maybe we'll find some yard sales on the way there. You never know where they'll spring up.
I hope you're having a good weekend. I got up early to do my biking and post this review where I could.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene who didn't really want to go to the fireworks but did it for me.
Jules Hathaway
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Saturday, July 4, 2026
Acrobatic squirrel
This acrobatic squirrel was raiding my mother-in-law's bird feeder. She's finally out of the hospital. My MIL, not the squirrel. Eugene and I are over for a holiday cookout.
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Friday, July 3, 2026
The Burning Side (adult fiction)
"The night their house goes up in flames, April stumbles out the front door with her baby in one arm and a book in the other. Otto points his little finger over her shoulder at the house, yelling unintelligible warnings.
Leo is still inside, grabbing Sadie from her bed.
A fist of dark smoke punches through a window and races out into the sky. At the sound of glass exploding, April glances back. The fire is coming from the kitchen."
Would you say that the opening paragraphs of Sarah Damoff's The Burning Side are pretty dramatic--a young couple's worst nightmare springing horrifically to life in the wee hours of the morning. Fortunately April, Leo, and children Sadie and Otto escape unharmed. Also fortunately April's parents have the space and willingness to open their doors to their home. Sadie and Otto won't be further traumatized by going somewhere frighteningly unfamiliar like a shelter.
Which in itself is problematic. Leo is going to be living in close proximity not only to April, but to her family. Remember how the fire started in the kitchen? April had left a stove burner on...
...after she was blindsided by Leo telling her that he wants a divorce.
Don't get me wrong. The fire causes plenty of drama. But its main literary function seems to be to throw a cast of fabulous but flawed individuals together in close proximity to explore the high and low lights, the ambiguities, the joys and sorrows and the seeming contradictions of their relationships. In alternate flashbacks and present scenes the story unfolds in the distinctive voices of four narrators.
Leo comes from a background of childhood deprivation and abandonment. When April becomes absorbed in the care of their young children and seems to be shutting him out he fears being left behind--especially when he sees her with another man.
April is overwhelmed by the life changes of parenting. As Leo commutes between work and home she feels alone, unheard, and unsupported.
Deb, April's mother, was not in love when she married Billy. She was in the family way. That was considered to be the right thing to do. But in the course of marriage and parenting her love flourished. Now she's slowly losing the love of her life to Alzheimers.
And Billy is losing his memories, his abilities, his freedom--basically himself--and painfully aware of all he's losing.
The characters come to life so convincingly I think it would be really hard, if not impossible, not to care what happens to them.
I highly recommend The Burning Side to readers who want substance and depth in their novels.
On a purrrsonal note, Maine and the rest of New England are caught up in a dangerous heat 🥵 wave. If that's the case where you live please take precautions, drink lots of water, be aware of the symptoms of heat stroke, and keep children and companion animals as cool as possible. Check in on family members and neighbors who live alone, especially those with medical conditions.
Best wishes for a fun and safe long weekend!!!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my Galaxy
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Father's Day
These are the books got me from the antiques and books store that used to be a commercial chicken coop.
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Father's Day
These are the dresses I got at the yard sales. Do you recognize the Annabelle one? It's probably going to be my Halloween costume. Guess I'd better watch the movie.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Joyspan (adult nonfiction)
I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of lifespan. You may also be familiar with healthspan. But have you heard of Joyspan? I hadn't until I read Dr. Kerry Burnight's Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life's Second Half. It's a must read for everyone who's living, no matter how far along the path.
A long joyspan is good in its own right. A long life is potentially good. But without joy, even a healthy life can lead to depression, anxiety, isolation, heartbreaking loneliness, and just plain boredom. Is that really what you want for your later years?
The elements of a good joyspan have a positive impact on healthspan and lifespan. Curiosity and lifelong learning nurture neuroplasticity which can help prevent or delay dementia. Maintaining healthy connections with family and friends can add seven more years.
How you feel about aging very much effects your joyspan. There are two mindsets: aging as decline and aging as growth. The former is prevalent in America. We're taught to see older people negatively (ugly, boring, irrelevant) and pass as young as long as possible (making plastic surgeons and cosmetics companies obscenely rich). But those who see aging as growth fare a lot better, even living seven and a half years longer.
There are a host of other traits that lead to a longer joyspan--curiosity, engagement, social connection, and so many more. Burnight shows you why they matter.
The really good news: unlike stuff like genetics, they aren't set in stone. You can cultivate them in small steps with Burnight's advice and the inspiring real life stories Joyspan is full of.
No matter how far you are in your lifespan, the time to get the book is now. Investing in future you is money well spent.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday late afternoon through evening was truly joyous for me. I started off taking pictures at the children's garden. The kids were being so cute doing bee related crafts. Then I was pitching in watering and harvesting at community garden. While there I got sponsors for the library's fund raising readathon. I ended up taking pictures at the library's amphitheater of their concert, a really informal and joyful family and community celebration. I've volunteered in Orono for decades. I'm an integral part of the community. People know that they can rely on me and they're there when I need help. That's what I consider the good life.
A great big shout goes out to my Orono community.
Jules Hathaway
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