Sunflowers have been gracing my desk this week. Thanks for the bouquet of sunshine, John!
One has only to look at the thermometer to know it is mid-August. For the past 8 years, this time in August has found us consumed with getting ready for a trip, either to some far flung location in another part of the world or a 10 day backpack, usually somewhere high and cool. This year, not so much. While a group of friends will head north at the end of the month for a canoe trip in the Canadian Boundary Waters, we will stay in Knoxville. John will be busy with work at the University and I will be busy looking for work…a requirement for getting back on our travel schedule next year. My my, how quickly life can change.
Strolls through a nearby bookstore recently have netted some very interesting reads. The books I tend to pick up are mostly non-fiction and often adventure related. People have some incredible stories to tell!
Into Thick Air by Jim Malusa is a different take on the “7 summits” idea. Instead of struggling to climb the highest mountain on each continent, Jim decided to bicycle to the lowest point (below sea level) on each continent, alone, over 6-years. “Anti-expedition” and anti-summit” as he calls it. Lucky for him, Antarctica has no exposed terrain below sea level. His journey included riding to Lake Ere in Australia, to the Jourdanian shore of the Dead Sea, from Moscow to the Caspian Sea, across the Andes to Salina Grande in Argentine Patagonia, to Lac Assal near the Horn of Africa and finally from his home in Tucson to Death Valley. He describes each journey through his dealings with people, politics and the landscape around him. Each tale is told with humor. This book is a little different from what I expected when I first picked it up, but I got lost in the pages very quickly.
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. You may recognize her name through her involvement with Dutch politics and the murder of Theo van Gogh, a film maker, who was killed by an Islamist who threatened that she would be next. This book is her story, raised in a strict Muslim family, beatings, forced female mutilation, civil wars, forced marriage and finally escape to the Netherlands, receiving an education, citizenship and a foray into Dutch politics. It is an incredible story of survival, iron will and the fight for social justice, especially for Muslim women.
Down the Nile, by Rosemary Mahoney. I first picked this book up because of my fascination with and desire to travel to Egypt. I stayed with the book because I got hooked on the adventure. Rosemary, a rower, decides to take a trip down the Nile in a rowboat. Egyptian women don’t row on the Nile and tourists are not allowed to row independently for safety’s sake. This book describes her journey, from acquiring the rowboat and departing in the dark, descriptions of the people and situations she faced along the way including the improvised lives of the women along the Nile, to the end of her journey in Qena. It is a good book although a little slower read than the other 3 books.
Finally, Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. What an incredible book! Greg Mortenson failed at his attempt to climb K2, wondered into a little village in Pakistan and promised to return and build a school. He did this and more. He founded the CAI, Central Asian Institute that has to date, built 55 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His emphasis is on education for women who he believes can most affect the lives of the in the rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is a hard to put down book so anticipate a few late nights. Go to Greg’s website for more information about his life and works. http://www.gregmortenson.com/welcome.php
So what is on my bedside table now? Sir Edmond Hillary, An Extraordinary Life, by Alexa Johnston.
