Happy summer, dear Readers! Let me begin this long overdue newsletter with my favorite shot of Isle Royale, where I was fortunate to spend my birthday at the end of May on a trip with my daughter. Isle Royale is a remote island in Lake Superior, and a place I always wanted to visit. The above image was the view from our cabin on our last evening there, as fog rolled in. The fog created enchanting vistas but proved problematic for our return seaplane flight the next morning. The seaplane rides to and from the island were adventures in and of themselves. Click this link for a video of us eventually taking off as the fog thinned. The whole island is a national park and a
wilderness, with only one lodging facility for people like me, who are not going to rough it camping. There's also basically no cell reception. In an odd way I found it would have been better to have no reception at all. As a 21st century human, one does obsess about sending out at least a message to one's husband that one arrived safely. There are also no cars on Isle Royale, and no roads, just a few paved walkways around the lodge area. Everything else are narrow foot paths. Some hiking trails included narrow plank walks like this! I
could get carried away sharing pictures of that trip, so hopefully I'll get around to putting together some photo essays of it on my blog. Trail to Suzy's Cave, Isle Royale, May 2023 On Isle Royale my practice to pack everything I might need, such as food when you need to eat gluten-free like me, was affirmed. Since it
was still preseason on the island, the one restaurant wasn't open, and the one cafeteria that did deconstruct their breakfast burrito for me closed at 5pm Eastern. Who has dinner at 5pm Eastern when the sun doesn't set until 9:30pm? We were out on the trails, but we had stuffed pasta, a tiny bottle of olive oil and garlic into our carry0ns (Larger luggage is not allowed on the seaplanes.). That made for a satisfying meal in our "housekeeping" cabin after long hikes. In my backpack I also carried a box of delicious blondies I had baked prior to the trip, and I have that recipe for you here: Picnic spot on the summit of Mount Franklin, Isle Royale, May 2023 (Where we also happened to have the only decent cell reception on the island!) While I have been hiking the North woods and after that, helping my daughter move from St. Paul, Minnesota to Columbus, Ohio, Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers has been making a life for itself out in the world. My wonderful book designer Melinda Martin recently created a book design tour of how we put the book together, and I wanted to share that with you: Book Design Tour of a Children’s Picture Book: A Peek Behind the Scenes Thanks to all of you who have purchased Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers, and who have shared your impressions with me. I truly relish hearing from readers! If you have enjoyed Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers, please do me the great favor of to rate it on
Amazon. That is still one of the most powerful book marketing tools. All you gotta do is click the number of stars you want to give it. Of course a written review is even more appreciated! Another thing you could do, if you want to support my work, is to suggest Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers to your local library. Last but not least I have a book recommendation for you! I am not
even done with this book but I am enjoying it so much I had to tell you about it:
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Gershom Scholem was not an ardent political Zionist, and he grew up in a rather assimilated and well established Jewish family in Berlin. Yet, in 1923, at the age of 25, Scholem left the cultural mecca of Berlin and moved to fledgling Jerusalem. Who does that? I asked myself.
Who is that prescient? And
who dives into teaching himself Hebrew, when he’s not familiar with Jewish liturgy, and before it was the language of Israel? Who goes to find himself a Talmud teacher when he does not aspire to become a rabbi nor a student in a yeshiva? In From Berlin to Jerusalem, the memoirs of his youth, Scholem provides the answer. Read on...
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So much for today from me. There'd be more the share, as always, but the
tennis elbow condition in my right arm is still limiting my time at the keyboard. I have, by the way, begun to learn how to type with my left hand only. It actually works; it's just excruciatingly slow! More practice is needed... Happy
4th of July if you're in the U.S., and happy summer to everyone! |
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