Book Trailer: The Hermit of Iapetus

In the darkness of space, we hear the opening bars of "San Antonio Rose" sung by Patsy Cline. The music wanders with us through the stars until we see a brighter point of light enter our field of vision. The point of light grows until we see an odd walnut-shaped moon, its leading edge almost black as charcoal, its trailing edge a snowy hue. We descend to the surface flying over massive craters and an equatorial mountain range which gives the odd little world its walnut shape. As we soar, Patsy Cline's voice and music is occasionally scattered with static, but the closer we get to the moon the louder and clearer the music comes. Below we see the unmistakable tracks if a wheeled vehicle that has carved a trail up the mountains. In the shadow of a peak we spy the vehicle and the music us louder yet. We see a door in the side of the mountain and it opens for us and after the airlock cycles an inner door opens and we hear Patsy even louder. Inside in the dim light we see the form of a man, asleep or senseless on a cot in the corner if a cluttered room.

His eyes open.

"It's about time you got here," he says. "There's macaroni and cheese in the fridge."

We go to the fridge and there is indeed macaroni and cheese therein. Patsy sings the closing lines as we settle in for a snack in the home of the Hermit of Iapetus.

Reading 'The Narrow Sea'

I knew this, but reading Peter Unwin’s “The Narrow Sea: Barrier, Bridge, and Gateway to the World. The History of the English Channel” reinforces it: England has a lot of history.

Blinding flash of the obvious, yes. But as I read Unwin’s book on the history of the English Channel, I kept getting lost in the history. There is a lot of it. Fortunately, I was familiar with some of it, notably the World War I and II years. But still. Lots of places and names to sort through. Thank heaven for Google Earth.

Unwin does a good job going to original sources, and a lot of obscure little sources as well, for his history. It’s when he delves into the One Man’s (or Woman’s) View that this book shines. The high as the clouds overview is kind of dull.

And dull might be a little harsh, because there were many fascinating little bits of history in this book that I wish I’d known when I was younger and studying my own country’s history.

For example, American history books make a big wash of “taxation without representation” in one of the reasons for the Revolutionary War. And yes, taxes did go up. But the books I read never really explained why, leaving the assumption that it was just greed as a motivator.

However, “at home” in England, they were fighting mightily to protect English industry from cheaper imports from the continent, notably France, so tariffs and such were incredibly high on a lot of goods. That, of course, led to smuggling, and this:

By the 1780s smugglers were estimated to be bringing in 5 million pounds of contraband a year, against legal imports worth only four times as much. The ‘Gentlemen’ organised themselves on a military scale, with a thousand men to protect some landings from the attention of the Revenue men, and 700 to escort the goods inland. “Will Washington take America,” asked a member of the House of Lords in the course of the American Revolution, “or the smugglers England first?”

So some of that history gets filled in my head via Disney:



So I’ll keep the book – as I do all my books – and maybe it’ll come in handy in the future when I need to fill my brain with other little bits of information. I’m glad I read it, and I’m glad I’m done with it. It was on the top of the “to-read” pile when the pandemic hit, and I thought, “Wow, I’ll get through a lot of these.” Got through just one so far. . .

[Takes Blinders Off]

I've seen quite a few posts on patriotism today, and a smaller number of posts of bits from patriotic movies.

I'll share mine: "A Bridge too Far," from 1977.

This movie tells the tale of Operation Market-Garden, a battle meant to catapult Allied armies across the Rhine in the Netherlands in preparation for their invasion of Germany.

The film, as the battles it tells, is filled with derring-do, bravery, and the kind of gritty, let's-get-this-done attitude common not only with entertainments based on World War II, but also with much of the war itself.

The screenplay is by William Goldman of "The Princess Bride" fame, based on the 1974 book by Cornelius Ryan. If the book is to be believed, the film is as honest an account as one could hope for. (I've seen the film and read the book, and for the most part, they appear to match.)

It is, at its base, an anti-war film. Because while there's derring-do and bravery, there's plenty of foolishness and hubris, as all wars and tales of war tend to have.

This film is patriotic to me because in it, we see people of many nations, inside armies and out, fighting and dying for a common cause -- a sentiment that's in short supply in our day.

One of the victims -- spoilers ahead -- is the son of one of the Underground leaders in Arnhem, a young boy thrilled at the thought of liberation and freedom at last.

If you're a patriot, if you wish to honor those who fought for the freedoms we enjoy, maybe choose today -- and from today forward -- to fight for a common cause, rather than bicker and complain or put on blinders because not everyone thinks the same thoughts you do.

"They Expect Results"

So I'm close to being back to full-time work at the full-time job.

Still working at home thanks to King Corona, but it's been busy. Most everyone else, if I'm not mistaken, is back at the office, leaving a few of us still on the outskirts. That means projects that were forsaken for a while are now hot commodities, and all at once.

I'm trying not to complain. After all, this is what I signed up for with that full-time job with good pay and benefits.

Still, it's like Dean Yeager has paid that visit and I'm being tossed out.



Or tossed back in, as it were.

And it's fine. I mean, I'm contributing. Doing valuable work and all that. Feeling better since the weekend. I think.

Michelle and Lexie spent the last 2 1/2 days at the council Trail to Eagle merit badge scramble at Krupp Scout Hollow. Lexie and Sam worked on Eagle-required merit badges while Michelle did whatever it is Scout leaders do at events like this when the Scouts are occupied. They worked on three merit badges, which is a good thing -- Personal Management, Personal Fitness, and something or other else. Emergency Preparedness and/or Citizenship in the Nation.

The boys and I stayed home. I may as well have stayed home alone, as the boys weren't worth the powder to blow them up. If any dishes got done this week, it was because I did them.

And oh my gosh I am laughing at the camping episode of Bob's Burgers: