I deadheaded our burdock yesterday, cutting off all the spent flowers. I'm trying to prevent the plants from re-seeding too much. I wouldn't mind having some more burdock but I want to be in control of how many and where they grow, because they're such gigantic plants. Here's a bee feasting on one of the remaining flowers -- you can see the cut stems to the right where I took some old flowerheads off.
Handling those spiny little seedheads left my fingers feeling like I'd rubbed them with sandpaper.
I also finished "Smoky the Cowhorse." Believe it or not, it got better. The first 100 pages were just about the slowest I've read in any book, but after Smoky grew up and began working some conflicts developed and things got more interesting. I even teared up at the end. Animal books always do that to me. (And SPOILER ALERT: He doesn't die!)
There are some dicey references about halfway through the book to a "halfbreed" horse thief -- "dark complected," as the book put it. Here's how he's introduced: "All of him, from the toe of his gunny sack covered boots to the dark face which showed under the wore out black hat, pointed out as the man being a halfbreed of Mexican and other blood that's darker, and noticing the cheap, wore out saddle, the ragged saddle blanket on a horse that should of had some chance to feed instead of being tied up, showed that he was a halfbreed from the bad side, not caring, and with no pride."
Yikes! The book was published in 1926 so I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. But this illustrates why even prize-winning old books can pose problems for modern librarians. I'd be reluctant to recommend "Smoky," not only because kids nowadays would never put up with that slow start, but because of the emphasis on the bad guy's dark skin. An adult can read it and realize it's a product of its time, but a kid may absorb a different message.
In the afternoon I took Olga for a walk in the cemetery, and saw this speckled wood butterfly.
I also saw these two mating dragonflies. It's not a great picture, but they were very hard to photograph, constantly moving and pretty fast, too. I think this is actually post-coitus. I wondered why one bug's abdomen was attached to the head of the other -- because that doesn't seem right, does it? But apparently during mating the rear dragonfly's abdomen would also be bent forward to attach to the underside of the front dragonfly. I guess they're done with that part. Now they're having a cigarette.
I also heard the turaco and briefly saw it fly from a treetop -- but again, I wasn't fast enough with the camera.
I brought Olga home and gave her her nightly can of food. We used to give her canned food as a special treat, but in her old age we've been providing it more regularly, and now she's come to expect it at around 6 p.m. I am amazed at how accurate her internal clock is. Within about 15 minutes on either side of that time, she always starts looking at me with yearning eyes.
My evening movie was "The Mission" with Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro, from 1986. It's another one that I saw many years ago but couldn't really remember. Good, and beautiful to watch, but of course tragic.
How long have you been a voyeur Steve? Dragonflies should be left to mate in private. Some of us still have moral scruples. I agree that "The Mission" is a fine film.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? I have a bug fetish.
DeleteStill a pretty amazing shot of the dragon flies. When I read the title, I thought, “Ooh, is that similar to tantric sex?”
ReplyDeleteWhen the dragonflies are really going at it, it LOOKS like a tantric position -- there's definitely some contortion involved!
DeleteCemeteries can be beautiful places for nature.
ReplyDeleteThey tend to be mowed short here, so you can read the stones..but I would prefer a middle ground for history and nature!
Hampstead Cemetery tends to leave the grass long over the summer, which I appreciate. They strim it toward the end of the season. There's a lot of insect and animal life in the cemetery.
DeleteI am not one for censorship of older books from different times but I think I agree that they ought not be read by young people, I think. But then I am not sure that Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer influenced my thinking when I read them at a young age.
ReplyDeleteI too have seen dragonflies mating. I only guessed at what two dragonflies were connected like that, harking back to saying, Mum, why are those two dogs joined together.
You've reminded me of the much missed relaxing post coital cigarette, missing both the cigarette and the coitus.
Do dogs have to adjust their feeding times to the light of day or human time?
I think kids are smart enough to understand that older books contain old perspectives and vocabulary. What troubles me about this one is the unspoken message behind having a dark-skinned villain. It's an insidious stereotype, much less overt than simply using the n-word.
DeleteWell, facts are facts. And sometimes, in order to describe a person, skin colour will come up. Or slitty eyes (Mongolia) or crooked noses to describe a villain. Let's not forget the peachy skin of an "English Rose".
ReplyDeleteTo illustrate: Once upon a time when the Angel was about three or four, he and I sat in a Heathrow airport departure lounge. To paint you the picture, the Angel has blue eyes and is very blond. He pointed his little very white index finger at a lady sitting close to us and observed, in wonderment: "Mama, she is BLACK." Brilliant. Those are the moments of parenthood you have to gather your wits. "Yes", I whispered to him, "but you don't say that out loud." "But Mama, she IS black". Undisputedly so. Don't worry, Steve, the lady in question smiled at me, smiled at the Angel.
To complete the anecdote fast forward, say twenty years or so, the Angel then in his mid twenties. We had a neighbour (white), young woman, single, sailor's bride. When I mentioned her absolutely gorgeous "chocolate baby" my son rolled his eyes "Oh, Mama!" Apparently it's not the thing to say.
So don't worry about youngsters and what they read. In the end it's their upbringing that will teach them what's what. When I read "Uncle Tom's Cabin", at an impressionable age (ten/eleven) or, later, "Gone with the Wind", I just took the reference to "niggers" as the lingo of the time. And yes, when my parents invited one of my father's black journalist friends home, for dinner, my little sister (she was three) burst into tears as she had never seen a black man before. That's children for you. Pure. The black man smiled. I dare say many a little black child will have cried at the sight of the white missionary showing up at their village's doorstep.
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Yeah, but we're not talking about journalism here. The author had full control over how to depict his villain, and he decided to give him dark skin and call him a "halfbreed." (And, in later references, just "the breed.") That promotes a stereotype. It's not like using the n-word in dialogue to be historically accurate.
DeleteAs a kid I had a copy of Smoky and seem to remember loving it but then I was a horse nut and would read anything with a horse in it. Also it was 70 years ago and there weren't as many books for kids so I read whatever I could find.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great how animals keep track of time for us. Right now my cats are reminding me that it is breakfast time.
Cheers Peter
You're the second person who's mentioned loving this book as a child. Maybe I'm just completely off-base in my lukewarm assessment? But yeah, there wasn't much selection then.
DeleteIn re-reading "Roughing It" by Twain, I am a bit appalled at how he speaks of people of color, whether native Americans, Mexicans, Black people or the indigenous people of Pacific Islands. Yes. He is a product of his time but I am still taken aback.
ReplyDeleteIt's always remarkable how casually racist references and perspectives appear in old books. At least there's been SOME progress since then.
DeleteBooks like that are important because they remind us where we came from, but I, too, would not recommend them.
ReplyDeleteWhen we know better, we do better.
Agreed. I don't think there's much danger of a kid taking up this book. It's almost never checked out.
Deletewhere did this idea of the superiority of white skin, of people with white skin, come from? it certainly is ingrained in this country. I imagine the christian religion has a lot to do with it once it spread to Europe and they made Jesus and god white.
ReplyDeleteMinnie always knows when it's her dinner time and she will remind me if I'm taking too long.
It IS very strange, how that's such a thing. It's true not only in American culture but in many places worldwide. In India, for example, lighter skin has often signified beauty. I suppose it suggests wealth and privilege, to show that you're not out working in the sun...? And yes, of course, Europeans spread very Euro-centric ideals of beauty all around the globe.
DeleteI'd say that you had a busy day.
ReplyDeleteI did indeed!
DeleteVery interesting photos today. Once, I was watching a couple of squirrels playing together so I started take some photos. Hmmm, a surprise when I looked at the photos! They hadn't got to the cigarette stage yet. I love it when we have baby birds and I get to watch the parents feeding them. Nature is awesome! You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's funny about the squirrels! I agree -- nature IS awesome.
DeleteI think I mentioned that my friend David and I have been sending each other post cards for the past year and half. I pulled out a very old post card (probably around 1940's) with a desert scene on it and in the description was a racial slur used to describe a cactus. I had never heard that description before. It really is startling to read things like that and know how freely people used those terms years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt IS shocking, isn't it? My grandfather used to use a very racist term for Brazil nuts. He said it very matter-of-factly, like it was no big deal.
DeleteI agree with Edna you do have some great photos today and I would have never guessed that those were dragonfly's let alone dragonfly's having sex or post sex lol.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the book but your right about kids losing interest if the first 100 pages are that slow. By the time that I got to recommended reading we were having book reports, usually on a war of some kind and some place.
The one book that I remember loving and checked it out several times was "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck. I think that I still have that book. I came across it at Half Price Books several years ago and I grabbed it up. But moving several times since then I am not sure if I still have it or what happened to it. I will go thru my books when I go back to Texas in October.
You have a wonderful day. Hugs xxx
I remember "The Pearl"! Excellent book!
DeleteI think it just depends on the maturity level of the individual reader. I believe many young people can understand that what they're reading is no longer acceptable, but was "okay" at the time. There's a big difference between acknowledging and condoning.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, we always called those Double Dragonflies!!
I do think kids are smart enough to know -- particularly when it comes to vocabulary -- that there are some words we don't use anymore. What troubled me about this was the inference that dark skin equates to evildoing.
DeleteMaybe there needs to be a new category of literature has racist perspectives. It could be like deciding if a book has highly suggestive sexual descriptions, like film ratings.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...that's an interesting idea. Like a "parental advisory" label on music! Although I must confess I always thought those were silly, especially since they usually only addressed very superficial issues like language use.
DeleteWe need to worry more about the people using racist language now. I am often shocked at how many are still so prejudiced and the negative stereotypes that prevail even to this day. :(
ReplyDeleteI agree! I sometimes read right-wing media just to see what people are saying out there, and a lot of it is APPALLING.
DeleteSo nice that the book got better. I was afraid you'd spend years forcing yourself to keep reading. Watch out for that dragonfly porn.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I usually do MAKE myself finish books, even when I don't initially like them, because they often improve.
DeleteI think it's good for the young to read such books (Yes, I'm thinking of Huckleberry Finn) as long as someone adult with knowledge is on hand to explain how the times have changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteWell, and "Huckleberry Finn" has significant cultural and literary value -- not to mention an anti-slavery message. I'm not sure "Smoky the Cowhorse" ranks quite as highly! :)
Delete