Harper Lee...
I read this in exactly 24 hours. I didn't think I'd pre-ordered it, but I had, from Barnes & Noble. So Kid #2 gets the copy I just ordered from Amazon...
OK, here's the thing (no spoilers).
Everyone's up in arms over the revelation that Atticus Finch is a racist.
"What? Gregory Peck/Atticus Finch a racist?? NOOOOO!"
Hey, folks.
Gregory Peck was an amazing actor, who also happened to be extraordinarily liberal in his beliefs. When he delivered that famous speech during Tom's trial, of course it felt like it came from his very being. Because it did.
But he was, folks, ACTING. He played Atticus Finch. A noble character in Mockingbird, to be sure, but a character after all.
And let's take a breath, get off the fainting couch and stop clutching our pearls.
Atticus is EXACTLY the man he should be, for the period within which the book was written. I would venture to guess that most men of Atticus' stature in a "real" Southern town in that time period were also racists.
They didn't want to see their society changed. They truly believed that the North was taking away their very way of life.
Atticus being a racist is no more surprising than it ought to be.
Everyone just breathe here.
Read the book.
What's probably not as surprising is that there ARE other manuscripts. Think about it. Harper Lee has a transcendent style of writing. Her way with words is unlike other writers. I always found it hard to believe that she had a one-off stunner in "To Kill a Mockingbird."
The news that there's yet a third manuscript isn't hard to believe. Even if it's not a fully-fleshed-out story, I think it should be published.
Her voice should not be confined to just one or two books, if indeed there are more of her words out there.
Honey...
I have a friend who runs a honey operation. So I was able to hook up with her to get the first harvest of 2015 honey. This will be used for potica this fall, and I'm so excited to have local honey!If you're in the area, visit their site and contact Jo if you want some lovely, locally sourced honey.
This is why bees are important. Not because my friend owns this farm. But because for all our sophistication and mechanization - we need bees.
Bees transport pollen. Plants don't reproduce without pollen. We don't eat if bees don't survive.
And we really, really need to support local small farmers like Jo. I mean, honestly - when was the last time you looked at your food and truly wondered where it came from?
If you don't have your own garden, you don't realize that while it's a ton of work, it's also a ton of satisfaction to grow your own lettuce, herbs, and other veggies.
And if you're a meat-eater, how about contacting a local farmer to see if he or she has the ability to supply you? Yes, you'll likely pay a bit more. But you'll know where your burger or bacon came from. And it won't be Chile or China.
We're in the breadbasket of the nation and it's time for a cultural revolt to bring us back to the breadbasket instead of the superstore.
Random Picture...
This little guy will be a black swallowtail some day and I'm happy as can be to see him! I'm still trying to catch up with the Monarch (yay!) who's been flitting around my coneflower and dill. They're notoriously hard to capture, in my mind. Or maybe I'm slow. Which is fine - I'll catch a shot of him one of these days. This is last year's dill in the front garden, and we're just using what we can. It'll reseed itself and we'll trim it up for next year. But dill is a butterfly magnet, so go forth and plant, people!
Go below, in the comments, and let me know what's in YOUR garden!
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