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Friday, July 18, 2014

Summertime, and the Reading Is Random

Wait—what day is it? I’m supposed to post today, right? I’m happy to say that we're having a busy, active summer so far with more adventures planned. Here’s what I’ve been reading:

  • Road maps. I have practically no sense of direction, but given enough time, I can figure out which way to go with a decent map, especially if it comes with step-by-step instructions. We just returned from a two-week trip to Colorado, and I took advantage of Map Quest and other smart phone apps for the first time.

  • Monarch butterfly information. Home from our trip, we found our backyard milkweed plants loaded with monarch eggs and caterpillars. I joined the Monarch Butterfly discussion list, where people post fascinating updates about current research as well as their own observations. In the past four days, I’ve gathered about 75 eggs and 15 caterpillars. Two chrysalises also hang in our backyard mosquito net tent. (A neighbor kept an eye on them while we were gone.)


  • Research on multiple topics for future books of my own and a couple freelance fact-checking projects.

  • An adult book (gasp!) I borrowed from my husband because I didn’t make it to the library before we left town. I’m finding it a bit too long and convoluted, but I’ve grown attached to the characters, so I’ll probably finish the book just to find out what happens to them.

Happy reading!
JoAnn Early Macken

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6 comments:

  1. Linda BJuly 18, 2014 at 5:18 PM

    I saw some of your posts from Colorado, hope you enjoyed your visit, & what a gift to receive when you arrived home, all those monarchs. Thanks for sharing, JoAnn.

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  2. JoAnn Early MackenJuly 19, 2014 at 10:47 AM

    Glad to hear from you, Linda! Yes, it's good to to be home again, especially with the booming local monarch population--I hope it's exploding all over!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carmela MartinoJuly 20, 2014 at 7:40 PM

    So fun to see your photos, JA, and to read about your eclectic reading this summer. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. laurasalasJuly 22, 2014 at 8:03 AM

    I love your random reading, JoAnn--it infuses every area of your life:>)

    ReplyDelete
  5. JoAnn Early MackenJuly 22, 2014 at 10:37 AM

    Thanks, you guys! Yes, Marti, "eclectic" is a good description! Laura, that's a good point--& tomorrow's focus could be completely new!

    ReplyDelete
  6. April Halprin WaylandJuly 29, 2014 at 8:48 PM

    I love the way you leap into this topic with total JoAnn-ian fearlessness, originality and humor!

    ReplyDelete

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