Book: Dan Simmons' "Hyperion"

I have seen this book in bookstores forever.  I have held it in my hand but never bought it.  Finally, thirty-five years after it was first published, I bought the ebook of Dan Simmons' "Hyperion".  I am very glad I did.

The book follows a group of people going to the planet of Hyperion for a pilgrimage.  As they approach the planet, they tell the stories of why they are going and what their connections to Hyperion is.  These stories are all unique and engaging.

I read this book entirely on the Camino de Santiago, and I couldn't wait to finish my walking and chores each day so I could dive back into it.

I gave this book five stars out of five on Goodreads.  I loved the characters, I loved the world, and I loved the storytelling.  It has been a while since a book engaged me so deeply.

Music: Kansas With 38 Special At The Astro

I've been a big Kansas fan since late high school when my brother introduced me to the band.  It was the soundtrack of my freshman year of college.  So when I saw they were coming to the Astro, I decided to go.  I bought my tickets fairly late because I wasn't sure we would be home from the Wife's Camino in time to go.  I ended up buying my ticket in a restaurant at the Chicago airport.  The concert was four days after our return from the Camino.

I'd seen Kansas before during one of Omaha's free Memorial Park concerts with Styx and Foreigner back in 2010.

38 Special opened for Kansas.

The warm-up was 38 Special.  I'm only familiar with a handful of their songs, and I like maybe one or two of those.  Their performance was fine, but I wasn't that impressed.  They then went on to have two encores, which seemed a little silly to me.

Kansas performing.  Not enough in my opinion.

Kansas came out and did a pretty good set.  I prefer early, '70s Kansas.  The set had a mix of old and newer ('80s) songs.  I think I  enjoyed their set in 2010 better than this one.  The set also felt short.  They had one encore with one song.  38 Special felt too long; Kansas felt too short.

I enjoyed the concert but I have to give it a B-.  It's their fiftieth anniversary, and there is only one original member left in the band, so it was too much to expect that they would be as good as before.  Heck, how few original members do you need before a band becomes a tribute band?  I don't have the answer to that question.

Book: Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny"

I took a short break away from fiction and read "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century".  Timothy Snyder lists twenty things that facilitate or are characteristics of authoritarianism.  Unfortunately, as I read through the twenty chapters I realized that all twenty are occurring today in America.

I have always been a pessimist.  Reading this book, my feelings toward my country just became more pessimistic.  It would be bad enough if it were just one or two signs but they are all there in plain sight, and they are all being called out on social media.  Our country is sauntering into authoritarianism in full view of everyone and most of America is ignoring it.  I swear, if we get out of this mess, it will be because of some stupid accident, and not anything we have done.

I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads.  Everyone needs to read this book but not enough will.

Weekly Ephemera #147

• The week was dominated by Netflix.  I finished "Squid Game" and started the last season of "Fear the Walking Dead".  Half way through I realized I was watching a lot of bleak stuff so I paused the viewing of "Fear the Walking Dead" and switched to watching episodes of "One Piece".
• I had a dentist appointment that went well.  No Problems.  I hope to have the same results this week when I go to see the eye doctor for a check up.
• I walked twice this week.  It was very humid, but not as bad as I expected it would be.  Both of the walks were relatively short, totalling 12.8 miles (20.6 km).
• Cooper, the Wife's niece's dog, had a quiet week with us.  No drama.

Book: Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand Of Darkness"

I started this book before I left for Spain.  For some reason, during the first couple of weeks, I didn't read at the end of the day.  Finally, after a couple of weeks of just vegging at the end of our walking day, I decided to start reading again, and I have to say, I am kicking myself for not reading sooner.  Reading was the perfect afternoon and evening powering-down activity, and I started sleeping so much better.

This book, "The Left Hand of Darkness", is another on my 'classics' reading list that I'm putting together.  I've never read Ursula K. Le Guin before and I liked her writing style.  The book, published in 1987, is an exploration of gender, gender fluidity, and gender's influence on society.  It's done in a subtle way that isn't in your face, and in a very approachable way.

The book follows an envoy from a planetary alliance visiting a world to invite them to join the alliance.  The envoy is male.  The people of the planet are gender neutral, except for brief months when they randomly become male or female and become fertile.  There is some action as the envoy is not believed and, being male all the time, he is considered a pervert in the eyes of the population.  He is pursued, but in the end, the planet joins the alliance.  This storyline really is just background behind the story of the relationship between the envoy and an exile who helps him.

Strange to think that a book from 1987 is a 'classic', but it is nearly fifty years old, and lately, I've been running into a lot of things celebrating their fiftieth anniversary and considered classics.

I gave this book four out of five stars on Goodreads.  It could have been better, and it was a bit of a slow burn, but I enjoyed it and was impressed.

Weekly Ephemera #146

• I went to see if it was worth changing to Allo Fiber over the Cox Internet we currently have.  While Allo has no data caps – a big advantage – and is faster, there's no price advantage.  The increased speed isn't a big factor as we currently have enough speed to do everything we want.  I decided that we would not switch until Cox prices went up.
• We restarted Netflix for a month and I binged the latest seasons of "Love, Death, and Robots" and "Black Mirror".  I started the last two seasons of "Squid Game".
• I started walking again.  It's strange that even short walks feel hard after doing a long, multi-day hike.  I only managed 4.4 miles (7.1 km).  Next week, the temperatures are going to be over 90℉ (32℃) with 'feels like' temperatures over 100℉ (38℃).  I want to walk twice this week and will probably start walking earlier than usual to try and beat the worst of the heat.
• We're taking care of the Wife's niece's dog, Cooper.  We've taken care of him many times over the years, starting when he was nearly a puppy.  Now he's an old man.  Since he lives in a house full of little kids, this week will be a quiet one for Cooper.
• Today I turned sixty-two.  Not sure what to think.

A First And A Third - The End Of Our Caminos

From the thirtieth of May to the fifth of July, the Wife and I walked across northern Spain from Burgos to Fisterra, completing the Wife's first Camino and my third.  I think the Wife had a similar experience to what I had on my first Camino.  Doing anything that you thought you couldn't do is life changing and I think I'm right to say the Wife's life was changed.  My third Camino, for me, was very different, and this post will dwell on that a bit.

When you leave Burgos you start the meseta.  The meseta is a region of Spain similar to Kansas – flat, featureless, and covered in farm fields.  Some pilgrims skip the meseta, but that would be a mistake in my opinion.  It is a part of the Camino where your mind is allowed to wander.  For the nearly two weeks we were on the meseta, I felt two things: "Been there, done that" and "My second Camino had completed my experience. Why was I doing this again?"  My thoughts went to more sad things I associated with the Camino, namely G_v's death.  It was a rough time for me.  I tried my best not to let my feelings interfere with the Wife's experience but I have never been very good at suppressing my feelings.  Even so, we managed to visit some of my favorite spots on the meseta and the Wife has said the meseta was her favorite part.

By the time we reached the unofficial end of the meseta in León, I had come to realize that I was looking at this Camino wrong.  This was not my third Camino, it was the Wife's first Camino.  From that point on I thought of it solely as that, the Wife's first Camino.  My role was to support her and ensure she experienced the whole Camino.  From then on I felt better and the Camino experience felt right.

I was in charge of planning the daily stages.  We were walking shorter stages, averaging 10.2 miles (16.4 km) per day – I averaged 14.3 miles (23.0 km) per day on my first Camino.  Shorter stages allowed us to visit more places along the Camino.  We visited places that I'd enjoyed before as well as places I'd never been to before.  We had the albergue experience (pilgrim hostel experience) as well and the private room with/without a private bath experience (we indulged in more private room experiences than I'd had on my previous Caminos combined).  We had short days and inadvertent long days (I took a wrong turn leaving León and added 3.4 miles to an already long 13 mile day – our longest day on the Camino.).

The Wife handled the walking like a pro.  This was her first multi-day, multi-mile hike.  We were concerned with her feet as they had stopped us in 2023, but with a wider shoe, the Wife had no issues at all.  Well, she did have very large blisters on the outside of each big toe, but she said they didn't hurt at all.  After consulting a pharmacist, we drained the fluid.  We had to do this twice, as I wasn't aggressive enough in my treatment the first time, and the blisters refilled.  After doing it for a second time, the blisters were gone and didn't return.  As for my feet, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't lose any of my toenails. This was the first long hike without losing any.  I credit that to the shoes I was wearing.  I may post about them later.

I have to say that I am very proud of the Wife.  Even on the hard days, days when it was hot, humid, or cold, she never complained.  Having said this, we both have concluded that this will be our last multi-day, multi-mile hike ever again.  We still have a lot more things to see in the world that don't require us to walk ourselves into the ground.

Weekly Ephemera #145

Ok...It's been a while since I last posted.  As a matter of fact, I didn't post even once in June.  This is the first time since August 2006 – when I started Homer's Travels – that I've had a month without a single post.  This is unlike me.  The reason: my third Camino.

• Since my last post, the Wife and I finished her Camino (and I finished my third).  I could have posted while I was walking, but it didn't feel like an important thing for me to do at the time.
  
  We returned from Spain on Tuesday and I am having a difficult time re-entering the real world.  I was originally going to put together posts to document each day of our walk across northern Spain, but I stopped taking notes on day two or three.  Instead, I'll be composing three posts: my impressions of the walk, photos taken by me and the Wife, and a magnets post.  I'll give one preview of my impressions: I'm very proud of the Wife.
• Speaking of being proud of the Wife, this Friday was our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary.  The Wife celebrated by having a spa day.  We didn't go out or anything, as we were/are still tired.  It takes a while for your body to recover from walking thirty-seven days straight.
• While I was walking I was still reading.  Actually, I stopped reading for the first couple of weeks of our Camino.  Not sure why I stopped, but I eventually re-started my reading, and it became an important part of my after-walk recovery.  I ended up finishing three books which I will post about eventually.
• After getting home, I started catching up on my TV watching.  It was an activity that didn't require me moving, which is the only activity I could psychologically muster.  The only notable show was "Ironheart".  I like how it became a mix of tech and magic, and I was pleasantly surprised when an infamous magical villain was introduced.  I hope there's a second season.
• I ended this last week going to a concert – more on that in a later post.