books: what are you currently reading?

[Silence Dogood]

There is a local Romanian Orthodox Church around here that keeps bees and sells the honey.  They have a display table with the honey out in front of the church and you can either drop your money in the box, or not. Old school honor system.   It's the best honey I've ever had. 

[Queequeg]

There is a local Romanian Orthodox Church around here that keeps bees and sells the honey.  They have a display table with the honey out in front of the church and you can either drop your money in the box, or not. Old school honor system.   It's the best honey I've ever had. 

A place like that probably welcomes volunteers who want to learn the art of beekeeping.

[Silence Dogood]

A place like that probably welcomes volunteers who want to learn the art of beekeeping.

Not ones who are allergic to bees!   

[Queequeg]

[quote author  =Silence Dogood link=msg=485805 date=1724698044]
Not ones who are allergic to bees!   
[/quote]


Well, I mostly agree, but my mentor is allergic to bees but she suits up completely and always carries an epipen.
I've been working many hives all spring and summer and haven't been stung yet but I know it's just a matter of time.
Pro tip: (I know, I'm not a pro but)
If you do get stung by a honeybee, their stingers are barbed. So the stinger will stay in your skin. Do not use a tweezers to remove it. There is venom in the stinger, and if you squeeze the stinger, you will pump more venom into your skin.
Instead, use a credit card to flick the stinger out.
And surprise: put a drop of honey on the wound to ease the pain. It's true!

[Silence Dogood]

Well, I mostly agree, but my mentor is allergic to bees but she suits up completely and always carries an epipen.
I've been working many hives all spring and summer and haven't been stung yet but I know it's just a matter of time.
Pro tip: (I know, I'm not a pro but)
If you do get stung by a honeybee, their stingers are barbed. So the stinger will stay in your skin. Do not use a tweezers to remove it. There is venom in the stinger, and if you squeeze the stinger, you will pump more venom into your skin.
Instead, use a credit card to flick the stinger out.
And surprise: put a drop of honey on the wound to ease the pain. It's true!

All good info.  Next time I stop and get some honey at the Romanian church, I'll try and remember to snap a pic of their setup.  It's pretty cool. 

[247hoopsfan]

I'm currently reading Hemingways "A Farewell to Arms", I first read it 50 years ago in high school. I was just young enough to miss the Viet Nam draft and went straight into UC Berkeley.  World War 1 was such a carnage as the generals kept saying "charge" right into the brand new machine guns and mortar shells.
In one skirmish the Brits lost 52,000 men in one day. And the trench warfare was brutal.

My grandfather was in the famous Scottish regiment "The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. He was stabbed by bayonet and poison gassed by the Germans.
He never talked about it but the gas gave him a hump back the rest of his life.

Hemingway's novel is essentially his WW1 story as he was injured and his legs bothered him the rest of his life.

[Silence Dogood]

I'm currently reading Hemingways "A Farewell to Arms", I first read it 50 years ago in high school. I was just young enough to miss the Viet Nam draft and went straight into UC Berkeley.  World War 1 was such a carnage as the generals kept saying "charge" right into the brand new machine guns and mortar shells.
In one skirmish the Brits lost 52,000 men in one day. And the trench warfare was brutal.

My grandfather was in the famous Scottish regiment "The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. He was stabbed by bayonet and poison gassed by the Germans.
He never talked about it but the gas gave him a hump back the rest of his life.

Hemingway's novel is essentially his WW1 story as he was injured and his legs bothered him the rest of his life.

The only book of Hemingway's I've ever read was The Old Man And The Sea -- a novella, really.  It was one of the first things I grabbed from the library when I got into books and self-education as an adult.  It was an audio version read by Donald Sutherland.  Very good on all accounts.  I found Steinbeck's East of Eden around the same time, which turned out to be a reality-altering experience for me.  That book sparked a road-trip from Texas to Salinas, CA to see the Steinbeck museum.  Great memories. 

[247hoopsfan]

Donald Sutherland with that great, baritone voice

[Silence Dogood]

One of my hobbies is to dabble into other languages.  I have found that attempting to learn another language came with the surprise benefit of helping me to love and understand English much better than I did before.  In Western languages like French and Latin, this is particularly true since so many of our words come out of those languages. 

I have been reading The Book of Ecclesiastes in Latin for a good while now and enjoying it very much.  It not only helps my Latin skills but it illuminates the text as I ponder over the lines for a good while, rather than just blazing through like I would in English.  I have a copy where the English appears below the Latin to help me when I get stuck (which is often).  I also find that the English translation taken directly from Latin differs (sometimes greatly) from what the various interpreters have given us for our English Bibles.  The meaning isn't often radically different, but taken from Latin something is often said in a much more archaic way: this makes me look differently at the text and ponder its meaning with fresh eyes. 

[247hoopsfan]

One of my hobbies is to dabble into other languages.  I have found that attempting to learn another language came with the surprise benefit of helping me to love and understand English much better than I did before.  In Western languages like French and Latin, this is particularly true since so many of our words come out of those languages. 

I have been reading The Book of Ecclesiastes in Latin for a good while now and enjoying it very much.  It not only helps my Latin skills but it illuminates the text as I ponder over the lines for a good while, rather than just blazing through like I would in English.  I have a copy where the English appears below the Latin to help me when I get stuck (which is often).  I also find that the English translation taken directly from Latin differs (sometimes greatly) from what the various interpreters have given us for our English Bibles.  The meaning isn't often radically different, but taken from Latin something is often said in a much more archaic way: this makes me look differently at the text and ponder its meaning with fresh eyes. 

Veni,Vidi, Vici ! 😎
Latin used to be widely taught in public high school through the 1950's.  Both my parents had studied it.  These days they barely teach English!
Ecclesiasties is a fascinating book with Solomon's quest to understand the meaning of life.  My parents had me memorizing Bible verses almost as soon as I could talk, one of them was Ecc 12:1. I have passed that on to my children and grandchildren.  And now I am living in the rest of chapter 12 with the poetic description of old age in verses 1-7.  Such beautiful poetry.

Vigilante, custodite fidem

[Silence Dogood]

Veni,Vidi, Vici ! 😎
Latin used to be widely taught in public high school through the 1950's.  Both my parents had studied it.  These days they barely teach English!
Ecclesiasties is a fascinating book with Solomon's quest to understand the meaning of life.  My parents had me memorizing Bible verses almost as soon as I could talk, one of them was Ecc 12:1. I have passed that on to my children and grandchildren.  And now I am living in the rest of chapter 12 with the poetic description of old age in verses 1-7.  Such beautiful poetry.

Vigilante, custodite fidem

Wow, a man after my own heart! Pax Vobiscum!

That's strange as I was pondering Eccl. 12 just this AM.  The bit about the coming days when "ye shall have no pleasure in them" just hit me out of nowhere as I unloaded the dishwasher (quietly as not to wake up my wife - she loves to wake to an unloaded dishwasher).  The value and beauty of poetry is immeasurable, really, but one of the benefits of hiding it away in your heart is how it will pop up and speak to you at sundry and various times in life.  People who do not read miss this along with a million other benefits that make life richer and more meaningful than one can imagine. 

https://www.memoriapress.com/articles/top-10-reasons-studying-latin/

^^^ Here is an article you might want to tuck away for later.  I go back to it now and again when my interest in Latin and stamina for my studies begins to wane.  I love the idea of the author (RIP) where she says, "Latin is not dead; it is immortal."  That is how I feel.  Watching the modern butchery of the English language is sad and disheartening, but it's still possible to dig deep and enjoy language for oneself.  It can only ever enrich life.   

[247hoopsfan]

That's a great article, so many of our English words are rooted in Latin, and we are speaking it without even realizing it.
I actually spend more time looking at Hebrew and Greek. I do a lot of Bible study and some speaking at my church.  The King James translators did a fabulous job, but single words can't fully express the meaning found in Hebrew and Greek. For example "love" in the NT.  Is it storge, phileo, Eros, or agape? We have to add adjectives to fully convey the meaning, like familial, brotherly, sexual( where we use the Greek erotic) or sacrificial ( which is our highest calling as Christ- like).
I was raised evangelical, so I was never in masses. But the beauty and solemnity of the Latin is often compelling, like this one. As long as you can understand the meaning!
https://youtu.be/JTbs51Bs_4w?si=c-Hw_GanYVSmCf3V

[Silence Dogood]

I'm rereading 1776 by David McCullough (RIP).  This is a deep dive into the year 1776 (really starts in 1775 with Bunker Hill, etc).  Lots about battles and dates, which aren't my favorite part of history, but there is also a ton of great insight into the time and the players involved.  This is a great popular history book to keep by the easy chair. 

I'm doing the audio version read by McCullough.  I've seen several interviews with him over the years and get along well with his style. He was pro-American without being chest-pounding and silly about it.  He knew America was and is a great though imperfect country.  We seem to have lost that balance in recent times in our country. 

[teh]

I've read or listened to audio versions of most of his books and I enjoyed 1776 too. David McCullough brought history to life through his writing and lectures.

I saw him speak twice at Chautauqua Institution in western NY. If you haven't already done so, make sure you read his book about the Wright Brothers. It took less than 66 years from their first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC in December 1903 until Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in July 1969. Neil Armstrong took a piece of the Wright Flyer along for his flight to the moon on Apollo 11.