The Long Valley and The Red Pony

I just finished reading John Steinbeck's The Long Valley which is a collection of short stories about the people of the Salinas Valley area. "The Red Pony" is the final story but it is much longer than the others. Some of the stories must have more behind them then I got with one reading. I would highly recommend this book. Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors. I have read other books of his and I enjoyed them all. I am sure one could find hundreds of summaries on the net for any of his books, so I will not bother. Maybe I will take some notes on the next book I read. I have started Isaac Asimov’s The Caves of Steel one of his robot novels. I will try and do a better report on it without writing a summery. .

Cousin Dale

My cousin Dale Bumpaous is visiting me this week. He lives in Richland, Washington which for those of you who don't know is the sunshine capital of Washington. Summer highs there can hover around 95 F to 100 F for weeks. Everyone there owns an air conditioner. It does rain over there a couple times a year, here in Western Washington it rains almost every day year round. Californians and others take note.

I have added my picture

As you can see, I have added my picture. This one is a little old and I needed a shave that day. But, it is about the best picture I have taken. My eyes are straight, clear, and bright. Isn't being clean and sober wonderful. I will look for a more upto date picture. Today my hair is shorter, thinner, and a lot grayer. If you want to see more pictures of me and my family you will have to look on flicker.