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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy
This is a book review, but I haven't read the book. That might be shameful, but I cannot remain silent, not after many years doing reading, research and making presentations on learning and the brain.
The Shallows; What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. by Nicholas Carr
His premise is that we are becoming shallow thinkers, with minimal sound and text bytes our brains are developing differently. I think he confuses behaviour of young people, as evidenced by text messaging and those doing business. This presumes that our brains change when, as adults, we spend little time reading books and more time twittering. I think not. Reading is a lifelong habit. As is thinking.
Students spend much time in good classrooms, reflecting upon what they read and right. One cannot negate years of schooling with 20-something behaviour! Our brains are shaped by the activities which we pursue. Whether our brains vegetate depends on what we do or don't do. And the Canadian educational system is vastly different from that of the US.
I think not. We have access to more data, but that doesn't mean we think any less about it. One of the big things I had to teach students was 'compare and contrast'. This happens all the time in my friend's blogs.
The more information we recieve, the more we sift through it to determine its accuracy.
This book club is a prime example. We are all avid reader/writers.
Some eschew books and literature at the best of times, and computers mean that they are reading text. Many are reading, thinking, reflecting, posting and commenting on-line. Those of us who like reading are still reading. Many of us are not sitting like potatoes in front of TV as we engage in thoughtful, funny, fun and reflective interaction with family and friends.
Our family sits and reads about society, education, and politics and discusses it.
Most of the people I know balance their lives.
Most of us balance work and play.
I spent a 25-year career reading for work. I now can do research for fun. I am not thinking any less, or any less deeply. And we ensure that we take time to interact with nature. Many bloggers are quite keen about sharing photos with readers. I am one.
Many ads have appears for supposed Brain Games, which are being marketed to a frightened senior's population. There are doubts that things like this actually builds 'brains'! The ability to think depends upon building dendrites. These are the connectors that allow brain cells to communicate with each other. It can't hurt, but their claims are faulty, much like babies listening to Mozart in utero makes them smarter!!! It is just that the brain uses the same neural pathways, and said dendrites, to process information, as it does when listening to music. Companies are trying to make money off seniors, as they did with parents. This is a presentation I gave on Brain Research: http://jilks.com/portfolio/TheBrain.htm
There is a huge difference, too, between quick reaction times, and actually thinking, as many games do not require 'thinking'.
Save your money. Keep on exercising, playing, volunteering, eating well, thinking, reading, listening, talking, and socializing with others. Diseases like Alzeimer's, and its associated dementia, is a result of plaques and clogged arteries, not a lack of thinking or using a computer.
That is how Brian treats me. Every morning he brings me my coffee as I work on my blog, or contact family and friends via computer.
Meantime, since we are still showing the house, he cleans, washes, and tidies and straightens. You see, the deal is: I make dinner, he tidies up. As I explained previously, I am a clutter monster, he is a neat freak. I take care of outside work, he does the inside.
And, no, he doesn't have a brother!
We were married on our lakeshore, Aug. 22/2002, and honeymooned one night in Cranberry Cove, then returned to the cottage for the week. He brings me flowers weekly, and treats, on special occasions and for no occasion.
But I am not the only Muskoka princess to be here!
Here is a princess. You don't need a million dollar yacht to be a princess! Not with a handsome volunteer firefighter steering your craft!
Every princess needs a dog, and hers is right there!
But still, I don't think this princess is the one I heard about.
My daughter looked like a princess for her wedding, but this is not the princess in question, either.
I have a rumour to spread. I was talking to a friend. Someone, having a garage sale, where we have our storage locker. She was sitting out, waiting for customers on Saturday. While she sat there, a black SUV showed up and two men climbed out. One of them asked if she owned the place. She laughed, and said, no.
He explained that he wanted to bring his wife in, she is a princess, and she was coming in by helicopter. They wanted to land in the open area here in the storage locker compound. They gave them the phone number of the owners. Later that day, volunteer firefighter crews were called to ensure safety in the area and, sure enough, the princess arrived in our small town in a yellow helicopter. So they say.
I've been searching for princesses. Victoria, crown Princess of Sweden is on her honeymoon. Married June 19th...to her personal trainer. No guff! Now, this is a YouTube video of the wedding, from someone who bravely stood outside and watched! Could it have been her?
In fact, there are princesses everywhere. The queen, of course, is staying at the Royal York Hotel. (Which had a power outage today!)
The 150th Queen's Plate was run at Woodbine, in Toronto on Saturday. That would have been the right timing, for arrival Saturday afternoon. More research. The Queen attended this year, amid much pomp and circumstance, and mild mockery of her hat, maybe a princess had attended and was now on vacation here?
Oops, but working on my blog post, I discovered people who considered themselves Kings of the Lake. Bad manners...
Fishing right in front of our home, where we swim. I asked them not to. "It's no fun getting a fish hook in your foot."
plutocracy
PRONUNCIATION: (ploo-TOK-ruh-see)
MEANING: noun:
1. Government by the wealthy.
2. A country or state governed by the wealthy people.
3. Wealthy ruling class.
On a day that promises to be another scorcher, the deer flies are happy, the deer may not be.
The turkey jumped out at me from the bush. I had spotted a buck, and was following its path (without much hope, I might add) and serendipity...the turkey leaped out from the brush into camera focus. I never seem to capture what it is I prey for!
Depending where you are, the mosquitoes are merciless in our deep bush.
Jan 10, 2009 ...Geocaching is an outdoor activity where people try to find hidden containers using only latitude and longitude along with searching techniques. A handheld GPS receiver is used to navigate from any place on Earth to the hidden container.
Mind you, I haven't had the $$$ to buy a GPS yet, but found the site using the map location, and knowing what I know about our lake!
Back home, I watch the goslings diving for food. What a splash!The dear little things are eating anything that moves: bugs on water plants, and greenery.
What I love is that one move from mom and they all huddle beside her, and then follow in a straightish line!
Down at the frog pond, the bullfrog tadpoles are quite large, with back legs growing. The Spring Peeper tadpoles are so tiny - about the size of one of the bullfrog tadpoles legs! You can see the little black spot bottom centre!
The smaller frogs, green, are nearly ready to breathe air. This is a photo as I passed it to check out the frog pond, and when I came back...
My goal: to walk around Long Lake. I did it. In 3 hours. As we sell our home, I keeping thinking about the term, 'last one', that our kids use with our granddaughter.
This was likely the last one for this trek. A good time was had, and I have said good-bye to the precious forest where I walked and breathed in the fine air.
I am so proud of myself. It took 3 hours, more or less.
I walked around Long Lake
At my age there is little on my bucket list. I'm just not the adventurous type. I do not have lofty goals and dreams. As 25-year teaching career stood me in good stead.
A published book. And a story that impresses all with my fortitude. You just have to put one foot in front of the other.
The old bridge, falling apart and covered in flora, railings battered by hurricane-damaged trees falling.
I was fully unprepared for this journey, because I forgot a water bottle. I knew the path, as I had snowshoed it in winter. The thing is, where the ATVs and sledders break trail in winter, in summer bracken and raspberry bushes take great joy in growing along the sunny path. My legs are scratched. I have bruises from moving furniture, but that is another story!
Once starting on the path, I just couldn't turn around. The detours, with fallen logs, were a pain, as were the bogs. The kind woman at the water processing plant filled a sample bottle of water for me. I wouldn't have made it otherwise.
A delightful walk through deep variations of green. The fern waving fronds at me, moved by light breezes.
I saw evidence of critters turning over moss, looking for bugs. And mushrooms nibbled by hungry critters.
The ATVs have worn a terrible double groove in the old Bala Road, which fills with water and mosquitoes.
I was a weary traveler, through bog and muck, around hill and dale. I made it! Yes, I had to go slowly around the bogs.
I wore my bear bell and saw nary a bear. Despite forgetting lunch, I paused and stole some blueberries from the bears. I'm sure they will forgive me.
I saw little wildlife, but lots of mushrooms, and dragonflies.
The vistas were wonderful.
If I wasn't so bugged out and hungry, I would have taken a photo of myself with the timer.
This is where I started my trek: on Tower Rd. off of highway #38.
I nibbled on wild blueberries.
An excellent journey and one that will be forever in my dreams and memories.
Cottage life was different then. We had a hand pump, using lake water, and an outhouse. (A two-seater!) Mom and Dad cleared the land in 1960, then, when enough money was saved up, they had the cottage built in 1962.
This is a Viceroy cottage, with 4" tongue and groove cedar walls. It smells gorgeous.
When our kids arrived, we would all crowd in, rain or shine. Playing in the sand and water, or building tents under blankets indoors.
In 1991 Mom and Dad built their retirement home attached to the cottage. They had lived on Walker Ave., in Toronto, for at least 55 years, or so. But summers, we headed for the lake.
I remember watching the thunder and lightning across the lake.
Another storm in Muskoka. I set up the videocam on my not-so-trusty antique tripod and let it run.
Oliver came down to the cottage with me - to check for mice. He is an excellent mouser and nothing was to be had this day. It is our ritual. My late mother used to go into the cottage after they had the house built, and just sit in her swing rekindling memories of the long, wonderful summers here. Cousins, who were speaking to me then, 20-years my senior, took me water skiing.
Aunt Adie (1905 - 2001), who showed me how to paint and who left us many paintings, including one of our old Toronto home, as well as the Muskoka Lake scenery. This is her painting, I must have been about 13 years old. She was painting the 'climbing tree', a tree long since dead and fallen.
We met Dad every Friday night of the summer as he drove up from Toronto for the weekend. Rain or shine, we would wait at the highway for him, cheering as he arrived. He would leave early on Monday morning, to arrive in time for a 9 a.m. start for work.
I remember fishing with dad. Here we are at my cousin's dock.
I remember the sadness as we left the frog pond, lake and cottage for the last time in the fall. It is time for change, as the seasons change, our lives change. Many in Muskoka want to retire here. We did, too. And it was a delightful 4 years, yet our grandkids call. There is nothing more important than family. We shall leave this house, and find another place to lay our heads.
Canada Day in Muskoka is a delight.
And we found a new place that serves cappuccino. Woohoo!
Not only that, but beautifully presented, too!
But the best of all, for a lazy afternoon, is the organic wine from NOTL. Frog Pond Farm, Cabernet-Merlot. It was yummy, and a great way to laud Canada Day! Mind you, the piece of pie Brian ordered came with two forks!!! Maybe that was the best part of the visit.
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