The Odyssey

“Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered on the sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed, and for their own mistakes, they died. They ate the Sun God’s cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times.” (beginning lines of The Odyssey)

All the big news about a new film about the ancient hero Odysseus inspired me to read the book this week. Yes, I agree with thousands of years of literary opinion — definitely a Classic! I loved reading the details about the famous characters: Odysseus the traveler; Penelope his faithful wife and her resourceful refusal to accept a greedy suitor; Telemachus their wimpy son; and the various gods and goddesses who either help or try to hinder Odysseus. I found the brief descriptions of ancient technology intriguing —such as the ships powered by rowers and wind. I loved the many sensory details as each long description unfolds:

“There sat Calypso with her braided curls. Beside the hearth a mighty fire was burning. The scent of citrus and of brittle pine suffused the island. Inside, she was singing and weaving with a shuttle made of gold. Her voice was beautiful. Around the cave a luscious forest flourished: alder, poplar, and scented cypress. It was full of wings. Birds nested there but hunted out at sea: the owls, the hawks, the gulls with gaping beaks. A ripe and verdant vine, hung thick with grapes, was stretched to coil around her cave. Four springs spurted with sparkling water as they laced with crisscross currents intertwined together. The meadow softly bloomed with celery and violets.”

I enjoyed recalling my visit last summer to one place mentioned by Homer. In the words of Odysseus: “We reached the holy cape of Athens, Sounion. There Phoebus with his gentle arrows shot and killed the pilot, Phrontis, as he held the ship’s helm as she sped along. No man knew better how to steer through any storm, so Menelaus stopped to bury him with proper rites.”

A year ago we visited the exact spot that Homer mentioned: Cape Sunion;
In the distance, in this photo, you can see how it looks now, with the ruins of an ancient temple
(but built long after Odysseus was there) on the hilltop above the shore.

How is it possible to relate to people who lived in such a totally different world? The nights then were darker than anything I’ve ever seen, since I live in a lit up city. Even the foods of elite men like Odysseus, a king, were basic and relatively unvaried: mainly hearth-baked bread, seasonal vegetables, milk and fresh cheese. And the occasional sacrifice of a large animal which would be roasted in honor of a god and then eaten by the men and women. For entertainment even the king’s household had only oral poetry — the scribe who wrote down the tale was long after the events. But I think most modern readers like me become captivated by Odysseus and his tale.

Smoky Day

“A thick layer of smoke from ongoing wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota has enveloped much of Michigan — including in Metro Detroit, which currently has the worst air quality in the world, … The Canadian government is reporting more than 850 active wildfires across the country as of Thursday morning, 113 of which are listed as ‘out of control.’” (source)

Update: it might be clearing on Saturday.

Don’t be a Phoney

Remembering J.D. Salinger (1919-2010)

Catcher in the Rye “has never been out of print and has sold over 80 million copies around the world to date, not counting e-books,” according to the New York Times. And today marks the 75th anniversary of its publication. I first read it in around 1956, on the recommendation of a neighbor, Mrs. Rosen, who was a big influence on my reading at that time. I’m pretty sure my mother thought she was a BAD influence, because the books she introduced me to were often controversial, including this one. My junior high school teachers were definitely never going to recommend it and probably never read it. They were pushing Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm — I am not kidding.

According to the New York Times, the novel “struck a brash new note in American literature.”("Holden Caulfield, the Ultimate Adolescent, Is Turning 75") 

Here’s the famous first sentence of Salinger’s novel in the voice of his hero Holden Caulfield:

“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”

I’m sure many writers will commemorate this anniversary, so I don’t have to say anything else, just that I’m still on the lookout for phonies just as Holden Caulfield was. I loved it when I first read it, and subsequently enjoyed the rest of Salinger’s stories as he published them in the New Yorker, and again when they appeared in book form. I was disappointed that he stopped writing.

Just published: this tribute to the novel: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/16/i-felt-holden-was-talking-to-me-alone-the-catcher-in-the-rye-at-75

One More Post for Bastille Day

 

A gathering for the Bicentennial of the French Revolution: 1989

Roasting a lamb at a friend’s country house in an obscure rural part of France.
Guests wore “revolutionary” caps to celebrate Bastille Day 1989.

Our host for this gathering is shown at left.

Happy Bastille Day

Patriotic flyover with French tri-color smoke for Bastille Day.

Paris Match, July, 1989.

Celebrating Bastille Day!

Reposted from past years…

Fireworks seem like the natural way for a nation to celebrate. On July 13, 1989, we arrived in Paris for a planned 1-year stay; of course we chose that date to be sure we would be present for the biggest Bastille day of the century, and we weren’t disappointed! That night, we watched the incredible show at the Eiffel Tower, which was very close to the apartment where we were spending our first night of our year there. The next evening, we joined the millions of people trying to get a glimpse of the parades and fireworks along the Champs Elysée.

I didn't take photos, but I did save a copy of Paris Match published just after the event. Our viewpoint was much less dramatic than the ones in the magazine!

The parade moving toward the Arc de Triomphe.

Also in honor of the 200th anniversary of the French Republic, the newly built Pyramid of the Louvre was dedicated.

Besides parades and fireworks and building dedications, the unexpected way that Bastille day is celebrated every year is with bals des pompiers, that is, firemen’s balls. For at least a century, these dance parties have been organized by the firemen at the fire houses in each arrondissement of Paris as well as in many other locations in the suburbs and other French cities. Sadly, the extreme heatwave this year (2026) has forced the cancellation of the parties scheduled at the firehouses. (link)

Our only other Bastille Day in Paris was in 1975. Our good friends Michelle and Jean (then a couple, later not) took us around Paris on the eve of the holiday to see the celebrations. We spent a long night of roaming around Paris. Not only at fire stations, but everywhere in the streets and squares of the city, we saw people dancing to live music by a variety of bands and small ensembles. I think we just went into the fire station and watched the dancing without having to wait in line.

At the time, Michelle and Jean had a minuscule apartment in central Paris, as well as a large house far out in the suburbs; they loaned us the apartment for our week in Paris. After our long walk around the city, we went to bed very late. A few hours later, around 6 AM, a lone trumpet player -- no doubt coming from a gig at a fire station -- strolled down the now-empty street outside our window, playing cool jazz on his trumpet: our wake up call for Bastille Day. I know we saw a parade go by but I'm not sure where or what time. I think it was near the apartment, which was on the Left Bank, not near the Champs Elysée.

For the 1989 celebration, many people wore "Revolutionary"
hats and clothing. A bit later in July, 1989, we attended
another celebration at our friend Jean's country house, where we
met these costumed children.

A celebration of the Bastille depicted on the tile wall of the Paris Metro Station named Bastille.

Athena’s Owls

Illustration from the Odyssey, which I’m currently reading

Owl in the Parthenon Museum, Athens. (July 11, 2025)

 More Owls

Ancient Greek coin

Not Athena’s Owl

From Evelyn in Lake Placid, NY this week

From our birding trip in the Netherlands, 2022.

Picasso kept a pet owl named Ubu, which inspired him to create many owl images,
though Ubu's life story is a bit sad, as is that of many captive owls

Which Odyssey to Read?

 

Photos © 2025, 2026, mae sander

New Little House Series

 

Publicity shot from the new “Little House” series, released this week.
We have watched the first episode.

 In the 1970s, our family read aloud the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, beginning with Little House in the Big Woods, set at the time when the narrator, Laura, was four to five years old. As we read through the series, we were captivated by the characters and by the way Laura experiences the frontier as her family moves onward. It’s impressive how the books reflect the history of the American West as it was is being settled. We were quite aware of the author’s negative views of non-white people, especially the original Native Americans who were being displaced by settlers of European descent. 

The first episode of the new TV series starts at the time of the third book in the Little House series. The TV script has depicted Laura as around 11 years old, which gives the entire story a different point of view. The new script depicts more clearly the author’s views about race, downplaying the mother’s hostility to Native Americans. Historically, the Black doctor who plays a large role in this episode was a real person, though I don’t think he was depicted in similar detail in the books. From Wikipedia: 

“Dr. George A. Tann: An African American physician and veteran of the Union Army, Dr. Tann ran a homeopathic medicine practice in Kansas and the Osage Diminished Indian Reserve. He became well known as a pioneer physician in the region and treated both Black and white families on the frontier, including acting as a neighbor to the Ingalls family.”

It seemed to me that the focus of this episode was emphatically turned to “Pa” — the father and head of the household. As in the book, Pa was a restless and ambitious man who wanted to move west and settle the frontier, while “Ma” was loyal but not happy to leave her settled life in “the big woods.” The TV family seems to have been forced to leave for the frontier, though in the books this was not the case. 

In sum, I see many differences between the characters and situations in the script and in the original books as I remember them. More importantly, I’m not sure the TV show captures the spirit of the original — and maybe isn’t trying to do so. There are a whole lot more episodes, which I may or may not watch.

Blog post © 2026 mae sander

On the Table and Elsewhere

 

Reading slowly — I find this book hard to get into.

For My Mona Lisa Collection

What We Have Been Eating

Chips and dips!

Andrea Nguyen’s recipes are always delicious!

Leftover shrimp.

Photos © 2026 mae sander

Passwords, Books, and Food

Passwords on Wordpress

Note to all my blog friends who have Wordpress accounts — this morning I succeeded in commenting on a Wordpress blog … yesterday, I failed repeatedly on several blogs.  I was no longer allowed to comment on your blogs, no matter what I tried. The Wordpress password that used to work for me seemed invalid, I’ll keep trying today, and hope for the best.

Reading Now

Xochitl Gonzalez is a very interesting author, who creates lots of normal-ish people as characters in New York (and sometimes Puerto Rico). I previously enjoyed Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita Del Monte Laughs Last. And I plan to finish reading this one.

Angry Women

Fifteen stories about angry women, one more furious than the next. Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold (though the originator of this phrase isn’t easy to identify). Nothing cold here — though some of the women in the stories might have enjoyed a bit of revenge, mostly they don’t get it.

New Toy

My relatively new garlic jar broke apart, so I ordered this new one.

Happy 4th of July

 The Day’s Celebrations

Photos © 2026 mae sander