What’s Up?

New in the Kitchen: A Mug Rack

Made by Len.

Currently Reading and Watching

 Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight
Reading the semi-autobiographic work by David Kessler about food and anti-food, specifically weight-loss drugs.

Reading news accounts of a hero who betrayed his followers: another revelation of abuse of women by a powerful man. It’s so sad to read stories about so many predators. I wonder what will become of this mural. Shared with Sami’s Murals.

On TV: a remake of the old favorite. I’ve read it over and over, though not recently.
It was the first long book I read when I was around 12 years old.

At Alice’s Apartment

Alice is growing a few pots of herbs in her kitchen.

Dinner at Alice’s apartment.

Freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies from frozen dough made by a friend of Alice.

Dreaming of Hawaii: Old Photos

A turtle at Poipu Beach on Kauai in 2016. Shared with Eileen’s Saturday Critters.

 Manta Ray, Kona, 2005

Great White Shark, Kona, 2005

Fish and coral, Kona, 2007

Io Valley on Maui, 2009

Blog post and photos © mae sander

Shared with Readerbuzz Sunday Salon.

Fire

 The LA Library Fire

How did I happen to be reading about two major tragic fires at the same time? I don’t know, but recently I’ve been rereading The Library Book by Susan Orlean, which documents the disastrous fire in 1986 that burned the downtown library in Los Angeles. Below is  a photo of the burning building. Long after the fire, in around 2003, I visited the library, which had been restored — at that time I was unaware of the fire, but now I see how horrible it was. 

Note that the reason I started to reread this book is that Susan Orlean has just published a new book, which made me think about going back to this one. My earlier review is here (link) and the NY Times review of the new book here (link)

News photo of the library on fire

Another Major Fire:

The Devastation of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The New York Times magazine currently has a story (link) about the horrendous forest fire at the Grand Canyon that destroyed the forest, the historic lodge, and 100 other buildings last summer.
We visited there on one of our cross-country trips in 2011.

Looking through the burned-out building towards the Grand Canyon.
What fabulous views the tourists at the lodge once enjoyed.

The fury and speed of a major fire is staggering to contemplate.

We took this photo at the North Rim Lodge in 2011 when we visited the Grand Canyon.
Its destruction would have been unimaginable at that time.

Photos from the web.

Blog post © 2026 mae sander

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

 Tradition

Our Saint Patrick’s Day dinner in 2026. Our red cabbage was a raw salad, and the corned beef came in a
package already sliced, which may be a little off the traditional meal. We ate it the evening before the holiday.

Here is the online summary of this tradition: “Corned beef and cabbage is considered an Irish-American dish, not traditionally Irish. While Irish immigrants brought the tradition of eating boiled meat and cabbage to the U.S., they substituted expensive Irish bacon with cheaper corned beef purchased from Jewish butchers in New York City during the 19th century.”

Corned beef and green cabbage from the past. 

Ireland

St. Patrick’s Day near Galway a few years ago (photo from Arny).

The best meal we had in Ireland in 2011 was a plate of fresh oysters in a restaurant near Galway.

An Irish rainbow

The tomb of the poet William Butler Yeats.

Dublin, 2011

A statue of Molly Malone (of the very sad song).

The castle.

School children playing in a park.

Photos © 2017-2025 mae sander

What We Have Been Eating

Saturday Lunch at the Jefferson Market

Alice and her iced coffee.

Evelyn and Tom, visiting for the weekend.

We all ordered different things. Alice had this plate of eggs, sausage, and potatoes.

French fries and a sandwich

Breakfast burrito: scrambled eggs and black beans.

Photo from market’s website.

Between Meals: A Visit to the Botanical Gardens

Note: the central object is a stone cactus, or lithops, a type of stone plant.

Shamrocks for this week’s holiday.

Take Out Dinner from Everest Sherpa Tibetan Restaurant

Home Cooking: A Roast Chicken and Boeuf Bourgignon

 Photos © 2026 mae sander

Jane Eyre Revisited

Original illustrations by F.H.Townsend

Jane Eyre, which I have just read, is a much more complex book than I remembered, but that’s not surprising since I haven’t read it since I was in junior high school! The plot seems simple if you summarize it, but in fact Jane, the narrator, is a multi-faceted personality. She can be both self-effacing and self-respecting, with moral and physical confidence in just about everything she does. Mr. Rochester, her employer and later her lover, is equally multi-faceted and complex.

Both characters are unforgettable right up to the end when we read the sentence no one could ever forget, “Reader, I married him.”

Just one or two quotes. First, her description of seeing the beautiful ladies and gentlemen guests at an evening party in the home where she works as a governess:

“A soft sound of rising now became audible; the curtain was swept back from the arch; through it appeared the dining-room, with its lit lustre pouring down light on the silver and glass of a magnificent dessert-service covering a long table; a band of ladies stood in the opening; they entered, and the curtain fell behind them. There were but eight; yet, somehow, as they flocked in, they gave the impression of a much larger number. Some of them were very tall; many were dressed in white; and all had a sweeping amplitude of array that seemed to magnify their persons as a mist magnifies the moon. I rose and curtseyed to them: one or two bent their heads in return, the others only stared at me.” (p. 214)

Now for the passage in the novel that preoccupied our very young minds when I first read the book. My fellow pupils and I had never previously learned that the standard British marriage text would allow anyone present at the ceremony to immediately bear witness if they knew a reason why the ceremony should be stopped and the marriage not to be completed. In fact, to this day, I have never heard another example of such an objection, either in literature or in life. The unforgettable reaction in the middle of Jane’s wedding begins with the unexpected statement “The marriage cannot go on: I declare the existence of an impediment.” The narrative continues:

”The clergyman looked up at the speaker and stood mute; the clerk did the same; Mr. Rochester moved slightly, as if an earthquake had rolled under his feet: taking a firmer footing, and not turning his head or eyes, he said, ‘Proceed.’ Profound silence fell when he had uttered that word, with deep but low intonation. Presently Mr. Wood said— ‘I cannot proceed without some investigation into what has been asserted, and evidence of its truth or falsehood.’” (p. 362)

 

The setting of the story, in grand mansions of the 19th century British gentry, is also unforgettable now. Back then, it was especially impressive considering that this was the first (or one of the first) times that I read about such a place. I suspect that our teachers may earlier have assigned us to read one or two novels by Charles Dickens, where some of the same stately houses appear — but the atmosphere of the great houses in Jane Eyre is even now overwhelming!

The Accomplished Brontë Family

As you no doubt know, Charlotte Brontë, the author of Jane Eyre, was one of three sisters who all wrote still-popular novels, along with a brother who didn’t produce any lasting literature. All their novels were initially published under masculine pseudonyms: Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

• Charlotte (1816–1855) is best known for Jane Eyre, which has been made into at least sixteen movies beginning in 1910.
• Emily (1818–1848), wrote Wuthering Heights, which is currently in the news because of a new movie version that was released last month. At least ten earlier movies have been based on the novel.
• Anne (1820–1849) wrote Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which are less famous than her sisters’ works, but they have been the subject of a few TV series. 
• Patrick Branwell Brontë (1817-1848) was an alcoholic and an opium addict — despite early promise, he turned out to be quite a loser in contrast to his accomplished sisters.

As you can see from the dates, all four siblings died very young. They were all victims of tuberculosis, though the immediate cause of Charlotte’s death may have been complications from her pregnancy. 

Review ©  2026 mae sander

 

Weekend

Biercamp

We tried the sausages at a local sausage and beer specialist.
It was lunch time on Sunday, so we had a milkshake and a coke, not beer.

 

Reading

The Good Liar by Denise Mina.
I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. The characters aren’t likeable.

Very Early Spring in our Garden

It’s sunny and almost room temperature outdoors!

Very Early Spring in the Countryside

Little sign of green on our Sunday afternoon ride.
Monday: I could see a tiny bit more green.

A Sixties Icon Gone

Country Joe McDonald, antiwar counterculture icon, dies at 84

His “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” was a four-lettered rebuke to the Vietnam War that made an impact at Woodstock.

The most memorable song from Country Joe, who died this weekend, was the anti-Vietnam War
song “Feel Like I’m Fixn’ to Die.” It is horrifyingly relevant this week, alas.

I Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag

Well, come on all of you big strong men

Uncle Sam needs your help again

Got himself in a terrible jam

Way down yonder in Vietnam

Put down your books and pick up a gun

We're going to have a whole lot of fun

And it's 1, 2, 3

What are we fighting for?

Don't ask me, I don't give a damn

Next stop is Vietnam

And it's 5, 6, 7

Open up the pearly gates

Well, there ain't no time to wonder why

Whoopee!

We're all going to die.

Another Sixties Icon

Blog post © 2026 mae sander