Author: Stephen Blair

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2017

• January – The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
• February – War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans
• March – The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
• April – LaRose by Louise Erdrich
• May –  On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

 I Married a Cro-Magnon Woman – Larry D.

ViewPersimmon Tree/Christmas Tree – Larry D.

Bicycling With Mom in Foxen Canyon – Larry D.

Fearless Post-Ride Lament – Fearless M.

Cowboy Christmas – Larry D.

Greek Mythology – Larry D

Cyclist Encounters an Insect and Resurrection  –Larry D.

 

Recent Prize Winning Poem from Larry D.

I Married a Cro-Magnon Woman

Even though you wear petite,

I should have known.

The way you hold your head,

the focused movement,

thrift in speech —

All were clues.

When you muscled the case of wine

into the trunk while

I was calling, “Wait!  Wait!”

When you dug up the whole garden

with a rusty shovel.

When you dragged the garbage bins

up the driveway two by two —

I realized that twins would be no problem.

You’d suckle one at each breast

while chewing leather to downy softness

for me to wear on winter hunts.

You’d make our autumn fire,

spinning one stick on another.

You’d keep it going throughout the winter

to cozy up our share of cave.

You’d heat up water with hot rocks

and use the waiting time

to ply your awl for boots.

You’d swat the kids and laugh.

You’d be ever looking out

for fat and protein.  And so in spring

you’d heft a load, and off we’d walk

to where the fish were running.

I’d use up secret hours

to make a necklace from

a thousand shells I’d found

and managed to hide from you.

Idea from Rob:

A lot of us love great books, and we have gotten up many hills discussing the books we have read.  With that in mind, let’s try a book of the month club for 2017.  For those who are interested, here’s how it would work:

-At the beginning of each month I will send out an email with the title of this month’s book.  If you want to read it, you can do so.  Hopefully during the course of the month you’ll be on rides with others who have read the book and you can talk about it.  

-If you don’t want to read it, don’t.  This is totally optional for those who are interested. 

-I am hoping that every month a different person will volunteer to suggest the book.  I will organize and send out the monthly email.  Let me know if you want to suggest the book for a future month.

-This has many of the benefits of a regular book club with none of the guilt.  If you don’t feel like reading the book and don’t get around to it, there is no expectation.   Added benefit – if you don’t really like the book and don’t want to finish it, but are mildly curious how it ends, you can find someone to tell you.

As I said, I’m hoping a different person will select a book every month.  Since I’ve suggested this, I’ll go ahead and select the book for this month.  It is:

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.  This book won the national book award and is one of the NY times 5 best fiction books of the year.  It is a very unique book that combines a historical novel with a touch of magical realism.

Each month the new book title will be posted on the web page under Links

Happy riding and happy reading in 2017!