The Return

Review: Rain: A Natural and Cultural History Cynthia Barnett Crown Publishers 2015 Rain .   I nearly went on by this one, but now I’m glad I picked it up.   The endorsements called it captivating, imaginative, lyrical, insightful, and other accolades.   I think I’ll call it original and brave.   The reason I picked it up in the beginning was to explore how someone could write a novel length, nonfiction book about rain of all things, and make it interesting to a layman.   Well, Barnett has succeeded in doing just that. I expected a science book only, totally missing the entirety of the subtitle.   Culture?   Rain has culture and a history to boot?   Yes, it does.   One that is not just Western in scope.   Seems everyone is dependent on rain, and the shape of their culture defines that interest over its history.    The organization of this book reminded me of a mind map---rain with all the little connected ...

Oh my!  I'd better hurry if I want to get another post up for August.  Even though it's one of the long months on my calendar, it has slipped by rather quickly.  Don't know what I've been doing that was so much fun but it kept me occupied.   Summer has returned for a last gasp.  I hope so anyway.  Warm is good; hot is not.  And it's hot here when the temperature (Do thermometers have mercury any more?) gets up around ninety.   Speaking of weather, the weathermen are so excited that they have a real hurricane to predict doom from now.  Only thing better for them I suppose would be for it to end up in the Gulf of Mexico.  Yeah, I think the news cyclers or recyclers love doom.  If there isn't any, dredge up an old story and respin it.  These are the same guys that point at certain political persons and accuse them of fear mongering.  Kind of odd, don't you think?  I guess that only applies to the other guy....