Thursday, February 10, 2022

An I Wish I Could've Been There Weekly Link Round-Up

 


Denis's back is very slowly improving-- much too slowly for him, and I understand completely. I can't even remember if I told you the specialist's diagnosis. One of his vertebra is being compressed, and there's a pocket of infection around it.  No fun at all, especially for a man who takes a pill and expects it to work miracles in five minutes or less. Denis and I have been married now for twenty years, and I've realized that the one area where my spousal knowledge was very sketchy was how the man deals with pain. It can be eye-opening, and I wish for his sake that my knowledge was still deficient.

While we've been taking it easy so Denis's back will heal, I learned that one of my heroes was here in Phoenix, and not only just in Phoenix but in one of my very favorite spots in Phoenix, the Desert Botanical Garden! The hero? Sir David Attenborough. The 95-year-old was working on his latest project, The Green Planet, which focuses on the plant life of Earth. One episode of the series is "Desert Worlds," and for it, Attenborough gloved up and stuck his hand in a teddy bear cholla at the Desert Botanical Garden. I've watched the film clip on Facebook and Instagram. 


Ignore the little triangle on the first photo. I just took a screenshot, so there's no video to play. That first screenshot shows him after he stuck his hand in the cholla. The second screenshot shows the autographed glove afterwards.

How I would've loved to have been there to watch!!!

Enjoy the links!


►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • Raye Montague, the "hidden figure" who revolutionized naval ship design.
  • The women rulers whose reigns reshaped the medieval Middle East.
  • Meet Licoricia of Winchester, the "most important" Jewish woman in medieval England.
  • The bookish life of Betty White.
  • Eight-year-old Dillon Helbig slid his handwritten book onto a library shelf, and now it has a years-long waiting list.
  • Billie Farrell, the first woman commander of the U.S. Navy's oldest ship, takes the helm.
 
►The Wanderer◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

15 comments:

  1. I love the variety offered by your post. It is too much for me to go through right now, but I am coming back to this one to check out many things I now feel I need to know!

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    1. Yes, this is the post where I find myself "falling down the rabbit hole" over and over again. Enjoy the links!

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  2. I feel for you and for Denis, Cathy! It is hard to be patient when all you want is to feel better! And it's interesting how you learn things about your spouse at certain times.. I'd have loved to see Attenborough at work, too - he is a remarkable person. Now, as for me, I'm off to that ancient Roman town...

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    1. I thought you might be. You know, every Friday I try to decide which Indiana Jones link you'll mention. ;-)

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  3. Thanks for the shoutout.

    I definitely consider myself a mood reader in the sense that I read whatever grabs my fancy at the moment. I learned several years ago that book clubs were not for me. I had to force myself to read the books selected by the club I was in and being forced to read is not my idea of fun! So, bye-bye, club.

    It is great to hear that Monarchs in California have regained their numbers. Let's hope the recovery continues.

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    1. It's good to hear that someone else has the same reaction to book clubs that I do! I consider myself to be a mood reader, too, which may sound strange to some, since I do read quite a few advance reading copies that come attached with deadlines. (At least, they do to me!)

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  4. Denis has really been through the wringer! That sounds awful. A compressed vertebra is painful enough. I imagine adding infection to it would take the pain up several notches.

    Yes, I have fallen down a few rabbit holes already with the links. I consider myself a mood reader as well, but don't exactly meet the criteria that the writer of the article included. I have just learned that if I make a list of books I'm going to read, that is the best way to guarantee I am not going to read them. I do have lists of books recommended on my phone, but rather than viewing it as a TBR, I view them as suggestions if nothing else strikes my fancy. It is kind of funny because I tend to be a list maker and follower in most other areas of my life.

    The article by Neil Gaiman was excellent. He said so many things I have always believed in a much better way than I could have.

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    1. Yes, you did find a few rabbit holes! LOL

      By the way, I'm a fellow list maker...

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  5. Poor Denis! I hope his back continues to heal and gives him less trouble. I imagine it can be frustrating too.

    Thank you for sharing the links! The article on popcorn was interesting. It's one of my favorite snacks. I also really enjoyed the article about Scotland considering pardoning witches. I could definitely relate to the article about being a mood reader.

    Take care, Cathy. Have a great weekend.

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  6. Off to check on links! Thanks for a great collection. :)

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    1. You're welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying them.

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  7. Phoenix is on my list of places to visit and the Garden is one of the places I would go! With or without gloves!

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    1. The DBG is a fabulous place to visit. Just don't get too up close and personal with the cholla. We folks here in the desert don't call it "jumping cactus" for nuthin'!

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