Turtle book of the month club

So this time it's a twofer! I've recently read both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, with thanks to my father in-law for giving them to me for my birthday. They are both fantastic. I am immensely grateful for the new insight I have into the lives and cultures of the many peoples of Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. I think Hosseini did a fantastic job of painting a human face on the Afghan world in a manner that can hopefully help diffuse the myths and preconceived ideas about Afghanis, Persians, Pakistanis, Hindis, Islam, and much more.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is much more graphic and gritty than The Kite Runner, but they both powerfully drive home the personal and cultural struggles of the people we now both attempt to befriend and manipulate. This part of the world has been a doormat for foreign forces since the beginning of recorded history - starting with the Mongols, then Greeks, Crusaders, Arabs, British, Soviets, Taliban, and us, just to name a few. The current population remembers nearly nothing of their country but war, occupation, sacrifice, and suffering. The books, though fictional, help show of how this came to be, and perhaps what is in store for the future.

I give them four enthusiastic thumbs up. (Two for each book. Come on, I'm not a freak!)

Laughter is universal

Plans for healthy growth

*Oops for letting this sit in the "drafts" folder for a few weeks*

Last fall, I took my oldest daughter camping in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We hiked and camped and had an outstanding time, and she remarked that we should do that trip every year. At the time, I totally agreed. Recently, however, two things have changed my mind. First, I've reflected on the fact that she is now 11, and I don't have too many years left before she'd rather be hanging out at the mall with her friends, so I need to keep her interested. More importantly, I happened to started watching the PBS series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" (Victoria gets the credit for bringing it to my attention Monday night. I would have missed it without the 4 hour time difference, too). After 6 hours so far, with no commercials, I am enraptured. Ken Burns has truly outdone himself with this series.

More importantly, I'm convinced that I need to take my kids to as many different national parks as I can within practical limits (I think there are 58 now). I did a heck of a lot of camping as a kid, and we always tried to go different places. It was awesome. Deep-down I know that I could take my kids camping anywhere and we'd have fun, but if I have to travel 4000 miles to take the oldest out, we might as well go for the best diversity and scenery the country has to offer. I have some awesome friends in D.C. that want me to come out there, but that's a tough sell when I put it up against, say, backpacking in Yellowstone. *sigh* I have some tough choices to make. Fortunately: a. My daughter is old enough to give me a real opinion of where she'd like to go; b. Any decision we make will be a great experience for her.