I just read a book...

I just read a book that I liked very much. One that I find myself thinking about and liking more over the two weeks since I finished it: The Glass Palace, by Amitav Ghosh.
It spans a century, from the British takeover and exile of the king of Burma to India in the late 1800's through WWII and into the late 1990's. It tells the story of Indians in Burma working in teak harvesting and of Indians fighting with the British in the Indian Army through the unfolding history of one family. The author was a fastidious researcher and the novel was fueled by a passion to tell the story that his father lived, talked about, and questioned, as an officer in the Indian Army stationed in Singapore.
I learned a lot about teak and about elephants. Did you know that the teak tree is related to the mint family? Or that anthrax was common in the forests of central Burma and could lie dormant in the soil for thirty years? In its most virulent form anthrax could kill an elephant in a matter of hours.
The British Indian Army offered men (of a certain class) the opportunity to become officers, have status and work -perhaps not available to them in India. These men
learned to dine on roast beef and to drink whiskey. There were mutinies among the ranks- some joined the Japanese to fight the British. There were conflicts between the "loyalists" and those who saw fighting with Britain as fighting against India.
It was an informative and epic novel; the lives of its protagonists came alive for me on the pages. I recommend it!

AFTER THE STORM

Three a.m. The explosion woke me. It was followed by a flash of lightening that brought daylight into our bedroom for a moment. This continued for an hour- no rain, amazing thunder and lightening. As many times as I have experienced these summer storms here, I still feel restless and edgy. Our woods are extremely dry and the lightening was potentially dangerous.
When the rain began it was torrential. We neglected to get up before it started to close windows and doors and bring in cushions from the chairs. I went back to sleep.
The rain brought a small river running down our road which curves around our house in the back. The mud that came with it immediately covered the drain in the road and some water entered the other bedroom. We now have a small stream that has been running through our meadow and past our new well for three days. It seems to be coming from under the road. A morning of clean-up and drying out. The rain was very welcome.

The second morning after, the day was glorious! Like one of those first crisp, clear autumn days back east. We took Sonny in the car to the top of the road so Dik wouldn't follow and walked. It was like suddenly having 20/20 vision after seeing everything with slightly fuzzy and dusty edges. (Click on the Flickr link for photos.)
Little blue bachelor buttons had sprung up everywhere. The world was "mud-lucious and puddle-wonderful"!