August 23, 2008

This past year and a half has been life-changing in many ways. My husband died on May 28, 2007, after a long period of suffering and no complaining. After much thought and consultation with family I decided to retire, sell my properties in Wisconsin, and move to a better climate in the Pacific Northwest. I bought a condo near public transport and have found I can get around quite easily despite the fact that I don't drive. We just finished a week of celebrating his life, spreading his ashes and planting five native trees in his honor in a local park. We had people here from as far as France, and celebrated in the way he would have liked, with plenty of food and laughter.

I am still a dedicated science fiction reader. My greatest interest is in science fiction that explores totally different ways of thinking (as in alien). An author who is really good at this, I believe, is the Canadian Julie E. Czerneda. Her book In the Company of Others is a particularly good example of this. Other great books by her are A Thousand Words For Stranger, Ties of Power and To Trade the Stars. Her Web Shifter series continues the excellence. I have recently read Verner Vinge’s A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon the Deep, both of which I thought to be excellent. He is a very thought-provoking writer. I have also recently enjoyed reading The Saga of Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson. They are interesting. I have reread all the hard science fiction books by C.J. Cherryh and I like them as much as ever. I have found another good auther in Karen Travis and have read most of her books.

I hope to really upgrade my genealogy pages also.