Here's a look back at some of the disasters that have happened in our state. Well written, and covering 1700 to 2001 Washington Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival, by Rob McNair-Huff and Natalie McNair-Huff was a fascinating read. Most were unavoidable, but a few were the result of greed proving again some things just don't change!

It seems it's a little known fact that PT boats once patrolled Puget Sound (well, it was during WWII). From the Image of America Series I've mentioned several times comes Patrol and Rescue Boats of Puget Sound, by Chuck Fowler, Dan Withers, and Combatant Craft of America. There were also rum runners (and the boats that chased them), military boats, civilian boats ... many kinds of boats were built in this area (with a reputation for being of superior quality). As always with the books in this series, there are dozens of wonderful photos from about 1908 to 2010. Don't miss the picture of Eleanor Roosevelt when she was in the area in 1942. (Hint, it's on page 35)!

I chuckled at the title of Slug Tossing and Other Adventures of a Reluctant Gardener, by Meg DesCamp, and nodded at the idea of being a less than enthusiastic yard worker. Meg and her husband have returned after many years to the Portland area. The youngest of eight kids, she seems to be the only one who is not a gardening fiend. Even without the same family hobby I could relate (or thought I could) because quite frankly, if it doesn't bark or whinny, I tend to ignore it. As it turned out, the author is more a 'late blooming' (sorry, couldn't resist) gardener as she is all too soon frequenting the local nursery, digging in and improving the soil, requesting catalogs of bulbs, and so forth. Still it was a fun read, with good humor and excellent descriptions of what can be (or so I'm told) a dreary Pacific Northwest spring. (I like our spring). :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog