Women who wanted to be doctors faced a lot of resistance. When they were finally allowed into medical schools they were either denied jobs after graduation, or limited to treating women and children only. World War I changed all that. No Man's Land: the Trailblazing Women Who Ran Britain's Most Extraordinary Military Hospital During World War I, by Wendy Moore, is that history. Well researched and written, this is a compelling story of hard work and dedication. The buildings given to these women had often been vacant and neglected for years and needed a major clean out (which they did, more than once), then supplies would be delayed, or refused (so they found their own suppliers), but they were finally accepted into the Military. Which helped. Some. There was no denying, though, how good the care they gave the wounded was. If the men were startled at first, by being in a hospital completely run by women, it didn't last long! Some, if they could, even requested Endell Street. There were hospitals in France, too. Fair warning here: descriptions of the conditions (trench warfare, shrapnel, mustard gas, mud, bugs, disease) and wounds are vivid! Still, even with the backing of the Military (sort of) it seemed like men wanted the women to fail. Many of the convalescent cases sent were those who were considered 'hopeless'. Just about all of them survived! The hospitals closed when the war ended, (well, almost, there was that pesky Spanish Flu pandemic) and sadly, many of these incredible doctors found themselves either without a job, or back to treating just women and children again. (There is a nice, is sometimes sad, follow up on many of them).

On a whim I did a search for books on rain and found (no surprise, really) this one: Rain: Four Walks in English Weather, by Melissa Harrison. It's just what is says it is, four nice essays on walking in the rain in four different parts of England, at four different times of year. I think my favorite part though, was the glossary of 100 rain words at the end.

Reading Hermit With Dog