June 27, 2026 FREE BIRD

 

Thought we'd surprise my husband with a new bird feeder for Father's Day as ours was literally  hanging by a thread on a broken pole. BUT that's what happens when you have to pay for a wedding-- RIGHT?  Back in the day, the bird feeder/pole came as a unit-- NOT TODAY. Had to buy a bird feeder AND a fancy mounting pole AND some gadget called a SQUIRREL BAFFLE. Got the kids to chip in thinking it would be about $100. WELL--pretty sure my head did a 360 at the register. Let's just say--we won't be eating for a month-- BUT the birds are happy and I'm  pretty sure we FINALLY have a squirrel proof bird feeder--FOR NOW--but I'll give them a week to figure it out. Just finished a novel by one of my favorite writers-- Ann Patchett's Whistler. As this lovely story unfolds, Daphne Fuller and her husband, Jonathan, are wandering around  the Metropolitan Museum of Art when her husband notices that they are being followed by an older gentleman. Jonathan eventually approaches the man only to learn that his name is Eddie Triplett and he was Daphne's step-father when she was nine years old. Although they haven't seen each other in 45 years, Daphne and Eddie are eager to reconnect as they remember each other fondly. The story then goes back and forth in time, when Eddie, a book editor, marries Daphne's mother, Abigail, and is a wonderful step-father to Daphne and her sister, Leda. Soon after, Eddie and Daphne share a traumatic event, Abigail quickly divorces Eddie and then cut off all contact. Find out what  happened all those years ago and what Whistler has to do with the past when you read this quiet novel about love, loss, memory and the power of connections--however brief--on people. Patchett is the master of character studies and this book does not disappoint.