Wicked

Book, by Gregory MaGuire

Play, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Winnie Holzman
Based on the Novel by Gregory Maguire

I read this book, and then saw the play (Musical) a few weeks later. I would not recommend this to anyone. I had heard the hype on how good the play was, but was not sure about it, so I read the book for further information. The book was good, it reminded me a lot of reading the "lord of the rings" series. If you have read and like any of these books, you will love reading "Wicked". It goes into the details of Galinda and Ephalba, the wicked witch of the West and the Good Witch of the East in the fable, "Wizard of Oz". I am sure you may already know this, but it is fun to read, and quite enjoyable of a book. However, I would strongly recommend the play.
It was definitely a hit. It had great set, great music, great orchestra, great singers, great costumes, I could go on and on. However it is a Broadway hit, so you can only expect the best! It was well worth it and if you had to choose between the play an the book, by all means see the play, and then read the book if you choose. If you know you will never make it to the theatre to see this, then by all means read the book so you will understand the hype and enjoy the story for what it is!

Falling Through the Earth

by Danielle Trussoni

This book was given to me by my neighbors Trapper and Stacie. They knew I would like it very much. Trapper is a Vietnam Vet, and I am always asking him questions, and listening to him talk about the war. It is an area of great interest for me.

I am not sure why, perhaps because much of it was going on when I was too young to really understand the depth of it all, and so learning as much as I can about things now are significant for me. I also always have memories of my Uncle Arlan and Pat who were married just before he was deployed to Vietnam. I never really understood it all, and so this book was another significant one for me.

Even though I don't know for sure if Danielle is a typical daughter of a Vet, I don't know if the way she grew up was that typical of a loving caring family. She seemed to go through a lot of other issues that may or may not be related to her father's own issues.

Danielle writing is great, and I found it hard to put the book down, at times it did seem like things jumped around a bit, but she pulled it all together in the end for an emotional read. It did have a lot of the "raw" truth to her life, and those are always the things that strike a chord with me. Nothing was sugar coated to make her life seem like it was a breeze.

I guess one of the best parts of this book is that it made me ask questions, and look deeper in to the vets that I know. What their experiences were like, how it changed them, and how they deal with it. My neighbor Trapper is the first to openly discuss much of this with me, and I thank him so very much for that. He always says, that talking about it so much is his "therapy". I believe it.

The only other book on Vietnam Vet Experience that I have read that compares for me is Tim O'Brien's "What they carried with them".

Crystal Cove State Park

Dale and I drove down the PCH for a one night back country camp out in Morro Canyon at Crystal Cove State Park. The park is probably known most for its wonderful surfing beach that everyone flocks to, however, few people know about the fact the State Park stretches inland and up the cliffs and hills for over 3 miles. The park is all mountain rough chaparral terrain. It has 3 nice back pack in only campsites that have no water available, you need to pack it all along. I am always up for such an adventure, and Dale was willing to come along. We loaded up our backpacks, got our camping permit and took off on Saturday afternoon from the ranger's office in the park to the campsite we wanted, over 3 miles up and inland on dirt trails. It was a 2 hour hike mostly up hill all the way. It was not easy, but well worth it and a GREAT workout. Dale will beg to differ on that, as he used some choice words, like "torture" and "agony" to describe it. I have never seen him turn that shade of red either, so I know he was in a bit of pain. It was warm, and sunny, but the cool ocean breezes helped one from overheating too much.

Once we arrived at our campsite, we set up, and Dale Immediately took a long nap. He was hurting! I did some exploring of the campsite and area, we were the only ones there, and had the place to ourselves. It was a small campground with only space for 2-3 tent sites at the most, but it was a nice campground, named Deer Canyon Campground. I made a nice dinner for us with the backpack stove, including some fresh baked whole wheat bread that I found a super recipe for that turned out wonderful! It was a great evening and we both slept sound with it being very quiet, and a full moon to illuminate everything with.

We got up early the next morning, and made a hearty breakfast. Pulled up camp and set off for a hike with our backpacks around to the other side of the park and back across Morro Ridge and down to the canyon and back to the ranger station.

Much of the trail usage in the park is by Mountain Bikers. They love it, and you see a few joggers and some walkers as well. It seemed like we were the only ones who were camping, and everyone kept asking us, "what are you training for"? It was as if you needed some reason to train for something to be there. I guess campers must be a rarity. The ridge back was beautiful, and you could see for miles, and miles. We passed the other two campgrounds on the way down, and we also liked them and will probably stay there the next time we go. (if I can convince Dale) It was a great hike back, about 2.5 hours, and we ran out of water about 2 miles from the car. Luckily we were fine, and did not have any problems and had water waiting for us in the car when we got there.

We were both sore the next day or two from hiking up hill & down hill so much and carrying our heavy packs. It was worth it though, and I would gladly do it again.
I just need to find someone to come along with me!