A Calling Dial-a-Ride Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I've been visiting Denis in the hospital as often as I can in between my own doctor appointments and people coming to the house. Today is Wednesday, and tomorrow is the first of Denis's two surgeries. I'm sharing his most recent MRI...

It's pretty easy to see that large chunk of bone pressing into Denis's spine. No wonder he couldn't even stand up! And no wonder he's been in so much pain!

Tomorrow, the surgeon is going to clean up the area and redo all the hardware in his back and extend it as needed so that his spine will be supported completely.

Next week, the surgeon will remove that large chunk of bone that's causing all the problems and replace it with a cage that will keep the form of the spine. In effect, the cage will be an artificial vertebra.

Denis has been such a trooper through all this, and the nurses at the Banner University Medical Center are stars. Denis has somehow kept his sense of humor and occasionally regales his nurses with some of his Royal Navy tales. 

Unlike last time when I had no way of visiting him, Dial-a-Ride, although sometimes infuriating, has been a blessing. And I have a lot to try to get done at home with one of our nieces in the UK coming for a visit. It's been so long since we've had a chance to see her, that I can't wait. It's unfortunate that Denis will be in the hospital, but you do what you can with what you've got. Just having Karen here will be a huge boost to our morale.

One last photo before I start sharing my latest batch of links. This is the view from Denis's hospital room. The photo was taken Monday, and they had the roof open on Chase Field. Denis can also watch planes landing and taking off at Sky Harbor.

A room with a view

A smile and a virtual hug to everyone. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Every book lover dreams of it. Few ever get it. The library ladder.
• The CIA book smuggling operation that helped bring down communism.
• Amazon is stripping away your ability to download your eBooks.
• Indiana cuts Dolly Parton's Imagination Library from the budget.
• How soulless "fiction factories" became publishing's dirty little secret.
• Publishers have sued the State of Idaho over library book bans.
• AI-generated slop is already in your public library.
• Love books? You still might suffer from bibliophobia.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An artist noticed a leak in his studio. The repairs revealed a mysterious ancient engraving hidden inside the walls.
• A miniature workplace was found buried in a tomb from Egypt's Middle Kingdom.
• Archaeologists say they've discovered the first ancient Egyptian pharaoh's tomb since Tutankhamun's in 1922.
• Vivid wall paintings have been unearthed at a 2,500-year-old Etruscan necropolis in Italy.
• Lasers have revealed a 1,000-year-old Indigenous road near Chaco Canyon that aligns with the winter solstice.
• Divers recovered an ancient shipwreck that sank 2,600 years ago off the coast of Spain.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone helped the entire ecosystem thrive.
• Are there plenty of fish in the sea? Ask an elephant seal.
• Scientists make a shocking discovery after interviewing fishermen at the Panama Canal.
• Labord's chameleon: the color-changing lizard that drops dead in four months.
• Researchers use AI to find an elusive and "odd" Australian bird. It hadn't been recorded in the area since 1989.
• A lost baby seal found wandering in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, has been rescued and has attained local fame.

►The Wanderer◄

• Meet the "Wooly Devil," the first new plant genus discovered in a national park since 1976.
• Khartoum and the crime writing of Sudan.
• Watch a breathtaking drone flight through the French Alps.
• A train station in Japan has been built around the Deai-sugi cedar tree that's over 1,000 years old.
• The Lekki Conservation Center in Nigeria is home to the longest canopy walkway in Africa.
• Stop by the Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall in Mandeville, Louisiana.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The real story behind the "Nickel Boys" and the brutal Florida reform school that inspired the film.
• From the antebellum South to the Civil Rights Movement, Black American women have long told their stories through quilts.
• Artist Ira Volkova captures the delicate beauty of flowers through large-scale oil paintings.
• Belle da Costa Greene, the trailblazing Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender, and racial passing.
• Ella P. Stewart, Toledo's most singular pharmacist.
• Nadia Odunayo, the woman taking on Goodreads owner Amazon.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The ten best films about diamond heists.
• Mystery, history, and strong heroines: 8 books by Heather Terrell (AKA Marie Benedict).
• Endearing and humorous mystery TV shows like A Man on the Inside.
• 8 must-read mysteries by Black authors.
• 14 books about surviving dystopias.
• 18 books about real women as fascinating as any novel.
• The other side of the story: Retellings of classics from minor characters.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!