Odd Bits

More News on Deer in the Yards:
For several years we have circled clumps of hostas in our yard with garden wire fences because wandering four legged feasters - local deer - seem drawn to the tender leaves. Since I had not seen any deer visiting our yard in quite a while I wondered if we would be safe in taking down the fences and letting the hostas breathe free.


As we rode down our neighborhood street this morning I noticed a visitor in a near-by yard. Hmm. Bambi has stopped by for lunch. Seeing the fawn answers my question about taking down the fences.

Shortening the Trip with Story:
This morning Jim and I hit the highway toward North Carolina for a week-end visit with Mama. That eight hour drive can sometimes seem very long so we stopped by the Chevy Chase Public Library on the way out to pick up a selection of recorded books. We prefer mystery, murder or suspense to keep us really engaged during a long ride -
so I checked out a James Patterson murder mystery, an Amelia Peadody Egypt adventure, and a Robert Ludlum suspense novel.
We settled on the Ludlum, The Hades Factor. It was a great choice. Within in the first few minutes it had you - - with the added plus - a very good reader, who used his voice to pull you into the story. With 12 disks we were assured of a story that would carry us for the round trip.

Although I have enjoyed Robert Ludlum novels since the 1970s I had not read one in a long time. I was surprised when I noticed that the Recorded Books box names a co-author for the Hades Factor. All was explained when I looked up the web-link.

Robert Ludlum died in 2001 and since then in in-name-only collaborations with living authors many novels have appeared as his. I guess this is a literary franchise.