I love volunteering with the National Audubon Society to do education programs with kids at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. This month I helped do beak relays with the kids–and got to see Mortimer again, a red-phase Eastern-screech owl who suffers blindness in one eye, which impacts his ability to navigate safely.
There are several bird ambassadors here, including hawks, a great-horned owl, and a barred owl. None can be released in the wild due to injuries sustained. I’m excited to start training soon on bird handling with them for programs to teach how birds are critical for our world!
In bookish bird news, I was thrilled to get early copies of Loon Cove Summer which publishes May 6th by Wild Trail Press! It’s so pretty. Whenever I see the cover, it makes me yearn for kayaking on my favorite lake with the loons.
You can pre-order for your special adventure lover (or you!) in paperback, hardcover, or eBook at your fave bookshop here: https://www.donnagalanti.com/loon-cove-summer/
I started Loon Cove Summer in 2013, inspired to write it from memories of a place I lived in childhood, and it prompted me to go back in time to this setting—the campground my parents owned and operated in New Hampshire nearly 40 years ago. When I drove up to our campground and home, I was zapped back to the 1970s.
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- Then …
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- and now
Suddenly, I was nine-years-old again. I swam in the pool, fished with my dad, romped through the woods, collected dead butterflies and shotgun shells, whizzed about on strap-on roller skates, played pinball machines, and spun 45 records on the jukebox. The only items remaining are those old 45s I still have packed up in a tub.
This visit filled me with a jumble of emotions all tied up with a childhood bow. I mourned my innocent youth and my mother, who had since passed away—and relived the shared grief over her with my dad, which is threaded throughout the story.
It’s bittersweet now because I can’t share this book with my dad either, who passed away recently, as he loved managing Bethel Woods Campground (as it used to be called). It was his dream to own and operate a campground, and so we bought one. He worked so hard to make it a special place. Here’s to you Dad!
As you can see, Loon Cove Summer is very personal to me. And I’m so excited to share it with you AND the book trailer!
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician Paperback by Anthony Everitt
This book may have put my cat, Star, to sleep but not me! I’m fascinated by this ancient period and by this exciting account about Roman life, customs, and politics during such a turbulent time in history.
Book summary:
He squared off against Caesar and was friends with young Brutus. He advised the legendary Pompey on his botched transition from military hero to politician. He lambasted Mark Antony and was master of the smear campaign, as feared for his wit as he was for his ruthless disputations. Brilliant, voluble, cranky, a genius of political manipulation but also a true patriot and idealist, Cicero was Rome’s most feared politician, one of the greatest lawyers and statesmen of all times.
My Murder by Katie Williams
I was a bit spellbound by this unique futuristic book. It’s clever, original, captivating, sparse and yet rich with emotion and mystery. Check out this first line: “I was supposed to be getting dressed for the party, the first since my murder.” Star approves!
About the book:
In the book, Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She’s also the victim of a local serial killer—and recently brought back to life and returned to her grieving family by a government project. Now it’s not enough to care for her child, love her husband, and work the job she’s always enjoyed—she must also figure out the circumstances of her death.
MY SWEET TREAT RECIPE:
Almond, banana, coconut lemon blueberry cake
I love creating different healthy treats and here is my newest fave!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
½ cup tiger nut flour or oat flour (can grind up oats or if small oats just mix in)
2 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or two tablespoons if no coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
½ small container of 2% or whole milk Fage plain Greek yogurt or 1/3 cup if a large container (if no yogurt than double up on the applesauce)
1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 lemon grated for the peel only
1 cup wild blueberries (I use frozen)
Slivered almonds to top (about 1/3 cup)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
Mix all dry ingredients in 1 bowl
Smash ripe bananas until pureed then add in eggs and mix with a spoon
Add in yogurt, applesauce, lemon peel, blueberries, melted coconut oil, and mix with a spoon until blended
Mix in dry ingredients with a spoon until blended
Line loaf pan with parchment paper
Place mix in loaf pan and spread evenly
Scatter slivered almonds across the top
Back in oven for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Insert knife to see if done.
Cool a bit and enjoy warm with tea or coffee! Sometimes I like to dollop applesauce on top before I eat.