Ponder: Wild Dark Shore

Wild Dark Shore ©2025 by Charlotte McConaghy is the second book I have read by this author. I rate Wild Dark Shore five stars, a level higher than I rated her previous book, Migrations ©2020 which I awarded four stars (6/7/25 post). The plot facts of the book are best as described in the front flap of the book cover.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Wild Dark Shore is a captivating book. The setting is in a future dystopian time when water levels are rising, storms are fierce, and fires are devastatingly destructive due to climate change. On an island near Antartica, a family of four lives along with an assignment of scientists working a seed bank project to preserve the continued existence of species of plants. The island landscape and wildlife is beautiful and awesome.  The family relationships are admirable, complex, complicated, and deep. Each chapter heading is titled with the name of a character and so keeping track of the key players is quite manageable. Seeing each character's perspective is thought-provoking. Wild Dark Shore also has several unanticipated plot twists and jaw dropping reveals that kept the book interesting.

But if asked if I'd liked Wild Dark Shore, I'd have to pause and confusedly admit, "Not really." Why? Because one of my reasons for reading a book is for entertainment, relaxation, distraction, and enjoyment. Dystopian settings by their very nature are gloomy and bleak. But the book was tense — so tense that after finishing it, I had to read a lame, fluffy, romance novel (9/5/25 post) to get my shoulders to drop back down, leveled away from my ears; that is how uptight Wild Dark Shore made me feel.

I read this book because it was the selection for a book club I recently joined. The book was intricate. The characters were multi-dimensional. Discussing this book with others was stimulating. The social interactions and discussion are ones I'd like to repeat. It was a great book and for these reasons I am glad I read it. I am delighted I had others with whom to discuss it. Read Wild Dark Shore if you now feel curious and compelled, but please do not blame me if you have similar reactions as mine or if you struggle with the book. I would be glad to hear your thoughts. Wild Dark Shore is a book worthy of being long remembered and revisited.

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

Ponder: Yours Truly

Yours Truly ©2023 is the second in a three book series by Abby Jimenez. I'd read the third and first books in the series out of order. Out of a false sense of obligation, I committed to this middle book for completeness in the series, naively looking for some continuity and logical progression of plot and characters. There was a bit of continuity in location and a few repeat characters but not enough to reward my persistence or faith in this author. The book was disappointing and I rate it only two stars.

The relationship between the two main characters was contrived and implausible. I was not rooting for it to succeed. Dr. Briana Ortiz’s and Dr. Jacob Maddox are two doctors in the same emergency room of a hospital. Jacob has an anxiety disorder and finds it difficult to approach Briana, but he can write her letters as opposed to interacting with her face to face. She writes back, finding his honesty refreshing. Because of past experiences, she has currently sworn off men. The two stars I awarded Yours Truly were earned solely because there was some cleverness and humor in the exchanged letters, droll comedic scenarios I do tend to find scattered throughout this author's books.

To further fuel my disbelief in this budding relationship was the coincidence that Jacob is a perfect match to donate a kidney to Briana's brother who has a great and growing need for dialysis. Jacob's motivation to donate a kidney is that his mother too was a recipient of a kidney, giving her a new lease on life; Jacob feels he should give back. There is absolutely no intention of this gift of an organ being a ploy to promote a relationship with Briana, but his actions certainly do cause confusion.

The plot was rubbish, the characters were poorly developed, and the correlation with other books in the series was weak. I rate this book only two stars. Do not waste your time.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

For reference, here is my rating of other books in the series in my order of reading them. In my defense, after reading my second book, I was optimistic for my third read to be the same or better. I was wrong.

1. Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, 3) ©2024 ★★★☆☆ 7/15/25
2. Part of Your World (Part of Your World, 1) ©2022 ★★★★☆ 8/14/25
3. Yours Truly (Part of Your World, 2) ©2023 ★★☆☆☆ 9/5/25 (this post)

Vicki Lawrence at the Bankhead

Saturday, August 16th, Frank and I attended a matinee performance of Vicki Lawrence at our local Bankhead theatre. Vicki Lawrence is an American actress, comedian, and singer who is best known for her character Mama. From 1967–1978, she created many characters on the CBS variety show The Carol Burnett Show. I am dating myself but I used to love watching that show especially the skits where Carol Burnett played a southern ingenue Eunice and Vicki Lawrence played her grouchy rambunctious old mother aka Mama. 

Frank and I had seats near the front so we could hear fine and were close enough we could enjoy the nuances of Vicki Lawrence's facial expressions. The first half of the show was quite entertaining and revealing where we learned how Vicki got involved with the famous Carol Burnett. Vicki and Carol are close look-a-likes. This fact played a large role in Carol Burnett's "discovering " Vicki Lawrence at her high school talent show. Vicki's story of being a "natural red head" was also hilarious.

In the second half Vicki Lawrence came out in her Mama costuming and role. She read from a stack of questions someone might ask of Mama to hear her outdated and snide replies. This segment got some chuckles, but was nowhere near as good as the first half. In both halves of the show, a few classic clips from the Carol Burnett show were projected and we learned a bit of the back story behind them. Here was a YouTube outtake clip that was shown. Just for laughs, this YouTube clip is one of my favorites from the Carol Burnett show, too. Vicki Lawrence is not in this one, but it typifies the type of humor that made the Carol Burnett Show one of my favorites. Overall, we were glad we'd gone to this funny, relaxing show that stirred up fond memories.

Dan's Family Visits from Colorado

Wednesday, July 30th, our daughter-in-law Carrie arrived from Colorado with Vivian (age 11), William (age 7) and Irene (age 4). Their plane was delayed a few hours and so they arrived at the local BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station very, very late. The kids were exhausted from travel, it was dark, and it was cold. Hugs and greetings were greatly foreshortened to deal with getting all into a warm car and readjusting Irene's car seat to the level of satisfaction only a mother can assure. Grandmothers are relatively unskilled and barely versatile in car seat installation. The second photo, with all the smiling faces, is a contrast to facial expressions on arrival night. The happy photo was taken a day and a half later, Friday, August 1st, during an outing where Carrie took the three kids to San Francisco. Later on in the evening of August 1st, my son Dan would arrive with daughter Lillian (age 9). Dan and Lillian  delayed their departure from Colorado because of a horse event in which Lillian was involved and did not want to miss.

Thursday, July 31st Carrie had to work all day remotely for her job while the kiddos bounced back from travel exhaustion and chilled at home. They played games of motor skills like Bedbugs and Wiggly Worms, and built tall peg towers.

Vivian studiously worked on building a Vintage 1980 Little Tikes Build N Play Farm Set. The next morning the younger ones delighted in smashing it down. Vivian shrugged and was philosophical about it. She expected as much.

Vivian also intermittently challenged Grandma and Grandpa (also her brother and sisters) to the game of Otrio.

Thursday evening Carrie and I took the three kids to a local park, May Nissan Park, to blow off some extra energy.

Friday, August 1st, Carrie took three kids to San Francisco. I quote her outing description from her Instagram account.        

Epic day in San Francisco with 3/4 of the kids. We arrived in the Bay Area two days ago (after less than 72 hours in Colorado) and today we walked over 8 miles throughout the city to see as much as possible. We took BART into Embarcadero and then hit up the Ferry Building for delicious food and beautiful Bay Bridge views. Took a bus to the Golden Gate Welcome Center and walked nearly 2 miles across the bridge. Then decided to walk 2 more miles down to Sausalito. Took a ferry across the bay and back into the city. Rode the Ferris wheel, got sourdough at Boudin, stopped at Fisherman’s Wharf, walked down Pier 39, rode the double-decker carousel, and saw the sea lions. Walked to Gharadelli Square for over-the-top sundaes. Rode the cable car back to Market and then took BART back to the East Bay with two blondies fast asleep on my lap.

While she and the kiddoes were doing all that, I stayed home and sewed on patches: on William's Boy Scout uniform, on William's Karate Gi, and on Lillian's Adventure Guides Vest from California. Details are in my DianeLoves2Quilt 8/4/24 post and DianeLoves2Quilt 8/5/25 post.

Later that night Dan arrived late with 4th kiddo Lillian. Not surprising, their flights were also delayed and their Uber got them to our house close to midnight.  There were some brief and tired hugs exchanged, a bit of a snack nibbled, and then they too were really tired and trailed off to bed in short order.

Saturday, August 2nd, Dan and Carrie left early in the morning to wine country in Napa for an overnight stay and (hopefully) a romantic interlude. They'd been wanting to attend a release for a wine, and they did so at Silver Oak, a vineyard whose "fermented grapes" they liked.  They attended that release Saturday afternoon; then, later that day and on Sunday, they taste-tested at a few other wineries in the area. Frank and I held down the fort with the four kids.

Vivian found out how to make her own Wordle puzzles. Sadly I do not have a picture of her sitting in front of my computer doing that. I took no picture since their mom had instructed me to limit their screen time, but I was guilty of indulging them some, anyway. There was not enough screen time anyway to warrant a lot of photos. The puzzle Viv made for me was XEBEC which I failed to solve in the allotted six moves. She was pleased she stumped me, but I claimed "unfair" because of the obscure word.

There was lots of Duplo building and the little tactile animals I'd bought for them were a big hit. One Duplo build was a home for those squishy pets. There was a JIAHO 6 Pcs Dog Mochi Squishy set and a 6 Pcs Animal Kawaii Squishies set.

Another  toy that was VERY popular was a set of foam ball shooters. For the Thanksgiving November 2023 visit I had bought three pair of air pump powered foam ball shooters, each set with 36 foam spheres. I do not know if this visit started out with all 108 balls, but the shooters still proved to be a rousing diversion enjoyed by everybody. Yes, everybody. Although I will admit the grandparent enjoyment derived from watching and dodging. At one point I set a timer, 5 minutes as selected by William as an equitable duration, as a challenge within which to gather all the balls. If successful, there would be an ice cream cone reward. They challenged me, how would I know that they had them all? I conceded that after 5 minutes, if they had an equal number of each color, I would rule it good and be ice cream cone worthy. All nodded solemnly that these were acceptable conditions. Boy, did they scurry, even fishing some balls out from under the piano with a yardstick. And, yes, they all earned ice cream.

Sunday, Aug 3rd, Frank and I chose to take the four kids plus our son Alex bowling. Since Dan and Carrie had borrowed one of our cars we needed to figure out the logistics of transporting three adults plus four children — one needing a car seat and one needing a booster seat — with only one remaining vehicle. This is somewhat like the fox, the chicken, and a sack of corn puzzle.

A man has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn across a river. He has rowboat, and it can only carry him and one other thing. If the fox and the chicken are left together, the fox will eat the chicken. If the chicken and the corn are left together, the chicken will eat the corn. How does the man do it?

Our solution was not quite as complicated as the man with the rowboat. I drove Lillian, William, and Irene with me up to San Ramon to get Alex. The five of us then drove back down to the Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl. Meanwhile, Frank called an Uber and he and Vivian rode that to meet us at the bowling alley. We reversed the whole process when we finished bowling. 

The kids' consensus was that they wanted a girls' team and a boys' team so that is what we did. It took a bit of confusion and intervention from the staff to do the reorganizing because Alex threw the first ball before we had the lineup set and entered into the computer.

 Lillian had the highest score of all ... 105! Look who did worst. Me ... 71!

After bowling one game, we ordered pizza, ate, and then posed for a photo.

On the ride home with me. Irene fell asleep in her car seat. I parked the car in the driveway and Frank sat next to the open car door near her while she slept. We knew better than to wake a sleeping child only to have to contend with perhaps a particularly cranky little girl missing her parents. Dan and Carrie arrived back to Livermore while she was still asleep, so when she did wake up, she was rested, surprised, and happy.

Monday, Aug 4th, Dan took Vivian, Lillian, William, and Irene to the Jelly Belly Factory, located halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento off I-80 and Highway 12, about a one hour drive north of Livermore. Before he left that morning there was a near disaster in the kitchen. One of four supporting pegs of one of the shelves in a kitchen cabinet broke. The board hung dangerously at a tilt, ready to dump a plank's load of breakable glassware, bowls, crashing down onto the shelf below or the ceramic tile countertop. While Dan held the precarious load with one hand he handed pieces of the contents one by one to Lillian who was standing nearby. Whew! Crisis avoided. He later helped fix the shelf and I was able to restock.

At the Jelly Belly Factory there was a proposed list of activities. Dan and the kids did it all. What to do while you're here

1. Self-guided tours allow you to explore the ¼ mile journey above the factory at your own pace, enjoying the all-new look at our candy making.
2. Interactive exhibits and games along the tour lane
3. Browse the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Art Gallery
4. Shop the Jelly Belly Candy Store
5. Dine at the Jelly Belly Café
6. Shop the Jelly Belly Chocolate Shoppe and Fudge Counter
7. Sample your way through the Chocolate & Wine Experience

Frank and the grandkids enjoyed some model train time out in the garage in the evening of Monday August 4th after the Jelly Belly outing and also in the morning of Wednesday August 6th before their departure. Their imagination knew no bounds. They established six stops along the railroad route: a candy factory, the yellow house (established ~1599 per Lillian), a bowling alley, a school, a coaling tower, and the falling down houses per William (but really houses under construction). Holding a hand over the mouth as if talking into a public address system microphone like an intercom, they announced the stations en route and stopped the trains accordingly. Frank initially told them to wait until he was there to operate the trains, but they figured out how to do it by themselves. The morning of their departure they went out to the garage independently and ran the system without him there, even re-mounting cars that derailed. The 42 second long video shows their conductor and engineer skills in action.

Tuesday, Aug 5th, was the last day before their departure. We had not all gone out to a meal together yet this visit and so Dan campaigned we go to our  local Mexican Restaurant Casa Orozco for lunch. This was a favorite haunt of Dan's when he lived in Livermore or when he visited home during his college years at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It was also a day to squeeze in all those things we'd wanted to do and hadn't gotten around to yet. I submit a sort of potpourri of activities.

We had a list of odd jobs for which we needed Dan's help. A bathroom switch Frank had changed out had some issues that Dan was able to fix with a hammer and chisel and some brute force finesse. We also had a broken cord on one of our silhouette blinds. No business that sold those kind of blinds would fix them unless they had sold them to us. I even tried to go straight to their install employees to no avail. It was a simple enough fix per a YouTube video and I had pre-ordered the part. The gotcha was that this eight-foot wide blind had to be removed from the window in order to access the end. Neither Frank nor I were going to attempt a ladder climb nor try to wield an eight-foot long potential baton and clobber someone in the process. Dan took down the blind and switched out the cord for us. Yay! He was even patient when both Frank and I had to stick our noses in and micromanage the task.

 

We also had a soap dispenser that despite all my efforts would repeatedly stop working. I bought a new one and wanted Dan to crawl under the sink and swap it out for the new one. Miraculously, in his presence, the dispenser began to work consistently so we abandoned the replacement. It is still performing fine. Fingers crossed ... Not anticipated as needing help was the ceramic crash aversion for which Dan's heroic intervention avoided a disaster. Dan's guidance and participation in the repairs and replacement of our cracked and dangerous front sidewalk were very much needed and appreciated. Dan worked remotely in concert with a college classmate Ryan, also a 2006 Cal Poly graduate, who has a degree in construction management and a list of contacts. Just goes to prove, it is not what you know but who you know.  

A running joke is that when our son-in-law Jeremy visited, he addressed a number of tasks we requested. Dan marked our whiteboard with his tasks to show that Dan too was a solid contender in the helper competition. Note: Crash aversion and sidewalk repair are absent from the list but still count, big time.

I also eked out some time to sew with Vivian and Lillian while they were here. Vivian made a lined tote bag and Lillian made kitten pillow. More  details of their projects are shown in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post for 8/9/25.

Wednesday, Aug 6th was devoted to preparing for departure. While Carrie ran around in her efficient frenzy to gather and pack all their belongings, there was another visit to the trains and a few more game challenges with the Connect Four game. While Dan's family were here, this game got a huge workout with every combination of opponents there could be — every kid against a grandparent and every sibling against another. Alex uses this game  to drop in the markers with no logic or game goal in mind so it was a real wake up call to me to play it as it was actually intended. I got trounced many times! The next photo is father versus daughter. I think Frank and I are going play against each other after the visit has ended.

The kids exhibited great creativity during their entire time here with their imagination at the trains, with their inventive building, with quirky stories they built around the squishy creatures. I wanted to record one last unexpected surprise. I had given them each a funky, tactile weird pencil topper. I have shown one of them in green in its original intended form on top of a pencil. The kids determined these toppers could be inflated into other critters. Here is their repurposing of those toppers.

We took the requisite "one photo for posterity" before they left. Frank and I each drove a car to get them all to the airport. Then we came home and collapsed.

MJ the Musical

On Tuesday night July 29th my friend Kathie and I went to see MJ the Musical at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose. Normally I try to book matinee performances but I had my son's family coming for a weeklong visit that conflicted with my Saturday afternoon show tickets. After this evening experience, although the show was excellent, I will stick with matinees which are more convenient and easier logistics-wise for traffic, parking, and exiting the garage. UN-parking after the show seemed to take forever!

MJ the Musical is a jukebox musical based on the life of the American entertainer Michael Jackson, focusing on his creative process prior to the Dangerous World Tour. A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical. Neither Kathie nor I were as knowledgable about the Dangerous World Tour as we would have liked to have been and vowed to google some stuff in the next few days when were were home to educate ourselves.

Even without back information about the tour we enjoyed the show. The performance was energetic, colorful and extremely entertaining. The cast for the little guy who played MJ as a young boy was incredible. I think that kid, if times were different, could be another talented MJ. The casting for MJ as an adult was great, too. The actor had the moves and the body language and the voice for MJ down to perfection. On the way exiting the theatre we posed for pictures near the MJ poster.

Kathie dressed in character for the outing. She wore a black leather jacket (not shown) and sparkly shoes (shown enlarged in lower photo). It was a fun evening out.