Sunday, February 27, 2022

A book, a puzzle, good things, and a cartoon

I'm currently reading Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" (2018) as part of my TBR 22 in '22 Challenge — since I bought it in 2021, and the idea is to read books I already own.  The book is about Hurston's interviews (in 1927 and 1931) with the only person thought to be still alive to tell the story of being transported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America as a slave.  And by the way, this is also still Black History Month.

The Epigraph of Barracoon is a quote from Hurston's autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road:
"But the inescapable fact that stuck in my craw, was:  my people had sold me and the white people had bought me . . . It impressed upon me the universal nature of greed and glory."
Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist.  She was the author of four novels (Jonah's Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937; Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939; and Seraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935; and Tell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); and more than fifty short stories, essays, and plays.  She attended Howard University, Barnard College, and Columbia University, and graduated from Barnard College in 1927.  She was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, and grew up in Eatonville, Florida.  She died in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1960.  In 1973, Alice Walker had a headstone placed at Hurston's grave site with this epitaph:  Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South.

Here's a puzzle for you.  Find the Volkswagen bug.  I did.
I found it nestled among the snails and the mushrooms.  If
you want help, ask and I'll post the location in the comments.

I used to have a Volkswagen bug.  My VW beetle looked a lot like these.  I forget the exact year of  mine, but I think late 1960s.  Though VW called it Bahama Blue, I always thought it 
looked more greenish, like the first one.

This one is VW's own example of Bahama Blue.  You decide if it looks blue or green.  Is that, maybe, the color of the sea around the Bahamas?


Good Thing #1
Being friends with Dora
(We'll be having lunch together on Wednesday.)

Good Thing #2
Being friends with Emma
(We had lunch together last Tuesday.)

Good Thing #3?
Being friends with Lauree
(We had lunch together last Wednesday.)

Like Calvin, I'm willing to help Hobbes do nothing at all.  Wanna join us?

10 comments:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I always wanted a VW bug. When I grew up and bought a car, I got the next best thing...a Honda. Now I have a very small Toyota, and it will probably be my last car. It's my favorite car of all. I do like that VW color, though I'm not sure what I'd say it is.

Your Good Things are all friends. I am so appreciative for my friends, too. Real-life friends as well as blogging friends!

Mae Travels said...

Zora Neale Hurston is a wonderful writer. A new book of her essays has just been published. The editor is Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Title: "You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays." I hope to read it soon.

I read Baracoon, and really enjoyed it. It sounds like you like it too.
Blogged here: https://maefood.blogspot.com/2018/05/zora-neale-hurstons-barracoon.html

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Aj @ Read All The Things! said...

I've read Zora Neale Hurston's fiction, but I didn't realize she wrote nonfiction as well. I'll have to check that out.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Nope, I could not find the VW - LOL

Harvee said...

Barracoon sounds fascinating, and such a good book for readers of American history.

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Diane, look along the right side about one-third of the way down. It's a side view of the VW, unlike the photos I posted.

Gretchen said...

I love that quote from Nora Zeale Hurston. Sounds like an interesting read.

I found the VW bug!

I love Calvin and Hobbes - I am perfectly willing to help Hobbes 🙂.

Have a good week!

Cindy said...

The VW bug is tiny and I only found it because I saw where you told another person to look, LOL. I am doing very little today, trying to rest. Have a good week.

Helen's Book Blog said...

We also had a VW bug in the 60s into the 70s (or '80s?). It was grey.

Vicki said...

I found the VW, I love things like that!

The only Zora Neale Hurston book I've read is Their Eyes Were Watching God. I've never heard of Barracoon but I just put a hold on it at the library.

I've always wanted a VW Van.

I hope you have a great week!