National Ice Cream Day

It's late afternoon here, but I've just learned that today is National Ice Cream Day.  Luckily, I happen to have ice cream in my freezer, and it's my favorite:  Coyote Tracks.  It's vanilla flavored ice cream with thick fudge swirl and mini peanut butter cups in it.

Here is the book I've just begun reading:

The Wish ~ by Nicholas Sparks, 2021, fiction, 416 pages

1996 is the year that changes everything for Maggie Dawes.  Sent away at 16 to live with an aunt she barely knows in Ocracoke, a remote village on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, she can think only of the friends and family she left behind . . . until her aunt introduces her to Bryce Trickett, one of the few teenagers on the island.  Handsome, genuine, and newly admitted to West Point Academy, Bryce gradually shows her how much there is to love about the wind-swept beach town — and introduces her to photography, a passion that will define the rest of her life . . . as will Bryce.

 

By 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer.  She splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations around the world.  But this year, she finds herself unexpectedly grounded over Christmas, struggling to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis.  Increasingly dependent on a young assistant, she begins growing closer to him.

As they count down the last days of the season together, she tells him the story of another Christmas, decades earlier — and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.

Sunday Salon is hosted

by Deb at Readerbuzz.

National Ice Cream Day ~ need I say more?

Oh, I will add that National Ice Cream Day is on the 3rd Sunday in July, which also happens to be during National Ice Cream Month.  Let's eat ice cream!

The Hidden Life of Dogs ~ by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, illustrated by Jared T. Williams, 1993, science, 148 pages

The author is an authority on canine behavior.  She observed the exploits of her dogs during a thirty-year period, including how they dug themselves a vast underground den.  An Amazon customer mentioned that the author's revelations about the basic nature and needs of dogs was helpful, adding:  "Even if you have no dogs, it is a fascinating read."

So I checked it out of our small library and am ready to start reading it.  By the way, if you eat ice cream while reading this book, please do not drip it on the pages.  I'm sure all readers know that sticky pages are NOT good for books.

  

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

I read that magnesium may help prevent dementia

Some folks who live in my senior center are thinking about Alzheimers (or dementia in general) because a neighbor with symptoms was just moved somewhere else.  So I've been poking around the internet.  Here's some of what I've found out:

If you forget the name of a neighbor who just moved in or it took you ten minutes to remember where you left your phone, it is more than likely just part of aging that can happen to anyone.  Age-related changes that are often mistaken for symptoms of dementia include:

• forgetting why you walked into a room
• taking longer to retrieve common words or names
• finding it harder to pay attention to detail
• misplacing things, but finding them later
• taking longer to learn something new
• finding it harder to multitask

On the other hand, I read that magnesium in foods may be good for avoiding dementia.  Not taking magnesium supplements, but eating food that has magnesium in it.  It's found in many plant-based and animal foods, such as:

• leafy greens
• nuts
• beans
• whole grains
• seeds
• milk
• yogurt

When I read "leafy greens," I immediately thought of Popeye and his spinach.  I found a couple of iconic illustrations of the cartoon character for this post and have been singing his song in my head:

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.

I'm strong to the finich

'cause I eats me spinach.

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.

Okay, folks, do you eat your spinach?  Drink your milk like good little girls and boys?  Buy whole wheat bread at the store, as I do?  Okay, I think we're all set.  And yes, "finich" is the way Popeye pronounces "finish."  I have milk with my cereal and eat yogurt most days.  I eat beans, and my favorite salad has nuts in it.  Maybe all of that is why I'm still able to live on my own at 83 and keep doing things for myself, like grocery shopping.

Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine ~ by Deepak Chopra, M.D., 1989, psychology, 278 pages

Inspired by the unexplained recovery of patients in his own practice who had been given just a few months to live, Dr. Chopra began his search for answers.  After returning to his native India to explore humanity’s most ancient healing tradition, Ayurveda, he combined those insights with Western medicine, neuroscience, and physics.  What he discovered — a "network of intelligence" in the human body with the potential to defeat cancer, heart disease, even aging itself — forms the basis of this book.

Since few people seem to read what I post on other days of the week, I also want to share my Saturday Stuff post about what was on my mind yesterday.  So click HERE to read about another book I found on my shelves:  Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden.

Oh, no, I almost missed it!  The third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

hosts The Sunday Salon.