At Barnes & Noble

It seemed like a trip to the book store was in order. I was reading in the Wilson Quarterly about a new book by Carol Berkin called "Civil War Wives: The Lives and Times Of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant". Varina Howell Davis interested me most: she was Jefferson Davis' second wife, and I misremembered that I was related to her.

Reviewing my genealogy, it turns out I'm related primarily to Jefferson Davis, not his wives, via his Bradford connection to Pennsylvania Senator Richard Brodhead, Jr. (the Confederate President and the Northern Copperhead were cousins). So, the book might have some antiquarian interest to myself, but, as it turns out, it didn't matter: I couldn't find this brand-new book on the shelves anyway.

Instead, I was drawn to another book, "God Is Red" by Vine Deloria, Jr. He is a well-known Sioux author and scholar, who wrote "Custer Died For Your Sins". Plus, for a time in my teen years, he was my next-door neighbor. I remember the day we were startled by a circle of Indians drumming away behind his house - headdresses and everything! Very un-Pueblo-like. I also remember another day when his parents came over unannounced, for a visit (we were all dressed in our pajamas on that lackadaisical Saturday noontime and were startled by the happy elderly couple peering into our windows and waving hello).

We never knew Mr. Deloria well, and actually knew his daughter, cat, and dog (Ma-Eh) better. And riffling through his books, I could see he has written learnedly about all manner of subjects, but never, it seems, about his wacky neighbors back in the day. So, instead, I purchased "Blood And Thunder" by Hampton Sides, a book about Kit Carson and the Navajos, a subject which remains pertinent to this day in New Mexico.

Plus, I picked up Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking", which just looked like fun reading.



Just 'cause I like the image.....