Back When Books Mattered

    Premium subscribers to MM who expect at least one hundred posts per month are highly disappointed given that there have been only two for April. They reveal that the author has been on the road and in places that are warmer. It is hard to blog while driving and it is difficult to type while holding a Margarita in the glaring sunshine. 
   Now back in the north on cold day I will offer a post, but do not promise to provide ninety-seven more before Thursday. Those who want a refund can contact me through Rogers Communications where you may have to wait a while before getting through to an operator.
   The subject is books. Admittedly, interest in them has declined and that decline has been documented in MM which, you may have forgotten, trends toward the contrarian. Evidence that people once thought highly of books and even read them is proven below. The example also indicates that those who read were often clever writers. The person who placed this advertisement in The Times is clearly more upset about the loss of a book than the theft  of his sports car.

"Will the kind friend who removed a yellow Perry Coupé from the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth on Wednesday evening last, kindly return the copy of The Rough Road, found in the pocket, to the address on the flyleaf, Chelmsford, as it was borrowed?"
                                                                   The Times, 18, September 1919

   A Perry Coupé is pictured above. The Rough Road is likely the one written in 1918 by Willam J. Locke.

Post Script: 
   While I attempt to produce more posts, those who are disgruntled and in immediate need of something to read will find a free copy of the book on Project Gutenberg. And if you want more to read right now, here is a summary: 
"The Rough Road" by William John Locke is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story revolves around the life of James Marmaduke Trevor, affectionately known as "Doggie," who is depicted as a rather sheltered and effeminate young man shaped by the overprotective upbringing of his mother. As world events unfold, including the backdrop of World War I, the narrative explores Doggie's transition from a life of delicate comforts to ...."
   You are more likely to be interested in the Coupé than the book and if that is the case see these two old posts on MM, while I attempt to manufacture more - if the weather remains cloudy and cool.
Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Cobble Beach and Elegance

Passing Through Florence

 Travels With Jerry (to borrow from Steinbeck)
    Another post for loyal readers and for the other few who wonder where I am (and more importantly, where my wife is.) I just mentioned (bragged) that we were recently in Paris and Rome and, given that we were in those two well-known places, decided to bypass Florence. The Florence passed, I will add, is the one in South Carolina, not the other one in Mississippi. That one was named after some guy's wife, the one skipped was named after General Harlle's daughter. That we skipped Florence was not because of General Harlee's southern past, but because my companion didn't like the name of the river passing through it - the Pee Dee.
   Having attracted you with the names with which you are familiar I will now say that we are in Lumberton, which you may not have heard of, but which once was on the 'Grand Tour' for those returning from the 'Low Country.' From here, I will say only that we are descending to Duck, which will actually be the high point of the trip except, of course, for those encounters with family members.
 
The Bonus:
   Not much substance again, so here is something else to read. It is actually brought to you courtesy of a very large billboard, which displayed in very large letters, these words: VEGETARIAN RECOVERY CENTER. It was for Smokin' D's BBQ. (As an aside (and actually another bonus), I will say that the billboards advertising "adult-type" places seemed to have toned down a bit, perhaps because of the purifying effects of the current President. The one noticed mentioned in it the word "mindful", which may sound a bit 'woke', but not at all prurient. But, back under Biden we passed one that said - "Every Day Is Hump Day."

Post Script: The Duck destination exists. It is at the higher end of the Outer Banks and should still be there this year.

Travelling From PARIS to ROME

 To Pompano Beach

   This post is provided for my neglected readers. Although the subject heading is not incorrect, it is rather misleading. We were recently in Paris, the smaller one located in Ontario. More recently we were also in Rome, the smaller one in the state of Georgia. While the former doesn't have the Seine, it does have the Grand and the Nith. The latter is not quite the Rome you assumed we were in, but it is not lacking in attractions. It is the home, for example, of the largest college campus in the world and one also finds there enough tennis courts at the hotel we stayed in to support the largest of professional or collegiate tournaments. I provided a post a while back about Berry College and I am glad we detoured off Interstate 75 to see it --- which also allowed us to avoid Atlanta. 
   That we are travelling during such a perilous period can be explained by the fact that I needed to do so for family reasons. Although you are now probably not thinking about heading for the U.S., I will report that the journey, so far, has been uneventful, politically speaking, and the political headlines are more concerning than the heavy traffic.
   There was little traffic at the border and the guard was even polite. There have been no single fingers raised or horns honked when the "Ontario" plate was spotted. When citizenship was mentioned the reaction was one of curiosity rather than condemnation and the young ladies at the pool said they had experienced no problems. They are from Steinbach, Manitoba.
    Although we Canadians are currently very agitated and concerned about such things as "tariffs", for many Americans, Canada is likely as remote as Steinbach, Manitoba and we are far more worried than they are about the relations between the countries. 

The Bonus:
   We have two TVs in our room now, but have not turned any on since we left Canada a week ago. Headlines have been noticed, however, and here is one from The Washington Post, which indicates that many Canadians are cancelling trips across the border:
"Canadian Travel to U.S. is Plummeting: ‘There’s a lot of anger’, By Ben Brasch and Hannah Sampson, April 3, 2025:
“For the nicest people on the planet, who are Canadians, the language is strong,” said Stacy Ritter, head of Visit Lauderdale in South Florida. “There’s a lot of anger out there.”...
"But the love fest may be on thin ice: Industry experts are reporting a steep decrease in Canadian visitors so far in 2025, pointing to a drop in airline and hotel bookings and scaled-back schedules by Canadian airlines for flights into the United States."....
‘Complete collapse’
    McKenzie McMillan, a Vancouver-based adviser with the Travel Group, said his company would typically be busy this time of year arranging last-minute spring break and summer trips for Canadians to such favorite spots as San Diego; Palm Springs, California; Phoenix; and Las Vegas. Instead, he said, “it’s zero.” The steep drop-off started gradually, with some clients in January saying they were thinking they might avoid the U.S. this year. “Since February, it’s been a complete collapse,” he said.McMillan said about 20 percent to 30 percent of trips that were already booked got canceled. Since then, he said, the company has seen about a 90 percent drop in new bookings for U.S. vacations compared with the previous year, as clients opt for other destinations.
   That is in line with what Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, has been expecting. His travel analytics firm predicted that 4 million fewer Canadians will visit the United States this year, a 20 percent decrease that could cost the U.S. $4.3 billion in lost revenue, he said.  PT Tours, a bus tour company based in New Brunswick, called off the eight trips on the books for the United States, including visits to Boston and Washington, along with an October shopping trip to New Hampshire that has been offered for more than 10 years."

Post Script:
   This is likely our last trip.