Saturday

What a nice day it was today!  About 70 degrees, sunny and breezy!  And, for the first time in a while, I didn't feel tired so I was out fairly early, got some errands run and came home to open the windows and do some cleaning.  Sounds crazy I know, but I enjoyed the dusting and vacuuming with the windows open and the fresh air blowing through.  Quincy certainly enjoyed the open windows and doors too!

Spent the afternoon reading a book I ILL'd - Last Train from Berlin by Howard K. Smith (yes, THAT Howard K. Smith).  I've gone back to my history roots!  I listened to a great book - In the Garden of Beasts about Ambassador Dodd and his daughter Martha in the early 1930s in Berlin.  Re-awakened my interest - my Independent Study paper in college was on the fall of Weimar and the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1932-33.  Last Train from Berlin was published in 1942 - and, after a rather slow start with (in my opinion) an overly long "introduction" to why Smith believed what he did, gives a very interesting first person account of the life and problems in Berlin, especially after the attack on Russia.  There's another new book out (I have it on hold but might get the audio!) - Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power that's got the accounts of various journalists in Germany prior to the war.  Looking forward to reading that one too!  May have to go back and re-read Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (one of my very favorites!).  Don't think I'll attempt Mein Kampf  again though - once was enough!

Now I'm almost ready for bed - with the laundry done already I only have groceries to buy tomorrow so I'll have extra time!  Time to get ready for Computers in Libraries - going to DC on Tuesday and back Friday.