Boil order #SundaySalon

Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week.

How’s the weather?

Varied. It’s spring, after all. St. Louis had the wettest April on record. We’ve had a fair amount of rain so far in May, too. They’re promising a dry and pleasant weekend to get out and enjoy the season.

What are you reading?

I’ve been in a reading malaise since I completed The London House by Katherine Reay a couple of weeks ago. That book delighted me and I don’t seem ready to commit to anything else. I tried a couple of other novels, but nothing is sticking yet.

In the meantime, I completed the May book club selection, We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson. Isn’t that a terrific cover? I’m looking forward to the discussion.

Here’s a piece of history that I was surprised I never learned before. The Christiana Resistance was a successful armed defense of fugitive slaves. It seems like I should have learned about that right alongside the story of John Brown at Harpers Ferry. My guess is that it wasn’t included in my history book either because the resistors were black or because they were successful or both.

What are you watching or listening to?

We recently watched Turning Point: The Vietnam War on Netflix. It made an interesting case that this was the beginning of cynicism about government in the American populace. I trace that in my family to Watergate, but, it turns out, that’s related.

I celebrated VE Day, British-style, by listening to the podcast Victory at Ambridge, a radio drama that takes us through the last year of World War II in a tiny rural village in England.

What are you doing?

We’ve been under a boil order since early Thursday. It might be rescinded by the time this post goes live. I hope so. In the meantime, I’m drinking water from jugs and bottles, eating pre-washed lettuce from bags, and carefully brushing my teeth with bottled water.

Updated to add: Our boil order was lifted at noon today (Saturday). Yay! This all served as a reminder of the importance of infrastructure and the consequences of neglected maintenance.

How are you this fine Sunday?

Comments

Boil order #SundaySalon — 11 Comments

Harvee on May 10, 2025 at 5:21 pm said:

I found a memoir by a Vietnamese boat baby who is now an investigative reporter and news anchor. The title is Boat Baby and I feature it on my post today. Hope you visit.

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mae on May 10, 2025 at 5:29 pm said:

Water supply is so essential! It’s terrifying when it’s not reliable. Good to hear your water is safe now.
And good luck finding something good to read!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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Deb Nance at Readerbuzz on May 11, 2025 at 7:53 am said:

Whew. I am glad people realized a boil order needed to be issued, and I hope that steps will be taken to overcome the issues that led to the problem. We are all in this together, and our government workers do many things, often quietly in the background, to help us. But the real government, I remind myself, is not our political leaders, not the staff, but all of us, we the people.

I hope you find a good book soon, Joy.

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Tina on May 11, 2025 at 8:29 am said:

We’ve had boil notices over the years and it’s such an inconvenience. Bottled water is the way to go for brushing teeth and rinsing food.

I added that Victory at Ambridge book.

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Susan on May 11, 2025 at 8:41 am said:

Glad you can drink the water again. If you get any more rain, you can send it to Alberta. We are still in years of drought. I read your reviews of the London House and the radio drama and those sound good. Now I’m curious why the Great Aunt would defect to Germany during that era. Seems ominous!

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Olivia on May 11, 2025 at 9:21 am said:

I’m glad the boil order was lifted! It would be nice to have proper infrastructure wouldn’t it? I’m not getting much reading done either. Busy with the move. I do agree that the Vietnam War was the beginning of distrust in the U.S. government. And Watergate didn’t help.

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Vicki on May 11, 2025 at 10:48 am said:

I don’t remember ever having a boil order but we have had a few “don’t drink the water” orders after some hurricanes. I like bottles water so it didn’t bother me.

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Nicky @ The Bibliophibian on May 11, 2025 at 11:17 am said:

It’s been surprisingly sunny and warm here for spring in Yorkshire! But the weather in Britain does keep on getting warmer…

We Refuse certainly does have a striking cover!

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Cindy's Book Corner on May 11, 2025 at 2:11 pm said:

I own The London House by Katherine Reay but have not read it yet! Glad you enjoyed it. Sorry about the boil order, that is always a pain. Have a great week!

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jeanie on May 11, 2025 at 4:04 pm said:

I hate boil orders. I’m glad yours is over. We Refuse sounds interesting and so, too, does The London House. I know what you mean about a book that leaves you unready to read another so soon after.

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Anne@HeadFullofBooks on May 11, 2025 at 11:54 pm said:

It always seems so awful when I don’t seem to feel like reading also. I wasted much time on two books I decided to NOT finish: Intermezzo and All Fours. I wish I hadn’t started either. I hope you find something you like soon.

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