Three Beautiful Things 05/08/20: E-Books Are Fine!, Back to Bush, Popcorn and *Peter Gunn* BONUS A Limerick by Stu

1. For some reason, I had it in my thick head that I didn't like reading books through Kindle on my electronic tablet. Then, for some reason, today I decided to buy an e-book copy of Mark Felt's memoir, co-authored by John O'Connor, entitled Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House. I started reading it and, lo and behold, I remembered other books I'd read as e-books, remembered doing fine reading them, and found myself enjoying reading this book.

I had forgotten that Mark Felt (better known by the nickname he detested, Deep Throat) was an Idaho native and a University of Idaho graduate. By the time he went to George Washington University law school, went to the FBI Academy, and was sworn in as a member of the FBI, his Idaho connections seem to have disappeared. Up the point where I ended my reading last night, Mark Felt worked in field offices throughout the USA -- Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, and others. When I put the story down, though, he had settled into the offices in Washington, D. C. and I'm about to read about the tensions between J. Edgar Hoover and the Kennedy brothers, John and Robert.

2. I put the book down late in the afternoon, joined Debbie for a delicious salmon burger, roasted potatoes, and green salad dinner.

I mixed us each a sidecar and we returned to the episode of American Experience entitled George H. W. Bush and finished watching it. Part II awaits us. Tonight's episode ended with Bush's diplomatic efforts as the Berlin Wall fell and as Eastern European countries were coming out from under the thumb of Soviet domination. I was struck my G. W. H. Bush's refusal to go to Berlin and exploit the fall of the wall as an opportunity for what would have been priceless publicity. By not, as some put it, "dancing on the falling wall", Bush did not humiliate Gorbachev and his reserve helped make future negotiations with Gorbachev about the future of a united Germany go much more smoothly.

3. As Part I of the George W. H. Bush story concluded, both Debbie and I had had all the history and biography we could take in for one night. So, to end our evening in a less mentally challenging way, I popped us some popcorn and we ended the night with another episode of Peter Gunn.

Here's a limerick by Stu:

I feel sorry for those folks I'm addressing.
Who're stuck in their house only guessing.
Can we go to the beach,
Is that store out of reach?
Sometimes rural life is a blessing.