The Power of Reading

Hop on Board!

Being involved with social media, we understand the power of simply hitting a keyboard or sliding a finger across a screen to get what a person wants, be that a book, an appliance, some food, whatever. But this begs the question, what is best?

Not in the aspect of receiving what a person is looking for - that is not the question. The true question is when it comes to reading what is better - e-books or physical books?

For the fiscally prudent person, then the answer is really simple - an e-book edition of a novel is much cheaper than a hard copy (unless a person takes the liberty of visiting a public library, shopping on-line for used books, or borrowing one from a pal). But there is something about the physical act of holding a book in one's hands and turning each page one at a time that is truly special.

Brain research actually suggests that the physical act of turning a page allows the brain to wander a moment, and then it must refocus on the following page which causes synapses to start clicking between both halves of the brain. Whereas, with an e-book, it is one continuous page just rolling by and the brain does not have to stop and refocus, thus not allowing such muscle building synapses from occurring. The brain is must have exercise to stay in tip-top shape.

That's deep.

According to an international attorney and self-professed voracious reader, Rohit Shrivastava (2017) when asked if he would rather have an e-book or a physical book - " . . . there is one aspect where e-books cannot compare with a physical book. Physical books give you a sense of ownership and attachment. You make a connection with that book. This feeling is absent in the case of an e-book."

The good news, for those of us writers who still publish hard copies of books, is that the current trend shows that more and more people are turning off their Kindles and holding physical books in their hands.

An interesting article written by Colin Ainsworth of Mentalfloss.com (1/17/19) gave a rather clear and concise break down of what is going on with book reading. Physical books are back and growing stronger by the year.

It seems, according to the online newspaper, Quartz, that between the years of 2009 and 2015 independent bookstores have not only thrived, but grown in numbers - by as much as 35%. In the United Kingdom, those numbers are even stronger and since the advent of Amazon, independent bookstores have actually increased.

Publishers Weekly, the American standard for weekly news about all that is writing and reading, reported that print sales rose by almost 2% in 2017. When the results for 2018 are in, we at J and L suspect they will be even better.

That is good news for us writing and reading types. No more is the doom and gloom that people are too busy playing on their phones and not reading. Looks as though the trend is going the opposite direction.

Another online magazine, Vox, is suggesting that people are now going to book stores more than ever, for the experience of touching, seeing, and investigating books they may be interested in reading. Though social media still rears its head with people posing for selfies in the book aisles, at least it's a start.

Social media does allow smaller booksellers to tweet, Instagram, Facebook, and employ other avenues to connect with their customers and their potential new readers. It allows the book stores to reach out through the cosmos and slowly bring down to earth people who now feel the need to hold a book in their hands.

One book seller stated that she was finding more and more social media addicted souls were coming to her store to purchase books because they actually craved the physical contact of the book. The purchasers were a bit tired of everything being digitized and wanted to feel, look and smell a real book.

We like that and during a recent book signing at Barnes and Noble, felt that with the many people who stopped by to chit-chat or have John autograph his latest novel, Iquitos - The Past Will Kill - still enjoyed wandering the aisles. With the crowds going through the large store it was reassuring to think that bookstores are on their way up, and in fact the foot traffic that particular day seemed to reaffirm that belief.

John will be signing more copies of his books this coming Sunday, the 27th, at the Victorville Barnes and Noble. The book store ran out of some of his titles at the last signing and re-ordered. If anyone is nearby - please stop in and say hello to the author - no purchase necessary.

For a quick two and a half minute video in reference to the book signing please check out this link.
https://youtu.be/y3rf5JhIJ9g

Special thanks to Justin Barr who created the above video.

https://www.justinbarrphotography.com/

Lake Arrowhead

On a recent visit to the mountain communities less than an hour's drive from their home base, John and Laureen learned that Lake Arrowhead is known as 'the Alps of Southern California.'

Are those the Alps? Nope, just John and Laureen at Lake Arrowhead

One drive through the forested mountains in this region easily confirms the moniker. Tall green trees on steep slopes overlooking a marvelously blue mountain lake reminded the duo of trips they had ventured during trips to Europe. The crisp winter air mingled with the whistling of the slight winds through the evergreens had a definite Alp-like feeling - even if one only watched the film Sound of Music. The resemblance  of Lake Arrowhead to a bit of the Swiss Alps was confirmed.

This looks more Alpish - wintry with beautiful trees

A three day weekend is always fun and even more so when visiting a place so close to home but so different. Living in the High Desert of Southern California one gets used to the brown of the desert,  beautiful on its own, but the forest with snow in the mountains - that is a picturesque respite from the everyday life in the desert.

Bring warm clothes in the winter

The water fowl, mainly ducks on this day seem to enjoy the winter water

This small mountain city of just over 12,000 inhabitants at an elevation of 5,174 feet above sea level has a very interesting part in early California history.

People living near what would later be known as Little Bear Lake date back hundreds of years when members of the Paiute and Serrano Indian tribes would use the area for hunting and gathering during the non-winter months. The Paiute, who actually were from further north most of the year, were more war-like than the Serrano and kept out of each others way most of the time. But then came the white settlers who changed things up a bit.

Native American locations in Southern California prior 1900's

A partner of the famous adventurer, Jedediah Smith is recorded as the first white male to visit the mountains in 1826 of what would become known as the San Bernardino Mountain range. This is when Grizzly Bears roamed in the hundreds but would, within a few decades, no longer exist in Southern California and then the rest of California by 1922. In fact, William F. "Grizzly Bill" Holcomb loved to hunt the bears in the mountains and finally eradicated the magnificent beasts from Southern California. Holcomb Valley is the reward this man received on future maps of the area just north-east of modern day Lake Arrowhead.

Things went well between the first white settlers and the natives until one of the miners, the locale was loaded with gold, made unwanted advances toward a Serrano maiden. Skirmishes occurred leaving both a number of settlers and Indians dead. The Paitue had never trusted the newcomers and peace was never a number one priority for either white or Indian. They never got along.

Then, as is the case in most of the history of California more newcomers discovered lands of interest and took it upon themselves to develop such lands to their liking. The Mormons began a road up into the mountains from San Bernardino in 1852 for the lumber located there. In the 1860's flat land was located in various parts of the mountains and turned out was good for raising cattle. In the winters most people hunkered down for the snow but business would pick up as soon as the snow melted and the sun appeared daily.

Mormon Road in the 1920's to Lake Arrowhead

By now the mountains were dominated by miners, ranchers, loggers, and people that realized the mountain top could prove to be a marvelous place to install a reservoir for the building population of San Bernardino and west to Los Angeles.

In 1893 work began on a man-made reservoir named Little Bear Lake. Quarters were built for the men constructing the reservoir and through the years as construction continued the area become better known to the people down in the valleys below as a place of quiet solitude. As more and more tourists visited the mountains small encampments were erected, mainly camping sites, and eventually permanent places to welcome guests who wanted to escape the hot summers and enjoy the coolness of the pines.

Before the dam was erected creating Little Bear Lake

By the 1920's a village had taken shape with a golf course, vacation rentals, an outdoor theater, a pavilion, and many other attractions making it a wonderful get-away. Soon private home sites were offered by the Lake Arrowhead Company, out of Los Angeles, and the area was renamed Lake Arrowhead. The homes went up at record speed and became a well known destination for the more financially well off to have a place to retire to for a short time from the ever growing valleys below the mountain tops of Southern California.

UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center

The village of Lake Arrowhead has grown into one of the secret gems not only in Southern California but world wide having tens of thousands of visitors coming here each and every year. The lake is inundated with locals and visitors during all months and with snow falling the sight is something to behold in the winter. Home to many varieties of water fowl and fish makes this a favorite spot for everyone to stand on shore and marvel at the beauty of nature.

Water front at the Lake Arrowhead Village

It is a place for family and friends to spend a day, a week, a month, or a life time enjoying. Great shops, restaurants, events, hiking trails, and anything else an explorer or not could relish. It is a location for whatever the traveler would make of it.

Many famous people have made Lake Arrowhead their home. The likes of Tom Selleck, Sammy Hagar, Michelle Kwan, John Candy just to name a few have graced the waters and watering holes throughout the area.

Sammy Hagar's home - it's for sale 5.9 million

This was Tom Selleck's boat house to his house - we'll take the boat house

These fabulous lake homes and the history of the lake itself is told almost daily, weather permitting, aboard the paddle wheel, Arrowhead Queen. A hour long cruise on the lake highlighting many of the details which made the area what it is today.

Arrowhead Queen paddle boat tour

Braken Fern Manor in the village of Lake Arrowhead is now a Bed and Breakfast but it was originally opened on July 4th, 1929 as the Club Arrowhead in the Pines by the mobster Bugsy Seigel.

It was here that many famous and infamous people would venture to get out of the limelight and possibly the police spotlight to mingle with each other. As would befit the ghost of Mr. Seigel - the place is believed to be haunted by those suffering the wrath of the gang boss - who knows but makes an interesting stay for those interested in such other worldly adventures.

Braken Fern Manor - is that Bugsy looking out the upper right window?

No wonder Lake Arrowhead is truly a hidden gem. And all this time it was just in our backyard.

Lake Arrowhead at its best - nice and warm

For further information:

https://lakearrowheadchamber.com/
http://www.lakearrowhead.com/lahistory.html
lakearrowheadqueen.com/

Yule Go a-Viking

Hmmm, who would win?

A vastly misunderstood people, Vikings are often characterized as mere savages. Even the term ‘Viking’ comes from the Scandinavian ‘vikingr’ meaning pirate – so you can certainly see the parallel. But this term refers more to the time in summer when Scandinavian men would go ‘a -Viking’ and head out on a oversea expedition with the goal of trade or to work as foreign mercenaries. And, well, let’s be honest, there was quite a bit of plundered treasure, and a number of slaves brought back to the homeland for the winter, so we can only defend the characterization so much. 

Dublin - site of a Viking settlement

The Vikings were a sea-faring culture who thrived from the late 8th century through the early 11th century, establishing quite a legacy for themselves. They discovered the Americas centuries before Columbus was born and explored as far east as Russia. Honing their ship-building skills for more than ten centuries, they constructed everything from small fishing boats, to large cargo vessels (to carry all that treasure), and lightning fast longships, all of which were narrow with short drafts, making them well-adapted for use in rivers as well as on the ocean. The Vikings invented the keel, and though their boats were technological marvels, they paid as much attention to the art as they did the craft of the construction of their vessels. The dragon-head on the front of the Viking vessel, designed to keep away evil spirits, struck fear into the hearts of Europeans for centuries.

Viking town in Dublin 1014

The Scandinavian geography had a significant impact on the development of the Viking culture. The difficult location and terrain meant that, for the most part the Vikings were tribal; there was no unified Viking army. When they weren’t a-Viking, they maintained homes with their wives as farmers. The growing season was short and resources were scare, so most Vikings were actually smaller in musculature and stature than many of their contemporaries. 

So, what can modern man learn from the Vikings? Well, not to supplement your income by raiding; there is a limited amount of other people’s treasure – and it doesn’t make friends. No, in this season of giving, let us be generous to our Scandinavian ancestors and see what we can learn from the way they lived, a thousand years ago.

Lassies love a man who treats them with dignity and respect.

First, view, and treat women with dignity and respect, if not outright equality. There is evidence to suggest to Vikings fought beside their wives, sisters, and both sons and daughters. Evidence suggests that they trusted each other to take responsibility for leadership roles, and although there were indeed gender-specific roles (men went a-Viking, while women tended the children, home and farms), men and women often worked together on tasks. In the pantheon of Norse gods and goddesses, there is also quite an equitable distribution of power.

And speaking of faith…the Vikings were a very faithful people. Whether it was a commitment to a particular god or to the pantheon, life and activities were built around these beliefs. As Vikings encountered individuals of other faiths, this led many to a curiosity and later an adoption of a new belief in Christianity.

John with one of his Viking comrades

But the Viking man does this, without sacrificing what it is to be a man. The Viking Ideal man is still Alpha, yet in touch with art and emotion. Strong and sensitive? Sounds just about perfect.

Finally, the Viking loves to travel, to explore, to meet new people, and develop new relationships. We at J and L especially applaud this Viking attribute. We all benefit from the open-minded, open-heartedness we inherit from our Scandinavian forbearers. Especially in this age of partisanship, we can appreciate the Viking ability to survive and thrive as a culture for centuries despite their differences, traveling throughout the world, into the unknown, discovering people and places not even imagined, and managing to cultivate a kindred spirit. Enough that more than a thousand years later, we are still fascinated by them. 

A thousand years ago, the Vikings gathered in middle of January and celebrated Jol – or Yule. They exchanged gifts, and drank beer, toasted the gods, thanking them for the gifts of the past year as they welcomed the new. As you enter your yuletide celebrations, may we ask that you raise your glass, and join us at J and L as we toast the Vikings? 

Yuletide Greetings!