SASQUATCH CHIPMUNK

The chipmunk that was living under the deck has apparently gown too large for his quarters. He was seen diving under the siding on the house, and is probably living in the cellar. I hate to think of how many chipmunks are down there. I do not begrudge them a place to live, but their favored place seems to be behind the central air conditioning and near the electrical service box. I know they will chew through anything. So far live traps have not worked. The fox urine scent has not worked. I can't seal the openings until I am sure all the munks are out. Today the munk spent 45 minutes sitting on my deck scolding me for not refilling the safflower seed birdfeeder. When hell freezes over!

MY FORTUNE COOKIE FROM YESTERDAY

"You are never bitter, deceptive or petty."

All my co-workers had a good laugh at that one.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Team of Rivals

Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin

In ten words or less: Biography of Lincoln and his rivals Seward, Chase, and Bates.

Review: Another Lincoln book? Over the past few years I have read Stephen B. Oates, “With Malice toward none,” other books on the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant, and other figures of the era. So by the time I picked up the Goodwin book, I was hearing the same anecdotes for the third or fourth time. Goodwin is an eminently readable author (“No Ordinary Time, “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream”) however, and she seems to have bounced back from the scandal of a few years ago. The focus of this volume is the political rivalry among William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates, who were also seeking the 1860 Republican presidential nomination. After losing to Lincoln, they all went on to serve in his cabinet.

Why bother? Exhaustive and well written biography of Lincoln’s life and his political rivals.