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 Sworn to Silence is the first book in Linda Castillo‘s Amish Thriller series. It features Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police of the small Ohio Amish Country town of Painter’s Mill. I’ll admit I had started this book with pretty low expectations. I had tried unsuccessfully to read another Amish-themed mystery about a year ago. It didn’t help that the reviews for this book that I read on Amazon weren’t encouraging, either. In fact, some of them were quite brutal. If I hadn’t needed to read the book for an upcoming book club meeting, I likely wouldn’t have bothered. That would have been a shame, because it would mean I had missed one of the best contemporary mysteries I’ve read in some time.
Castillo is a very good writer, and she clearly knows her stuff. Whether it’s modern-day police procedures or life among the Amish, she has a depth of knowledge that I found refreshingly unexpected. Her portrayal of Amish life is particularly well done, showing the complexity behind the stereotypical simplicity. Castillo manages to be both sympathetic toward and realistic about the Plain people, thus avoiding the idolization I’ve seen in some other authors. This was one of the characteristics that drew me to the book.
As for the story itself, I simply couldn’t put it down. The two main characters, Burkholder and BCI field agent John Tomasetti, have both been badly damaged by events in their lives and so are always on the edge of despair. Nevertheless, they remain likable characters. We want them to succeed at their task, as well as in their lives. And what a task they’ve got! A series of horrific (and I don’t use that word lightly) murders are happening in this small country town that exactly mimic murders from 16 years previously. Is it a copycat or the same killer? If a copycat, then how does the killer know details of the killings that were never made public? If the same killer, then why the 16 year break between murders? The investigation is confusing, and is further complicated by local politics and long-held secrets from Burkholder’s past. The author puts a great amount of detail into telling the story of both the investigation and the murders. Sometimes a truly disturbing amount of detail. Much of the book reads less like fiction and more like true crime reporting. After finishing the book you’ll want a long, hot shower to try to wash yourself clean. But you’ll want to put Linda Castillo on your list of must-read authors, too. I know I have.
Like most book lovers, I’ve always got more than one book going at a time. Right now, I’m working on one audiobook, one eBook, and two traditional books. Here’s what I’m currently reading:
Audiobook
 Right now, I’m finishing up The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, written and read by Eric Weiner. I need to have this done for a book group tomorrow evening, so it’s my primary focus right now. I have to say, I love this book. Weiner, an NPR correpsondent, decided to see what makes a place “happy.” Or, in the case of Moldova, unhappy. He visited a number of places and talked to people to see how happy they are. I’ve still got two chapters to go, but so far we’ve been to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Moldova (not a happy place), Iceland, Thailand, and Great Britain. Part travel book, part social sciences, this is one of the better audiobooks I’ve listened to recently. My only complaint is that the author (who is also the reader) has a couple of idiosyncratic pronunciations. That’s something I cann overlook. If you haven’t read this book, please do. You’ll enjoy it.
eBook
 I just recently started reading Earth Magic by Marion Weinstein. This is the revised edition of a book I read over twenty years ago. Weinstein, who died a few years ago, was a self-professed witch. Earth Magic was the second of her two books discussing what she called positive magic. Positive magic seems to be a kind of combination paganism and New Thought. It makes for very interesting reading, especially if you’re interested in either paganism or New Thought, as I am. This is my first time reading the revised edition, but it seems to have more information than the original. I’m looking forward to reading more of it.
Books
 The first of the two traditional books I’m reading is Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India by Miranda Kennedy. The story of the author’s time spent living in India, it’s part travelogue, part social commentary, and part memoir. Kennedy is a good writer (another NPR correpsondent), with a good eye for the details of life and society in a very different culture. I particularly like the way she describes her upbringing by two peripatetic souls from the Sixties. As you can probably tell, I like this type of book (travel, commentary, memoir) very much. Probably because I’ve always wanted to travel myself.
 The second book is Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich. I enjoy mysteries, but I’ve never read any of the wildly popular Stephanie Plum series except for the relatively short Visions of Sugar Plums. I finally decided it was time to read some of them. They are good, if a little chick lit. Whether or not I’ll finish the entire series, I don’t know. I believe I will, but it may take me some time — I’ve got so many other books on my list
Canceled Mass outrages gays: Diocese bans parish’s service
Things like this constantly pop up on my radar screen. I’ll admit, I no longer understand why any self-respecting LGBT person wants to have anything to do with the church of Rome. Speaking for myself, I’ve gone from support (during the John Paul I-early John Paul II years) to indifference. Now it’s going beyond indifference. In my view, the harm caused by the church of Rome and its involvement in US political affairs exceeds the good it has done elsewhere. From the child abuse scandals (and the church’s relative inaction) to active opposition to marriage equality, the church hierarchy is generating a lot of ill will. Fortunately, the church as a whole seems to be doing a lot better. Local parishes and members, for the most part, continue to focus on caring for “the least of these.” On political issues they continue to be far ahead of their leaders. One example of this is the recently-released report from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Ten Years of Changing Attitudes on Gay Marriage. This study shows that while the general public has moved from 35% support for marriage equality in 2001 to 45% in 2011, among Catholics support has risen from 40% to 54%. That’s a level second only to the religiously unaffiliated.
Given that the Roman church is the second most hierarchy-dominated Christian group that I’m aware of, maybe it’s time for LGBT Catholics to start looking elsewhere. I don’t believe they’re likely to create change from within the organization, and there are valid Catholic groups that are supportive. Granted, they’re not very large and can be hard to find (especially outside of the coasts), but that’s something that can likely be more easily changed than the positions of the Roman Catholic church.
I’ve always been impatient. From waiting in line to waiting for soup to heat up in the microwave, I don’t do it well. I’m a lot better than I used to be, but it’s still not easy for me. I have to consciously slow myself down and tell myself things well be ready when they are, and it doesn’t do any good to try and speed them up.
I used to be really impatient with conversations. In fact, I still am at times. I feel like I can tell where someone’s going with what they’re saying and I just want them to get there. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes not, but I’ve discovered that if I let them get there int their own time, I learn something I didn’t expect.
I believe a large part of my impatience comes from feeling busy in my life, with things coming at me from all directions. That’s one reasong I’m trying to keep a journal: to force myself to slow down. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to start some kind of meditation, also. And I probably need to learn to prioritize better, as well as remind myself that there are some things that really don’t need to be done right now. If at all.
Learning patience is a contiuous process for mie. I try to get a little better each day, or at least every week. Who knows? Maybe in another thirty years, I’ll get there.
The other day I wrote about my 15 favorite or most respected religious groups. I promised some explanation about why I chose the groups I did, and here’s the first entry.
Why do the Quakers make my list of favorite/most respected religious groups? A big part of it is their long-standing commitment to truly radical peace and simplicity. Any group that can maintain a firm stand for peace and non-violence in our increasingly violent world has earned respect. It’s also frequently earned them the mistrust of their neighbors, from their beginnings in England to the present day. You can be pretty sure that anytime there’s a push for a “patriotic,” “necessary” or “just” war the Quakers are going to be in for it. Even in this country they were criticized during the Revolutionary war, the Civil war, World Wars 1 and 2, Vietnam, and even today for their opposition to our current wars. Quakers may not fight in these wars, but they have a long history of going in to war-ravaged places and providing humanitarian aid to whoever needs it, often at considerable danger to themselves.
I also have a lot of respect for their commitment to simple living. It’s something I try to emulate, although I seldom succeed. I like the way that a lot of the simplicity comes from the Quaker understanding of all people being equal before God, no matter what their condition. I also have a very great appreciation for their beliefs that all time and all spaces are equally sacred. There are no special holy days or sacred places. Finally, the understanding of the living Christ being actually present among Friends is one that speaks to me more and more these days.
Thanks for reading.
Way back when (in late high school, also known as the Dark Ages) I wanted to do architecture. I even began architecture school in college. I did very well at mechanical drawing and most of the other classes, but my skills in freehand drawing were nonexistent. Remember, this was back before computers became common. Freehand drawing was a necessity. So I gave up on that.
Now it’s more than thirty years later, and I’m back studying a creative field again. Doing rather well at it, too. Everything’s more computerized now, so my abysmal drawing skills aren’t nearly as much of an issue. I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do with the rest of my work life (I know it’s a litle late for that, but better late than never). My ideal work would involve graphic and web design, maybe with a little audio/visual production in the mix. I would really like to do this work for nonprofit cultural and social organizations. I realize that in the real world it’s not always possible, but I’d prefer to work for organizations whose values and goals align with mine: educational organizations, cultural groups, progressive religious groups. Of course it goes without saying that I won’t work with a group whose values and goals are in opposition to mine. I want to keep some integrity. I’d really like to do publicity coordination, also. It seems that so many organizations let so many different people do publicity that they end up presenting a disorganized, unprofessional public face. I’d like to help prevent that.
Anyone know of a job that needs doing?
Most of the time I’m not really sure what keeps me going. Usually I think It’s nothing more than inertia. I know that, aside from the design classes I’m taking, I don’t really push myself to expand my horizons very much. That’s one reason I’ve decided to start keeping a journal: to see if I can push myself beyond my comfort zone and into new (better?) worlds. Some of what I write I intend to keep private. Others things I won’t.
Anyway, back to the original question: what keeps me going? Remembering good times in the past and hoping for more of them is definitely one thing. I keep expecting that tomorrow will be better, or at least more interesting, than today. Believe it or not, I really am an optimist. I just don’t show it very much.
(Maybe WordPress for BlackBerry isn’t working. I somehow lost this post, so here we go again)
I’ve been thinking recently about what my most liked or respected spiritual groups are, so I decided to make a list. Seems like a reasonable thing to do. There’s no order to this, it’s just the way they come to me. I’ll do separate articles for each one explaining why they made the list later. To do so now would make this article too long and (probably) confusing).
Well, that’s my list. Look for reasons over the coming days. In the meantime, what groups would be on your list?
…seems to be working. That should make it a lot easier for me to keep this site up to date. A few little oddities I need to get used to, but that shouldn’t take too long.
It turns out there’s a little disagreement about the mother of my great-grandmother, Anna Dora Roberts Bays. I’ve always thought she was Sarah Tackett, the daughter of Abner Tackett and Elizabeth Caudill. I’ve recently found out, though, that one of my cousins believes her mother was Rosa B. Williams. This morning I decided to see what I could find out. Sure enough, in the 1910 US census, I found Hiram Roberts, his daughter Anna D., and his wife Rosa B. I figured I had to be wrong on this one, and started changing my computer records (don’t ever do that until you’ve given things at least a day to settle out). The 1890 and 1880 censuses are incomplete, so I couldn’t go back and check them. So I started trying to find out more about Rosa B. Williams. I didn’t find much, other than an 1880 marriage between Hiram Roberts and Rosa B. Williams in Morgan county, Kentucky. That was more evidence that I had made a mistake somewhere, although as far as I knew, Hiram was born in Rowan county. So I started checking Rowan county records.
I found a marriage record for Hiram Roberts and Sarah Tackett in Rowan county (22 May 1884) witnessed by his father (Hiram) and her father (Abner). This was my original source for Sarah Tackett. I also found Hiram and Sarah buried next to each other in Caudill cemetery in Rowan county. This is the same cemetery where Anna and her husband (my great-grandfather Joseph Walter Bays) are buried. So that leads me to believe that Anna’s mother was Sarah Tackett, who died in 1888 (one year after Anna’s birth). However, Hiram died in 1905, so he doesn’t show up in the 1910 census. There is a Rose B. Roberts in that census, who is a widow. Her father is living with her, and his name is listed as William “Eaegan.” She also lives fairly close to my great-grandparents.
So were there two Hirams? One in Morgan county and one in Rowan county, both born about the same time. Or was there one, who was married to both Rosa and Sarah at the same time? I haven’t been to Morgan county yet, so I can’t verify that 1880 date for Rosa’s marriage to Hiram. I don’t know yet, but here’s what I suspect happened.
Hiram married Sarah in 1884. They had at least one child, Anna, born in 1887. Sarah died in 1888. In 1890 (not 1880), Hiram remarried, to Rosa (Williams or “Eaegan,” I’m not sure which). This explains the widow Rose in the 1910 census (who had no children living at home). It also explains why Anna and Joseph are buried in a Caudill cemetery, since the Caudill’s would be Anna’s relatives, and Joseph’s by marriage. There’s still a couple of questions, though, and I think I’m going to have to make a trip to Rowan county (and probably Morgan county) to try and clear them up.
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