Photo Friday: Nahuel Huapi NP, Argentina

A year ago, we (my husband Dave Dempsey, his brother Tom, and myself) were in Patagonia with little thought of the global pandemic, let alone the rest of what made 2020 an awful year for me personally. It was a wonderful time. 

 Our first outing, while we waited to get a different rental car (the first one we were given wasn't cleared to enter Chile, and frankly we doubted it would have survived the trip), was an overnight hike to the Refugio Otto Meiling in Nahuel Huapi National Park, just outside of San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.

The heart of the park, and our main reason for visiting, is the Volcán Tronador.

Seen from the parking lot, the mountain reminds one of the volcanoes of Washington State--large and covered with glaciers.

The trailhead was accessed by a long gravel road, most of it under one-way controls--traffic uphill in the morning, down in the afternoon. We had to scramble to get through in time, and made a late start to the hike after the long drive.

The first few miles of the 8-mile, 3000' hike were through lowland forest, where we saw and heard many birds, none of them familiar to us.

Photo by Dave Dempsey

 A detour, which we followed on the way down the next day, takes the hiker to the base of some very tall falls dropping down from the Glaciar Castaño Overa.

Note the end of the glacier at the top of the cliff.
Photo by Dave Dempsey.

 Eventually the trail broke out of the trees and we began to see what we'd come for: mountains and glaciers.

The author on the trail. Photo by Dave Dempsey.

We were assured that the Refugio Otto Meiling slept 60, and that there was always space made for more if needed, so we were able to make the hike without camping gear, only sleeping bags. What's more, they served meals, so we only needed our lunch! As we slogged up the last mile or two we were grateful for our smaller and lighter packs.

The author approaching the hut area, perched on a ridge at the base of the glacier. Photo by Dave Dempsey

When we reached the hut, two things struck us. First, that it was very small for a hut that slept 60, and second, that there were lots of people and packs outside. We were to learn why.

At left above, Dave stakes out the spot for our gear.

The helpful people running the hut took our payment for food and lodging and showed us to the sleeping area in the attic. There were, indeed, 60 mattresses on the floor, wall-to-wall (yes, we counted). We were directed to three in the middle of the room. To get to and from our "beds" we simply had to step very carefully over and around the other sleepers. Not an ideal set-up for old people who have to get up in the night!

Tom Dempsey stands by our 3 sleeping spots.

Since by this time we were starved, none of the issues with the sleeping area mattered nearly as much as the fact that they served dinner...

Crepes with jam for dessert.
Photo by Dave Dempsey

 

... and beer! Not usually big beer drinkers, we nonetheless all enjoyed an adult beverage while waiting for our dinner.

Photo by Dave Dempsey.

The night wasn't great, but the setting was. We had no regrets.

Refugio Otto Meiling

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2021

 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.

Writer's Wednesday: Editing

I've been doing a lot of reports on my progress with the novel or the story collections. Mostly it's been all editing, all the time lately, so I thought I must surely have something to share about editing. 

My current editing stage is line edits. That is, I think I've fixed the issues with the story, and now I'm trying to make the writing as good as I possibly can. I have several stages for that process, too, and I'm still not quite sure what the best order is. I'll share in the order I'm tackling them for this book.

1. My 'words to watch' list. I have a list of 17 words or constructs that I overuse/abuse, or that are just plain weak writing. I'm nearly through the list, and I have to say, it feels good to replace passive forms like "I realized" with active and immediate descriptions. I've decided that when I write the drafts, certain words and phrases get dumped in as sort of place holders, which then have to be located and replaced with actual writing. Despite the need to add description in some places, this process has carved about 1000 words out of the MS. It's surprising how often I look at the placeholders and conclude I don't need to say anything more at all, just remove the word that points at what follows and screams "I'm writing this!"
    The technique is simple: I use the search function in Word to jump to each instance of the suspect word.
    Caveat: doing this can make it seem like I'm over-using a word when it's actually okay.

2. My next step will be a start-to-finish read-though for anything that looks like it still needs work. Just what it sounds like.  There's a bit of stopping and starting as some sections may need more smoothing out than others. Sometimes when I start removing my suspect words from Step One, I do damage to the narrative flow or the sense of a sentence.

3. Finally, I'll read the whole thing aloud. This always makes me squirm, but it is the best way I know of to catch the things that make readers hiccough. Even better would be to have someone else read it aloud, but that's not really an option.

When I finish with Step Three, I should be ready to send it to the proofreader(s). This is good, as I'm only about 5 weeks out from my deadline.

And in case you missed it last week, here's the beautiful cover for the new book: 

Non-Fiction Review: Destiny of the Republic

 

Title: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President

Author: Candice Millard. Read by Paul Michael

Publication Info: Random House Audio, 2011; 9 hours 47 minutes. Original by Doubleday, 2011, 339 pages

Source: Library digital resources

Goodreads Blurb:

James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back.

But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con­dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet.

Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history. 

My Review:

The biggest problem with this story is that it's fact, not fiction, so the narrative arc just doesn't work as well as we'd like. The set-up is perfect: Bell's genius, Lister's new understanding of germs and infection, all coming together just in time to save the president's life, right? Only, as we know, it didn't end that way. That simple fact forced the author to work extra hard to give the story a point, in my opinion. She doesn't do too bad a job.

With or without a greater significance, and even though Garfield was assassinated before he could do much as a president (though Millard argues that Chester Arthur, after Garfield's death, worked hard to carry out Garfield's agenda), his life is impressive. The early part of the book, recounting his early years, is inspiring. The account of the world's fair where Bell introduced his telephone is likewise interesting. It came so close to being ignored. Had no one noticed it, how much longer would it have taken for the technology to take hold? I'm sure it was inevitable that it would be picked up sooner or later, but it's fun to speculate.

In our times, maybe the most important message of this book is the clear depiction of the consequences of a refusal to recognize science. Lister had already proven his theory and found acceptance in Europe. Had Garfield been shot in England, he might well not have died (it was sepsis, not the bullet, that killed him). But for whatever reason, the American medical community clung to their old beliefs and continued to spread death and disease. I don't think I need to elaborate. It was also enlightening to see how devious the politicians were, and how willing to subvert democracy for personal gain. Plus ça change...

Finally, one caveat: the descriptions of the wound and Garfield's infections are pretty graphic. I had to take it in small doses, and definitely no listening at dinner time.

My Recommendation:

The book is well-written and well read. Perfect for those, like me, who like to pick up stray bits of history for no good reason. 

FTC Disclosure: I borrowed an electronic copy of Destiny of the Republic from my library, and received nothing from the author or the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."