Two Faulkner Novels

Faulkner's Home: Rowan Oak, Oxford, MS

If I plan to read all of William Faulkner's work, at near 70, I better get moving! Though his books are for "sipping", not "gulping"!

His prose is more like a poetry of his own; he had a quote distilled for nearly every situation in human life, I find.

I read "The Town-A novel of the Snopes Family" (it is Vol. 2--"The Hamlet" is the first). The Snopes's slithered up to Jefferson from Frenchman's Bend like a Biblical Plague or a mess of snakes. A Snopes man is a "Son of a Bitch's Son of a Bitch", this trait is not passed to the Snopes women, but from father to son. The narrator is a little boy not born yet when the first Snopes arrives. 

The best of the Snopes family, Wallstreet Panic, learns that not all people live like Snopes's; he drops his family affiliation.

One of the very worst concocts a nasty scheme to sell mules from Memphis in Jefferson--then defraud the railroad.

Faulkner's African American characters are always so strong and memorable: in this story, we meet "Old Hett", formerly the nurse maid to all of Jefferson's wealthier matrons, now aged between 70-100, she sleeps in the county rest home but spends her days dropping in to the homes of all her former charges, where she is given food and clothing. She dispenses clever and funny wisdom. She is a gem; who was the model for this character?

Critics aren't kind to "The Unvanquished"; it was not one of Faulkner's Modernist novels, rather it was assembled from stories he wrote for nationwide publication in weekly magazines (and I bet that is where my Grandmother discovered him), 

similar to "Go Down Moses".  But I liked it.

Narrated by the little boy who would become the Grandfather and bank owner in Sartoris, it tells of the farm life for Southern people, black and white, toward the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction. It is a more serious novel, with violence and suspense. 

Again, there is a strong African-American: Marengo (called Ringo) the young slave, playmate and friend of Bayard (our narrator). Even Bayard's father says Ringo is smarter than Bayard; there is no indication that Ringo is a mixed-race child, but he is with Bayard every step of the way--a few beats ahead of him, loyal, helpful, questioning, funny--yet with a dignity; he serves without subservience (genius of Faulkner to convey this).

Faulkner was too young to remember all he reveals in this novel, but he certainly knew many people of an age who had lived though the times. This is not Scarlett O'Hara's or Hollywood's idea of the Civil War/Reconstruction. Feel the sweat, smell the smoke, experience the fear and exhaustion and grief, see the fires, hear the guns and the cries as if in real time.

The Last Butterfly of our Season was Freed Today...

He is a spunky male version of a Monarch--see those little black spots on the under wings--that means he's a Boy. He was anxious to be released and flew away immediately. Then he returned to the yard to sip nectar from the many flowers in the yard. Satisfied with his lunch, he joined the others that we have released in recent days. He needs to find mates to help create the next "flight" of the monarchs.

"The Butterfly Hotel" will soon close for the Season-nearly all have matured.

"First Flight #1: Black Swallowtail Butterfly, Glenview , IL"

"First Flight #2: Monarch Butterfly, Glenview, IL"

Black Swallowtail Butterflies:

Three summers ago, we noticed small "caterpillars" on the dill plants in our garden; Google images ID'd these the Black Swallowtail. But a day or so later we noticed the creatures were gone--eaten by birds or insects.  So I learned how to nurture eggs (little white specks) and small caterpillars in a large container (kept out of direct sunlight) indoors (on sprigs of cut dill I renewed each day). There are many YouTube and internet instructions for the procedure. But you need an ample supple of their food, fresh and on-hand, in this case dill.

About a week later, the creatures grow large: they eat-eat-eat and they poop a lot (you have to clean the container frequently!) Then they purge---it's as messy as it sounds---and go into a cocoon-like form on a small branch you supply in the container. About 10 days after that: Bingo! You have a lovely Butterfly. Give him a couple of hours to fill out and you are ready for the "Release Ceremony"! Small children go giddy over these shows! My neighbor and I each have a super abundant source of nectar for them: practically wall-to-wall flowers in our modest suburban lots.

Monarchs

Years ago, a friend supplied me with a few Milkweed seeds which I planted in a sunny area. Finally we had enough plants and started noticing Monarchs around; we started nurturing their eggs as well. The procedure is quite similar, the results the same; Monarchs are a little less messy, since they do not purge. A generous supply of Milkweed, or variety of, is essential!

The most interesting thing to me was observing that individuals among our "guests" had individual traits (even though members of each species looks alike). As caterpillars, some are more active, aggressive, etc; as butterflies some are more or less tolerant of the human hostess. For the past two weeks we have seen one Monarch "Patrol The Yard" in regular patterns to run off any other butterflies--yet I can get quite near to it, even offer to pick it up.

Census this year: 13 Monarchs and 20 Black Swallowtails released to pollinate  and reproduce.