Keith Among The Pigeons

Keith is a cat, but he'd rather be a pigeon. He loves to watch them and learn their ways, but they won't let him get too close. Will Keith ever make friends with the pigeons and learn how it feels to be one? Will he ever find out who he really is and feel comfortable just being Keith?

Keshav, an itinerant worker, finds himself stranded in a small town in a mountain pass, delivered there accidentally by a truck driver who was a regular there. Locals bring him to the town eatery, where he encounters Aziz, the friendly proprietor of the place. There, he finds a home and a strange calling: standing by the highway and holding a placard advertising the presence of the eatery. Keshav befriends Kili, an inhabitant of the surrounding hillsbefore reappearing with his stunning bride, Chameli. He also meets a wide variety of peopleWhite, a doctor with an ornithological slant of mind who traverses the pass regularly; his faithful driver, Babu; and Keith, a decaying long-term resident of the pass who tried unsuccessfully to live with Tina, his sister in the UK. The moodiness of the unique weather and topography of the pass remains a constant backdrop as Chamelis disillusionment with Keshav grows in the presence of other ardent admirers. Keith finds himself battling depression and alcoholism, despite Whites attempts to help him; Kili too suddenly disappears. Gradually the lives of those around Keshavthose who chose the pass as their home, perhaps not as a matter of choice but more due to compulsionbegin to disintegrate. In this novel, a migrant worker builds a new life for himself in a small mountain town, only to see it fall apart amidst love, betrayal, and sorrow.

A visual exploration of the universe that exists within our own bodies. Within our bodies hides an entire world of organisms called microbes. They boost our immune systems, digest our food, regulate our metabolism and even impact on our mental health. Through Katie Brosnan’s personable illustrations, we follow the digestive process from the moment the food enters our mouths to the moment waste leaves our bodies. Along the way we learn about this fascinating scientific frontier and gain an insight into the vast ecosystem that exists inside us.

Racing Pigeons: A Manual describes the historical use of homing pigeons for communications and is a manual for the pigeon racing sport. Descended from the wild Blue Rock dove, homing pigeons have been highly valued since ancient times for sending messages in times of peace and war. Todays homing pigeons have been bred to perform better than ever. Pigeon racing has developed into a worldwide hobby and is the national sport of Belgium. In 2013, a champion Belgian pigeon was sold for $400,000. Some pigeon races offer a million dollars in prize money but it can also be a hobby for ordinary folks who raise pedigreed pigeons and fly them for pleasure. This book explains how pigeon racing can be enjoyable and affordable with information on getting started, instructions for establishing a loft, breeding and training programs, and details about pigeon racing on a modest budget. The author has over fifty years of experience with racing pigeons, raising them, importing and exporting them, and winning races in international competition. In our fast paced electronic and impersonal age, homing pigeons can be a relaxing, challenging and rewarding family activity, appealing to people of all backgrounds. The author mentions some celebrities who have been homing pigeon fanciers. Pigeon racing in an under-publicized activity in America. Racing Pigeons: A Manual unveils this unique hobby and sport.

Like many other denominations, seventeenth-century Quakers were keen to ensure that members married within their own religious community. In order to properly understand the ramification of such a policy, this book explores the early Quaker marriage approbation process and discipline as demonstrated through the works and marriage of the movement’s leaders, George Fox and Margaret Fell. The book begins with an introduction that briefly summarises the historical context of the early Quaker movement, the ministry of Fox and Fell, and importance they laid upon the marriage approbation discipline. The remainder of the book is divided into three broad chapters. Chapter one examines the practical aspects of the early Quaker marriage approbation discipline, including a summary of seventeenth-century courtship and marriage practice, and an analysis of early Quaker Meeting Minutes. Chapter two then looks at the theological foundations of the marriage approbation process, and the Quaker emphasis on ’Good Order’ and their desire to return to the primitive Christianity of the apostolic church. Chapter three examines the marriage between Fox and Fell, which they presented as a testimony of the union of Christ and his Church. Their married life is analysed through their correspondence to discover whether or not the marriage did indeed exemplify the spiritual gravity originally bestowed upon it by Fox, Fell and some in the Quaker community. Through this close investigation of Quaker marriage approbation, the book offers fascinating insights into early modern English society, attitudes to gender and the early Quakers’ self-perception of themselves as the one and only True Church.

This lively autobiography begins with the gene pool of parents, grandparents and great grandparents. The author's eventful life proceeds from her birth in 1926, through the Great Depression, evacuation from China as a child and later, witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After World War II, Jacquelyn, her husband and two small children lived on a primitive homestead in Canada for one year. Five children later and forty years old, she was widowed and followed her lifelong dream to see Alaska. Jacquelyn moved to the last frontier in the frozen north and found a husband. Widowed again, she returned to California, earned a Bachelor's Degree and pursued training as a chaplain. Married a third time, she has made her home in Tuolumne County, California. In entertaining and humorous narration, the author has provided personal vignettes from her interesting siblings and children.

This is a story of a scarcely credible abundance, of flocks of birds so vast they made the sky invisible. It is also a story of a collapse into extinction so startling as to provoke a mystery. In the fate of the North American passenger pigeon we can read much of the story of wild America—the astonishment that accompanied its discovery, the allure of its natural “productions” the ruthless exploitation of its “commodities” and the ultimate betrayal of its peculiar genius. And in the bird’s fate can be read, too, the essential vulnerability of species, the unpredictable passage of life itself.