Some of our neighbors put up Christmas Holiday lights two weeks ago. Jim followed suit, thinking why not do it when it’s warm outside? I’ve long been a bit of a grinch when it comes to starting the December holiday season long before we’ve eaten the last of the Thanksgiving turkey, but this year I’m all in with lights and color and everything else joyful that we can manage. (I’m not alone, apparently tree sales are already booming.) As we all know, it’s going to be a challenging winter. (As if things haven’t been challenging enough.) Anything and everything we can do to lighten our lives is a good thing, and we know that one way to do that is to give to others. And so here is my starter list of gifts that we can give others, knowing that the benefits of giving accrue mostly to Read More

I've been looking forward to receiving my copy of Tim Lewis's new book, The Biology of Dogs: From Gonads Through Guts to Ganglia for a few weeks now, given all the buzz it has generated. And wow. I have not been disappointed. Lewis is a professor of biology at the University of St. Thomas (MN), lives with two sheep-herding Border Collies and "hovers on the edges of the dog agility and canine freestyle worlds with his wife who competes in and teaches these sports." So he's got the chops: Solid science and two feet firmly planted in dog poop and hairy couches. He's also a wonderful writer. Here's from the Introduction: ( Somewhere in the book he asks us if we've read it and pleads with us to do so: "It's the best part.".) "While I would never say this in public nor personally admit to Read More

This post is all above love, because if those of us in the U.S. ever needed to focus on it now, it's this week. I'm channeling love all I can this week. Love of my smart, soccer-focused, flannel-wearing, literal-minded, outdoor-loving, perfect-eyebrowed, kindest-man-ever husband. Love of my funny, irreverent and always-there-when-you-need them friends and family. Love of flowers, in all their impermanent beauty. Love of my fantasy of making Beef Wellington someday. Love of Portmeirion's Botanic Garden china, especially my teacup with Lathyrus Odoratus (Sweet Pea) painted on it. And of course, of course. My love of dogs. I've written extensively about my love of dogs--our love of dogs--and their love for us. Here's a passage about Luke from the Afterward in The Other End of the Leash, Read More

Looking for some good news? Well here it is: Dr. Karen London's new book, Treat Everyone Like a Dog, is out, and it's fantastic. Here's what Ken Ramirez says about it--"My only complaint: I wish I had written it!" When Ken says that, it's time to pay attention. Here's from the Foreward that I was honored to write: "You know how you think of the perfect thing to say when it's too late? Perhaps while driving home from a meeting, or while soaping up in the shower? That's me, and I know I'm not alone. Perhaps it's you too. But it's not Dr. Karen London, who has the quickest wit of anyone I know, and can be counted on to say the perfect thing, at exactly the right time. And she's done it again, because this is a book of perfect things, things that will make your life oh-so-much better Read More