Today is all photos from our trip to Arizona. We just got back, and it was good to be in my home state for a visit. I admit to not wanting to live in the desert any more (too many thorns, too hot in summer, too little green), but there's nothing like going back to where you were raised. There's something magical about the desert, including the gorgeous sunsets and the rock formations. Here's a classic pile of boulders outside of Carefree, AZ in the evening, with a huge metal sculpture of a bird perched on top. The area north of Phoenix and Scottsdale is a riot of rock formations, including this massive one, the size of our barn, that fell from a cliff on the other side of the road. Here's a rock formation, called a Hoodoo (and who couldn't love that name?), on the Read More

  A cosmetic surgeon once told me that he dreads Sunday night phone calls. They are, almost always, about kids who need their faces put back together after being bitten by a dog. He said it breaks his heart. It breaks my heart too, thinking of the hundreds of cases I saw where the owner said the dog "was great with the kids all weekend, I just don't know what happened on Sunday night." Of course, we most likely do know what happened--the dog finally was exhausted, lost patience, and the rest is medical history. It's easy to blame the parents, but the fact is, are we, each one of us, doing what we can to keep kids and dogs safe from each other? We have to start by acknowledging, that no matter how much we love dogs, they can be dangerous. Especially to kids whose faces are at Read More

I am writing this on Monday, January 2nd, the year two thousand and twenty three. An arbitrary date, of course, depending on the whims of history and culture. Yet, I love the ritual of dipping into the river of time, and the gift it gives us to reflect and look ahead. You all know, no doubt, that New Year's Resolutions are an excellent way to disappoint yourself--given how quickly they tend to fall off the table. I stopped making them years ago, (see my "Not Resolutions of 2010" for example) but still love the idea of setting intentions for the year to come. I did a lot of reading over the holidays, and was inspired by an article authored by Amanda Morris about NY's resolutions, inspired by people with disabilities. Claire Richmond, who has a rare liver condition, said she thinks Read More

Stress? Why would I be talking about that now? Aren't the holidays nothing but joy and cheer and hot chocolate with beloved Uncle Bob? But you know why . . .  Maybe you had to take three planes to visit Bob, or drive through fog for eight hours, or Uncle Bob is a . . . I'll stop there, you get my drift. Holidays can both be joyful and stressful, and not just for us humans. Holidays can be stressful for our pets too. See, for example, Five Reasons That Dogs Become Holiday Grinches, and Your Dogs and the Holidays. But stress (the negative kind, or, officially, "dis-stress), is a equal-opportunity phenomenon. Dogs can be stressed any time of the year, and it's important for us to understand its implications. Toward that end, I recently had the opportunity to talk with Kristina Read More

Last week I savored your responses to my Giving Thanks post. No matter how big or how small, it's good for us, and those around us, to let gratitude soothe our souls. Today, I'm focusing on giving thanks through the "Giving" part. It's Giving Tuesday, and although, like me, you mighty be feeling a tad overwhelmed with all the requests, I still love the idea of a day that counters the Spend Money on Things forces that flow like lava around us. There are so many good causes out there that need money and/or resources; here's what I'm contributing to this holiday season: FOR COMPANION ANIMALS: LOCAL: My local shelter is the Dane County Humane Society, and I plan to donate a big box of my books to it. I'll be sure to bring lots of Love Has No Age Limit books, which we've put on sale Read More