So here's the short of it, 

I live with a book thief....

And here's the long.

Tonight I'd like to write about the work my team does, but it's not a topic for public discourse. So I won't. But let it be said, that sometimes there's a chance - maybe even a pretty good chance that we can do something that will offer a youngster a chance to see possibilities for his/her life way beyond what they can see in the moment. I hope that some of the work that happened today will create one of those opportunities.

I came home and couldn't find Inside of a Dog anywhere. Some time today, Sophie decided that she wanted to read it - out in the rain! I don't even know how she got it, because it was, I thought, behind closed doors, but I found it in the misty rain out in the corner of the upper yard.  It's too wet to read much tonight, so I'll have to wait.

Sophie with an asterisk

It's National Book Week.  On FB there's a "status game".  Here are the rules. Grab the closest book to you. Turn to page 56. Copy the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the book. Post the rules as part of your status.  I did that and the sentence was "Neither has got it right".  I thought that was pretty funny.  Here's the context  - "There is a tension between those who consider dogs wild animals at their core and those who consider dogs creatures of our own making. The first group tends to turn to wolf behavior to explain dog behavior. The recently popular dog trainers are admired for their full embrace of the wolf side of dogs. They are often seen mocking the second group, which treats their dogs as quadrupedal, slobbery people. Neither has got it right. The answer is plumb in the middle of these approaches. Dogs are animals, of course, with atavistic tendencies, but to stop here is to have a blinkered view of the natural history of the dog. They have been retooled. Now they are animals with an asterisk."  So here's  my "animal with an asterisk" - and here are some of her asterisks: *loves to chew on things that have my scent on them - *sleeps right next to me - *loves her doggie playmates in the neighborhood, but won't go out into the circle and play if I haven't come out the door yet - *likes to eat at the same time and in the same room as her family - *likes to eat anything within reach if no one is watching and is especially good at keeping an eye on anything left on the kitchen counter. *does not really get into chasing tennis balls, but loves to steal any tennis ball that another dog is chasing. *loves her kitty Lola, but is unsure how to play with her. *loves to sleep on the den sofa. *loves to sleep on the living room sofa, but knows that she'd better not let anyone see her there. *loves to be in the same room as her family. *and, Oh, so many more.