Here is the rest of the Pack.

Holly on the run.

Buddy trying to keep up with Holly.

Meeting Buster for the first time.

Out on a scouting trip.

Two very sweet dogs.

Saturday in Simi Valley, California. B is riding in a randonneuring event -- 300K in a day. I plan to go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library which is about 2 miles from here. Air Force One is at the Library. It is a pretty day with the mist just lifting.

I brought two books with me. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Brava, Valentine. Having read TGLAPPS once already, it is going through the "second read" which will really prove its worth. But I'm not worried. It is a great book and the second read is already better than the first. Some of my favorite lines so far: "reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones" "we clung to our books and our friends; they reminded us that we had another part to us. Elizabeth used to say a poem. I don't remember all of it, but it began 'is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done, to have advanced true friends' " The poem is by Matthew Arnold from Empodecies of Etna written in 1852. I haven't started BV yet, but am always glad to read Adriana Trigiani; she is one of my favorite authors. She and Barbara Kingsolver are two contemporary authors who are really good with words.

In my reading so far, the book I would want to be (see Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury) is The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford. When we got our bull terrier, Missy, it was imperative that I read the book. As I read, our Missy displayed so many of the same traits as Bodger. She was my first dog and I miss her sweet spirit and large head!

The picture isn't our Missy, but it looks a lot like her. I don't have one available on the computer at this time; when I get one, I will make the change.

So I would be this book for two reasons -- in memory of our sweet Mistletoe and because the book is simply wonderful. The part that sealed the deal for me was when Bodger allows Tao to eat first from the bowl of stew, and the Ojibways know the animals are the special. "That night they became immortal, had they known or cared, for the ancient woman had recognized the old dog at once by his color and companion; he was the White Dog of the Ojibways, the virtuous White of of Omen, whose appearance heralds either disaster or good fortune. The Spirits had sent him, hungry and wounded, to test tribal hospitality; and for benevolent proof to the skeptical, they had chosen a cat as his companion--for what mortal dog would suffer a cat to rob him of his meal? He had been made welcome, fed and succored; the omen would prove fortunate."

Those lines still bring tears to my eyes.

President's Day. Most people see it as a three-day weekend, or a day off from school. I guess I'm not much different, but it does help me remember what a great country we live in, and that there are great men who have led the country and made a difference at their time and for us now. There is a book about George Washington where I read he made an incredible decision -- it was the first time ever a leading military commander made the choice of not being king. He wanted the "great experiment" to work. In a book about Abraham Lincoln, he made a comment "all I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother." An interesting thing about this quote is that it is about his stepmother, who came into his life when he was nine years old. His own mother had passed away, and he came to love his stepmother who taught him so many things. I am grateful for the President we have now. I may not agree with all his choices but am grateful our form of democracy works.

Valentines Day: we went for the celebration a little early. We drove to Palm Springs via the Mojave Desert Preserve. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (ate our favorite Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp) and then dinner at the Tuscan (Spaghetti Bolognese/Fettucine with Sausage and Onions). Our bike rides were fun with a little bit of work thrown in -- I rode the 55 with the some family friends, while B rode the 100 with two friends from work. Our post-ride meal was In and Out Burger and we each ordered our own fries! Usually we share so this was a big deal. While we aren't the best romantics on the planet, I know he loves me and he knows I love him. We make a pretty good "old couple" and there is joy when two people think alike.

Today is a bit of a cliché day: it is cold and raining outside, I'm sitting by the fire, and am planning to curl up with the dogs and a good book! We've already been for our walk, both around the block and up the hill, and I've done most of my "to do" list, so getting warm will be next on the agenda. I know it sounds wimpy to be cold when it is 41 degrees when L & R are up north in the lovely 10 degree weather! But cold is cold.

I finally finished the Brothers Karamazov and found out that the author had only written 1/3 of what he had planned. The book did seem to end abruptly, but I did enjoy it. All of the characters were too ruled by their passions -- whatever those passions were. As I was reading, I thought the father was the one who ruined everyone and set the three boys on their various paths. I was trying to find another book to read and stumbled across Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea (Why the Greeks Matter) by Thomas Cahill. I have enjoyed all the books he has written in the Hinges of History series: Gifts of the Jews, Desire of the Everlasting Hills, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, and the one that started it for me: How The Irish Saved Civilization. I received an email saying that my new Adriana Trigiani book is in the mail: Brava Valentine; I recently received an actual email from Adriana Trigiani.

The book we are reading for our book club is The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Borrows. At the onset, I wondered how two people could combine to write such a good book. After reading it, I found out Mary Ann Shaffer was the initial writer but her health declined considerably and she asked her niece, Annie Borrows, to help her finish it and do the necessary revisions for publication. Mary Ann Shaffer passed away in 2008. I really liked this book; generally I don't care for books with letters as the text.