Friday again....no, wait...Monday

Today was almost as bad as a Friday. I had a blistering meeting at the high school that made me come home and chop vegetables for the grill like a mad woman. We had shrimp, red potatoes, red onions, mushrooms, cabbage, and pineapple skewers (with a brown sugar and butter glaze). It was very good and helped to dispel the stress. Oh my God, Johnny Depp's on Inside the Actor's Studio. I have to go.

Later: We've missed the last two book club meetings because (hate to admit) that we didn't get the books read. The last one was a bear...something about frogs. The next one is called Canoeing with the Cree and it's very good. Eric Sevareid, when he was 17 years old, and a friend who's 20, take a canoe from Fort Snelling, down the Minnesota River to the Red River and up to Hudson Bay. Amazing that they could do it in the days before bug repellant, Gore- Tex, and nylon. It's a very good book about a great adventure. Another book to recommend would be Distant Fires by Scott Anderson, a Minnesotan. This from the Library Journal:
Following much the same route taken by Eric Severeid and Walter Port in 1930 ( Canoeing with the Cree ), Anderson and his college friend set out to canoe up lakes Superior and Winnepeg and down the Gods River to York Factory on Hudson's Bay. The three-month, 1700-mile trip was full of wind, rain, and discomfort, but Anderson's account is also filled with humor, a youthful zest for life, and a mature sense of the history and culture through which they passed. "Life is pursuit, not the capture," he believes, and the "distant fires" of the North remain a goal even as this particular journey is ended. Neither a how-to nor a step-by-step description, this is an enthusiastic tale of following a dream.

I don't live dangerously myself. Not flossing regularly is a big risk for me, but I do enjoy a good adventure story. Check out The King of the Ferret Leggers. Put it in the google. It's a great story. It's in this book, The Best of Outside.

Bert had a bad night last night. Starting about 3 a.m. he was up and down from the bed, pacing around on the hardwood floor of the bedroom panting, and wanting to go outside repeatedly. So, I read about geriatric dogs on the internet today. Now, don't write (or call) and counsel me about euthanasia; we know what it is and who does it. I did call the vet after making making my own diagnosis of canine cognitive dysfunction. CCD. She hasn't called back yet. CCD is like doggie dementia...pacing, confusion, and loss of appetite are characteristic. Bert has no appetite problems but he does pace and he does have some repetitive behavior like licking his paws. We aren't interested in doing a bunch of diagnostic tests like an MRI, chest x-ray, or a blood panel and he isn't ready for Dr. Kevorkian yet. In many ways, he's very active and exuberant. He loves food, jumps on the bed, and prances around the yard sniffing at and peeing on every blade of upright grass. We just want him to stop waking up in the middle of the night. It makes us cranky.