The weather has turned to bitter cold, with fierce, biting winds, gusts and drifting. It is not pleasant weather for walking a puppy, but that still needs to happen, of course, even with a wind chill of 20 below zero. Here’s Sarah, off her leash for a romp, hardly plain (so cute!) but tall, yes, and getting taller every day. She enjoys the snowy meadow that Nikki used to love.
Well, once again, the evidence is in: I will never be a journalist. My imagination filling in between the facts distorted reality, and Rick Straus corrected me on two points in his life story. I have now gone back and corrected the original post and labeled it, for the record, as a corrected version. Sorry and thank you, Rick, for your patience.
On other literary fronts, friend and neighbor Bob Underhill brought by the galley proofs for his second murder mystery, which will hit the stands May 15. CATHEAD BAY brings back characters from STRAWBERRY MOON and will surely be one of the summer’s big Leelanau County books. I don’t think he will object to that prediction. Eh, Bob?
As hinted in the first paragraph, I read SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL, by Patricia MacLachan, the other day. Newbery winner from 1986, it is a lovely, simple story, simply told. This book wasn't around when I was young, but I'd heard of it, and from the moment we saw our puppy’s name at the Humane Society, the title phrase kept running around and around in my head, “Sarah something and tall,” and I’m glad. My new puppy inadvertently brought me together with a wonderful story.
Reading for philosophy lately has led me over into the pastures of psychology, to see if Carl Rogers really took the bad turn the philosophy textbook author says he did. We’ll discuss that question in class this week.
This cold weather is great for staying indoors and reading.
4 comments:
You're right - there's nothing plain about your Sarah, except plain adorable. However, I do think that tall will be an appropriate description of her. We enjoyed meeting her Saturday morning. She is such a well behaved puppy. You're doing a marvelous job with her. It will be fun to watch her growth in size, character and training each time we visit.
From Susan: Even journalists make mistakes, many of them. There are so many facts and details and nuances. But the best ones, like you, correct their errors swiftly. Kudos!
Ditto Susan.
Pamela, they only mistake you could make of any consequence, would be to not put ink to paper in the first place.
z and Susan, thank you so much for your support. It means a lot to me--more than you know. I tried to keep it light when acknowledging my errors, but the truth is I was pretty down in the dumps and wondering if I should even be trying to do what I'm trying to do here. I console myself with the reminder that I did not mischaracterize the content of the book! Also, I do believe that this story of humane treatment of prisoners and the good results of same is an important one that deserves and needs a wider audience. So I'll take a deep breath, be very careful what I say, and go ahead with Part II. But thanks again for your kind words.
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