I have been a little bit conflicted & confused as to how to tell this story. My new author friend values his privacy highly, and I respect that. I think I’m going to leave him anonymous for the purpose of telling this story. Close readers (rabid followers of this blog & my life, as if there were such people, ha) will be able to figure out his identity, to which I say, okay.
Husband and I got to take a trip this year to see & do lots of amazing, beautiful things, including meet a man who had previously been an email-friend, an author whose book I have admired (still admire) greatly. We’ll call him, um, Larry. Our correspondence had been friendly & stimulating, but there remained the chance that we would fail to hit it off, that there would be awkwardness. However, we did in fact hit it off – all three of us, Husband, Larry and I – and had a great few days of conversation, food, drink, views, and enjoying the world. Larry invited us to meet his wife and their friends; I got to play with his dog. He cooked us dinner – twice! – and welcomed us into his home. It was really something. I’m honored to be treated with such friendly familiarity. And while part of that feeling, of being honored, comes from my admiration of the book this guy wrote, it’s more about simply humanity: that I connected with another human being over the tastes and passions and interests we share. And he gave me a book to read off his bookshelf at home, which is kind of cool. đ
When Thomas posted his latest Bits and Bobs post, I guess I was in a lazy blog-reading mood, because I confess I reacted more or less thusly: “books, books, hm… books… gratuitous photos, what? gardens, hm… LUCY!!” More dog is always (always!) appreciated. And that reminded me of an anecdote told by, um, Larry: when his editor was looking over the book, he sent Larry a postcard that said, “less wife – more dog.” Larry’s wife was of course (good-naturedly) a little miffed with the editor! I thought the level of wife in the book was fine – I like the wife – but I think I got what the editor was serving up there: more dog is always appreciated. So, “Larry,” carry on, I love the dog! Thomas, I can handle all the Lucy you care to publish! Here’s to dogs.
my two little dogs after a four-day weekend at the beach: dog tired.
pagesofjulia 
John so wants to see Lucy curled up like this with another dog.
Yea, it’s pretty sweet. đ For the record, the bigger one (Ritchey) is not normally a snuggler. Hops very much is. Over time they’ve grown close, but Ritchey is still not terribly tolerant unless it’s very cold (which it wasn’t when this picture was taken) or he’s very tired (which he was). Hey, Lucy would probably like a brother or sister! They’re pack animals. For years it was just Ritchey and me; but I know he feels more fulfilled in a family of four.