62 Comments
User's avatar
Lisa's avatar

And no snow in Wisconsin this time of year. :-( That's just wrong.

Expand full comment
J. F. Riordan's avatar

Talk about improper!

Expand full comment
James Smith's avatar

That look from Auggie would get a hug from me. (I might throw the Green ball once or twice just to see if the ball is still in working condition.) 😁😊🐾🥎

Expand full comment
Michaele Rosen's avatar

What a touching picture of Augie ❤️

📚 Books are helping me maintain a semblance of sanity during this political circus here in the USA

Love your blog 🙏

Expand full comment
Nila Vehar's avatar

I’m trying to recall the last time I’ve heard talk about manners. My hope is that we have good manners everyday. Yesterday, a younger man gave me a grocery cart before taking his. I said, your momma taught you right. He chuckled. Auggie, your best look of love.

Expand full comment
Judy Monaco's avatar

You’re absolutely right, Nila. I’m a bit, well, a lot, on the diminutive side. And, I’m always so grateful when someone sees me trying to reach something on the top shelf, to no avail, and they offer to reach it for me. I always, of course, thank them and tell them they’re very kind. And I couldn’t mean it more.

Expand full comment
Nila Vehar's avatar

I am much shorter now than in my youth. grateful for assistance and never too proud to accept.

Expand full comment
Steve Eggleston's avatar

Auggie forgets the heartbreaks so easily when you make his heart. That's what's so good about dogs.

Expand full comment
J. F. Riordan's avatar

So true.

Expand full comment
Gina Burton's avatar

But you enrich his life many more times over❤️

Expand full comment
Robyn Boyd's avatar

Manners matter so much. I never get tired of people telling me how polite my grandchildren are. Shaking hands and looking someone in the eye and saying you are happy to meet them goes a long way in a 17 yr old boy! Augie has sent out the ASPCA no. again on his substack!

Expand full comment
Jan's avatar

Her stories were always a highlight of my reading life. And Auggie is just showing everyone what a beautiful and good boy looks like. Looking into his eyes always shows how much he loves you.

Expand full comment
Cyrus Winters's avatar

Your writing is so wonderful. (both poetry and prose) As I read your reflections it feels like I am having a cup of coffee and a conversation with a new friend. My wife and I both love your work. In a world where every email or webpage can feel like juggling a live grenade, this space is pretty wonderful. Thanks so much.

Expand full comment
J. F. Riordan's avatar

Thank you!

Expand full comment
Claudia Allred's avatar

Yes, but you make his day, a thousand times more! Love to the biggies.

Expand full comment
Elizabeth Serratore's avatar

I will now be revisiting Agatha Christie's books. I read them for the first time as a teenager, I'm fairly certain we have every single book in our house at one time or another ( my mother was a voracious reader). Thank you for the new lens to visit some old favorites.

Expand full comment
Beth K's avatar

I was just thinking the very same!

Expand full comment
Kim Hamblin's avatar

I feel that manners matter more now as it seems the concept had disappeared from so many facets of our lives. I taught my students, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, that treating others with respect, kindness and compassion would improve our classroom community and radiate outwards. Thinking of others and how decisions may affect them isn’t a sign of weakness, but of leadership in my book. Where are THESE leaders now??

I get to spend the day tomorrow with my nephews juvenile delinquent Shepard mix……might be just the fix I need.💜 Too bad Auggie and Eli aren’t close enough to come play with us…

Expand full comment
Adrienne Auryansen's avatar

Oh boy, I don’t think I could resist that look.

Thanks for brightening the day.

Expand full comment
Karin Ford's avatar

Snooter smooches sweet pup!

Expand full comment
Gundy Walton's avatar

Being European and raised in a smallish community in Iowa during my childhood I’ve always trusted people until they have given me a reason not to trust them.

Now at my age and a lifetime in today’s ever-changing world it’s almost reversed itself where I am not going to trust any people I don’t know:

• those individuals lurking in parking lots are not always looking for their lost car

• the contractor that runs away with your deposit never to be heard from again

• the customer service person from a corporation on the other end of the phone going over your personal account and records… 😬

• politicians… gak !

So what are we to do? I WANT to be a person of manners and propriety but sometimes others make it impossible for me to hold myself back. I don’t mind though - it’s one of the perks of being a senior! 😃

Expand full comment
Reader/Writer's avatar

There’s a happy, and safe, medium somewhere in there!

Expand full comment
J. F. Riordan's avatar

Courtesy costs us nothing, but that does not mean we trust unquestioningly.

Expand full comment