How can you not love this cover, right? No one could hurt a determined little face like that, so I knew I would be safe straying once again from my "Dog-On-Cover-No-Read" rule. However, the opening pages were frightening -with a needle poised and ready to send Freida, the golden retriever on her way. Luckily, the unlicensed vet caring for the dog was too nervous to do the assigned job, and Frieda was spared the trip.
This is my book discussion group's read for Friday, and I'm only on page 50. I sure hope Frieda makes it through the next couple chapters. This gentle book is a lighter selection for us, but most of us own dogs, or somehow have a dog in our lives so I'm sure there will be a lot of pet related story telling when we get together. People who don't own pets just don't get it. When you have a pet, you are guaranteed at least one good laugh a day; most days there will be many laughs. Nick Trout has filled his book with stories proving that point many times over. (Disclaimer: I understand that snakes, rats, spiders and others of similar ilk are not a laugh a minute. We're talkin' cats and dogs here, folks.)
In addition, I am loving the picture Trost paints of small town life and the characters who come into his vet office. In fact, I think some of those same pet owners are my customers as well. That's about all I can say from the first 50 pages, except that I am looking forward to Wednesday off to commit to finishing.
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Last week I had an experience to add to my "That's So Odd" file.' For some reason, the name of a customer I hadn't seen in years popped into my head, well, a partial name, really. I dug around in my data base to see if I could come up with his full name, hoping then to see if he still lived in the area. Mark had been a regular for years, buying books, for himself and his wife, chattering over coffee, sharing his frustrations with his job and his thoughts of returning to school at his advanced age of 41. Then he disappeared. When that happens, I usually figure that the person has moved, or gotten a Kindle (GRRR!). Then there is the possibility that we have disappointed the person in some way which I dwell on beyond belief.
Seldom do I get an answer, but two days after my wondering about Mark he walked in the door. After doing my usual invitation to holler if help is needed, I went back to work. It wasn't until he come to the counter to order a book and told me his name that I understood why he looked vaguely familiar. From there it was like old times. We had a great talk. He mentioned that he went to nursing school and eventually worked at a Green Bay hospital with a former employee of mine, another person I hadn't hear from in over 10 years. Then, out of the blue, on Thursday, I was invited to friend that very person on LinkedIn.
Why those two things happened, I'll never know. I do know that it sure would be great if we only had to think about people we miss to have them reappear in our lives even if its only for a few moments.
Thanks for stopping by.
