Blog Entry 5: Freestyle

After I finished the Robert Jordan book (and thanks, Shauna, for offering the next in the series! Yay!), I picked up something totally different. My friend Leslie let me borrow her book Sight Hound by Pam Houston. It's mainly about a woman Rae and her dog Dante who gets cancer and loses one of his legs, but it's told from the perspectives of many people and dogs involved, which is very cool! In the most recent section I read where the dog Dante is speaking, he quotes Buddha. One quote he likes is "If you know the power of a generous heart, [.. .] you will not let a single meal pass without giving to others" (161). I love the quote because I feel amazingly lucky to be capable of working for my living and of making mostly tasty, mostly healthy meals when so many other people are out of work or otherwise unable to get food for themselves. I think it's important to find ways to support folks who are struggling. I also like the way Dante reflects on the quote: "That's one of my favorite sayings, one I like to medidate upon specifically when I am lying under the dinner table, waiting to see if a little lamb or pork or chicken might fall my way" (161). So, just when I'm taking myself so seriously, the dog makes a joke. I love it! Not only does he quote Buddha, but he comes at the situation from the very dog-ish position of under the table. My big, pushy dogs don't often sit under the table at meals because they're too big, but they're only too happy to clean up the Cheerios my daughter leaves on the floor. Speaking of which, they desperately need to be walked, so I'm going to do that.