welcome distractions

there's something about having a paper due and/or needing to study for a midterm that always seems to prompt a peruse through the bookshelf for a reading break that's "just for fun". I often find myself pulled to Annie Dillard when I'm feeling far too left-brained, but tonight I reached for The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. Thought I'd share an excerpt that I had underlined...

The conclusion I have reached is that, above all, dogs are witnesses. They are allowed access to our most private moments. They are there when we think we are alone. Think of what they could tell us. They sit on the laps of presidents. They see acts of love and violence, quarrels and feuds, and the secret play of children. If they could tell us everything they have seen, all of the gaps of our lives would stitch themselves together.

a picture of my lil witness, Aesop