i wonder ...

I just finished The Art of Racing in the Rain, a novel about a wise dog (who serves as the storyteller) and his family. Enzo is left at home during the day with the TV to keep him company, and so he learns about the world and about his people from what he sees on television. The story was simple and sweet and fairly predictable, but I loved that it's told from Enzo's point of view. From watching the National Geographic channel, Enzo learns about dogs in Mongolia, who are gradually reincarnated into men after they've lived out their dogness. Wise as he is, Enzo is very close to human already.

The book's opening and closing pages had me in tears, because there's a dog who's close to my own heart. Mostly I think Wrigley isn't the brightest pup in the kennel -- he doesn't listen well (perhaps that's my fault, after all), he thinks entirely with his stomach (that might be on me, too) and he gets into stuff he shouldn't (I'll take no responsibility for that). But then there are occasions when Wrigley seems all too human (or nearly so), when he connects with people in a very warm way, when he cocks his head as if he understands what I'm saying to him, when he senses that Rob is away and so sticks close by my side to keep me company.

Enzo did us all a favor by translating dog behavior in human terms: tail wagging, sniffing, playing with his stuffed toy. Sometimes I wonder ... does Wrigley have his own story to tell?