One of those very, very busy workdays. They don’t happen often, thankfully, but they do come around every so often. Honestly, I’m thankful to be busy. I need my job, and it’s reassuring to know that my job needs me. I was able to get in 10 pages before the floodgates...

Joelly was a short-haired white and grey-patched cat. She had tabby stripes in those patches. I’m not sure what kind of coloring that’s called, but she was a round, very sweet cat. And patient to the extreme. I have vivid memories of delighting in trapping her by...

Merle was my first dog. A big German Shepherd, and my first best friend. The story goes that Merle was the dog of one of my mom’s friends, and some situation came along—like moving, or something like that—where they couldn’t take Merle with them, and so my mom...