It's been a year now, since I started this blog. As I looked back over the posts I see they've changed a bit. I've kept to my twice a week schedule, but I've pretty much given up on the 'puzzlers' as there just weren't enough to include on a regular basis. I'm still talking about the weather, sometimes. I can actually sort of organize my reading these days, so I got to thinking that 'themes' seems like a better description than 'trails', and, I like the ones where I included a quote or a short poem. (I might have to do that more often).

It's been a fun project, and I've had some nice responses. (Thanks to all of you!) I've also had some wonderful recommendations, which is just what I was hoping to get! I have several posts in draft form, and a list of ideas for themes (as well as a list of those recommendations) so I'm ready to start year two of Reading Hermit With Dog. :-)

I have always liked writing and getting letters (and now emails). Someone my age has always enjoyed prompt mail delivery, but this was not always so. In the past letters could take weeks, months, or even years to arrive. An address might read 'William Travers, somewhere in the California territory' and be given to someone heading in that direction. It might exchange hands several times before reaching William.

Remember the stamp from a few years ago that featured a dog named Owney? He was a real dog and you can read about him in Owney: the Mail-Pouch Pooch, by Monda Kerby with pictures by Lynne Barasch. He was such a well known fellow that his travels were reported in newspapers.

There is a town at the bottom of the Grand Canyon that gets the mail (and supplies) by mule train, and has done so since 1896. It can be miserably hot in the summer, and just as miserable in the winter in the sleet or snow, yet the mail has never been canceled due to weather. Craig Brown writes all about the unusual mail carrier (who does not wear the uniform we are all so familiar with) in Mule Train Mail. He does the illustrations as well.

I finally decided that I didn't want to wait until December to use Hark! The Aardvark Angels Sing: a Story of Christmas Mail, written and illustrated by Teri Sloat. Hum along on this total twist on the traditional carol! The colorful pictures of the winged aardvarks that help deliver mail and packages are delightful!

And don't forget The Pony Express: an Illustrated History by C.W. Guthrie with photographs by Bart Smith from the September 20, 2014 post. ;-)

Reading Hermit With Dog