A good mystery, Civil War reenactments, and the puppy wars

After several mini-crises this morning--a water leak somewhere in the house (plumber coming tomorrow), a hurried trip to the grocery, and so on, I decided to take a break today, not that I've gotten much done this week. But I spent much of the afternoon reading Julie Hyzy's newest mystery, Grace Interrupted. Grace is a young woman who has taken over as director of a historic house that is a tourist site and includes hotel accommodations. I thoroughly enjoyed the first in the series, Grace Undeer Pressure, and am enjoying this one. The plot revolves around Civil War reenactors who have rented a remote portion of the mansion grounds, and that fascinates me. Over a  year ago, I edited Monte Aker's book, The Accidental Historian, which has a lot about reenactments--from the Civil War to the Alamo. Monte tells it all with wry pokes of humor at himself (which sometimes made me laugh aloud) but I finished that project with a much better understanding of reenactors--and why they do what they do. So that knowledge is increasing my enjoyment of this mystery.
The puppy wars continue. Sophie has learned to climb out of her playpen, so today we had a contest of the wills. I vowed every time she climbed out, I'd put her back in and scold her. I can't figure a way to puppy-proof the thing, although a friend sent some suggestions, but I decided training was the best approach--she's this super-smart dog, right? Cooking dinner tonight, I must have pulled her down off the edge of that playpen a dozen times--and of course each time I had to wash my hands. They're going to dry out and become prunes. I will say she no longer whines and yips but that's because she thinks she can get out. I figure when I'm working in the kitchen and can talk to her, she should be content--she doesn't see it that way. She and I spend most of the day in my office, where she plays with her toys, tries to chew on magazines, books and wires--my friend Sally recommends Tabasco on the wires, which I think is a super idea. Sometimes Sophie wears herself out and sleeps at my feet--then I can get stuff done. We are making a little progress on housebreaking--mostly because I am now trained about when to take her out--or pretty much so. Jacob plays with her in the afternoon, which she loves. I do too!
Yep, I'm still tired.

Snow--and history

This is my house after anywhere from seven to nine inches of snow--my neighbor took this early in the morning. The airport reports slightly over 12 inches, with a year total now of over 15 inches. We broke all records, but as Sue said any of us northerners nostalgic for snow ought to now remember how much trouble it is. Trees were down all over the neighborhood--my neighbors lost an old cedar, and my youpon is bent double--don't know if it will recover or not. I think it's because ours is an old neighborhood, and the trees are old.

I was snowbound for the second day, thouogh someone came to talk to me about a possible publishing project this afternoon and Jacob is spending the night, so I'm not as isolated as I was yesterday. Still I'm going to the grocery tomorrow (if Christian walks me to my car) and will be glad to get out.

Many of my neighbors were out in the snow.The boys across the street made a giant slingshot to catapult snowballs (their parents may have nixed it because I didn't see it long, but the boys were out all day doing varioius things). Sue was shoveling the walks and digging out her car. This afternoon I saw a young mother skipping down the middle of the street that deadends into my house; she was followed by a young child who couldn't quite skip but was trying. It made me nostalgic because I used to skip and play in the snow with my children but now they're too old--and so am I. I wish I had the confidence and balance to frolic in the snow once again.

Meantime I was in the house editing a manuscript called Trash History: Discoveries of an Accidental Historian, by Monte Akers. It's sort of an autobiographical wandering through American history, with chapters on Little Big Horn and and San Jacinto, both of which I know something about, and a lot about the Civil War and re-enactment, where I'm on shakier ground. (I'm editing for writing not accuracy, so it's okay and I'm learning a bit--there's so much to know about the Civil War and its battles, and Akers has done a good job). He has a theory that the current divisiveness in our country is reminiscent of the great divide after the Civil War, worse than that after Vietnam or Watergate or the impeachment of President Clinton. He is passionate about the need for healing that divide. I like his politics a lot, and I like his writing style--it's slightly ironic and satiric and he's not afraid of poking fun at himself (he does it often) but he is deadly serious about history, artifacts, politics, and honor. Look for it from Texas Tech Press in the fall. If I had to spend the last couple of days inside, working on this manuscript was a good way to do it. Actually I've been working on the manuscript for over two weeks, and tomorrow I hope to send it to the author for his reaction to my edits. I really love some of the work that comes my way.