Julia Barrett's World

I’ll be adding a page to my website - Books you should read, in addition to mine, before you die. I’ll update as I think of titles. I met a woman, in her mid-thirties, who admitted to me that she never picked up a book until like, um, five years ago. Now she reads only romance yet considers herself the ultimate source for all things literature. Oh baby girl…there are so many books in this world and we have so very little time to read them.

I actually slipped and fell at the grocery store today. It was the weirdest thing. I had this really heavy cloth grocery bag, stuffed full, slung over one shoulder and I carried…oh I don’t know…three large items in each hand because I was just too lazy to get a cart and I slipped and fell right by the self-checkout stand. It seems this guy spilled a vase of water but neglected to mention it to anyone. Had it not been for the super heavy grocery bag, I would have flown up in the air and landed on my head, but instead, the grocery bag weighed me down enough - it was seriously heavy - that it hit the floor first and then I fell on top of the bag and the items in my hands landed right next to me. Of course every single employee came running to my rescue and I’m sure the store manager thinks I’m going to file a claim, but I’ve fallen way harder hiking. Frankly, I’m glad it was me and not some old lady because an elderly person would have broken a hip for sure. That’s what I get for wearing flip-flops…but unless I’m hiking or going out to dinner…it’s Cali, I wear flip-flops or I’m barefoot.

Oh, puppy love. Jake can be kind of stand-offish - typical of German shepherds. He’s not all that fond of strangers in his face. He’s not aggressive, but he does hide behind me if someone gets too pushy. My old dog, Louie, was the same way. Louie liked strangers to mind their business, except for German tourists and certain people he loved instantly for reasons known only to him. Louie had this thing about German tourists, I think it’s because he was raised speaking German.

While hiking today, Jake and I ran into a man I haven’t seen in a year. I’ve always liked him, he’s just a cool guy. Anyway, despite the fact that he’d never met the man, Jake ran right up to him, tail wagging, body wiggling, tongue licking…The man used to raise German shepherds. You know, dogs can just tell - they sense when someone is afraid of them or aggressive or pushy, and they sense when someone is a plain old good person. Louie really liked this guy too. It’s just so weird how Jake channels Louie at times.

Here’s a photo from our Sunday hike in the rain.