Notes From the Bedside Table

Sunrise was at 5:28, sunset will be 8:44. If it was clear out, we'd see the sunset- It's not. We have animals other than birds in our fountain. We saw paw prints leading away from it yesterday morning. I don't know what it is, maybe a raccoon?

I was awake at 4, hot, and opened the curtain above the bed, and was amazed by the sound of the birds at that hour. By 5 (and the alarm) it was a cacophony. The traffic and plane noise was still pretty sparse so the birds were clear - I heard calls I've never heard before. One bird's call sounded like someone calling HERE kittykittykitty. I am seriously thinking about hanging some sort of recording mechanism out the window so I can find out what the birds are. Probably one of the best reasons for getting up at that hour.

I was going to write about last night and dinner with Andrea Cremer, the children's booksellers and librarians of Seattle, and Andrea's new book, Nightshade (from Penguin Books), but I am smack dab in the middle of Makers, Cory Doctorow's last grown-up book, and I am going to spend the rest of the time before I head to work reading it. It is SO GOOD!

Andrea, sorry, I'll write about Nightshade later. (It's coming in October and, I know people hear this a lot but if you are looking for anything at all like Twilight but with a really intimidating female character, you will definitely want to get a copy of Nightshade in your hands. More later.)