Summertime reading

I told you I was going to try to catch up on my summertime reading while I was at the beach.

Well, I am now in the middle of Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. [ISBN 0-670-03760-5.]

Probably something I could've left for late Autumn, you know while the Thanksgiving turkey was in the oven or something.

But, in reading this book, I'm reminded that our Pilgrim ancestors didn't just live in late Autumn. They had full, complete, year-round lives. And, Philbrick brings them back to life in a more readable fashion than I've ever enjoyed.

He also includes some trivial things that I've never encountered before.

For instance, did you know there were two dogs on the famous Mayflower?

Yep, it's true.

To quote the book, "a spaniel, and a giant slobbery mastiff."

Of course, you wouldn't find a cat involved in such a dangerous undertaking . . . or at least none who would allow posterity to discover the fact, trivial as it may seem today.

Anyway, back to the book!