Went down to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving, along with JL and another friend, to see my sister, brother-in-law, and the two youngest of the Four Fabulous Nephews. Food was excellent, especially the curried squash soup. My brother-in-law cooks, and damn, he's good. And my 11-year-old nephew, a serious chef, made a terrific sweet potato casserole, and made the breakfast eggs the next morning.

Their family has a new dog, Ethel, a German Shepherd puppy. She's about three months old and she's going to be a Seeing Eye Dog. Seeing Eye Dogs are raised by sighted poeple until they're about a year old. There are specific rules the foster family has to follow in teaching them how to behave. When they're a year old they go for more intensive training, and after four months they take a test. If they past, they get matched with a blind person. If they fail, and the foster family wants them, they get them back. So it's bittersweet either way. But it's a great thing to do.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, the news around the world is so awful, I must pause to give thanks that we can still count on buffoons.