Book Review - Read It And Weep (In a Good Way)

We are quite a well read bunch here at D-fa and long haul travel gives excellent opportunities to read lots of books. In fact we judge most holidays by the number of books we read whilst away. 

We all know the ideal characteristics of an airplane read - not too heavy to carry, not to heavy to read, big print, fast pace. Of course it's also important that these books don't make you laugh or cry too much in such a close and public space lest you end up looking like a bit of an eejit. 

So, given that I want to wholeheartedly recommend the book The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stern. However, I will warn you that it will make you cry in all sorts of ways - happy, sad, touched, reflective, angry, you name it. So, get it. Read it, but either do it in private or wear large sunglasses and ensure the person next to you is wearing headphones and an eye mask. 

This is one of the most beautiful stories (all the elements), gorgeously written and will leave you even more in love with your dog than you are now.  

I read this book on a flight from Salt Lake to Denver and then to Boston. I'm not sure how recently you have flown on an American internal flight, but they're dismal (tea takes like styrofoam, no in flight entertainment (other than the person next to you and we all know what a lottery that is), and seats that leave you begging for some Chinese water torture to take the edge off the pain in your tailbone). Well, even the cabin crew on this flight (who are trained I believe to have no engagement with passengers lest we ask for some sort of service) were embarrassed for the poor man next to me as I laughed, snorted and sniffed my way across America. 

Get it and read it and buy one for your best friend who loves dogs.  

Jack The Bionic Dog

It's not often that the D-fa team is in by 7pm to watch the tele (we try to be in by 7.30 though for Coro St) and I know that tele is chewing gum for the mind, but sometimes you pick up interesting or useful little gems of information ... like how to dance a Paso, what a heel lead is (totally different to dog obedience), how to become a supermodel, and a successful restauranteur. Useful things. 

Anyway anyway, one night on Campbell live (if you're an international reader John Campbell is a funny, ernest and particularly opinionated journalist/tv presenter (lines blurred)) whose claim to fame is that he nearly made Helen Clark cry, hosts a nightly current affairs (everything from uncovering political scandal to stories of fluffy the wonder-cat qualifies as CA)show. 

This particular night featured a story of Jack, the Search and Rescue dog who has suffered terrible injuries after being hit by a car. He has basically been rebuilt from the hip joints back and despite conservative estimations from vets about the likelihood of a full recovery, is now back on active duty. 

Using the miraculous powers of the interweb, we managed to track down Jack and his handler Malcolm who are now based in a wee town in the west coast of the south island called Greymouth. Turns out, that's only a chihuahua yap (sorry small dog owners, I love them all, really I do, all creatures great and small and all that) from our spiritual home, the shed in Hokitika. Given that Jack's continued good health was kind of dependent upon him keeping fit, warm and dry as much as possible we thought some D-fa gear would do just nicely. 

So without further a-doo we packed up a few little Jack sized items and headed up the road. As if Jack wasn't enough of a furry miracle he was also electrocuted as a puppy and was pronounced dead a the vets. Fortunately everyone took a moment (15 seconds actually) to reflect on a life taken too soon, during which time Jack decided his work was not done on this earth and that he was not ready to hit the road. After the smoke cleared (he was apparently smoking a little) Jack stood up, shook himself and proceeded to recover completely. You have to hand it to those Aussies, they make em tough. 

Malcolm and Jack are pictured above modeling the new gears. Jack is the shorter one in the red jacket, Malcolm is taller and wearing the blue uniform. Mal also has opposing thumbs but you can't see them in this picture. Low and behold a few weeks after we dropped off the gear we got this email from Mal. 

Hi AJ, we have had a heap of searches recently and a couple have been in really crap weather. 

One in particular was really bad. Jack and I had been searching all day in the worst country I had searched in, and then we were hit by a really cold rain and wind storm. Jack was tired and had gone a bit flat and then I remembered the little red sack in my pack. With 'Sub-Woofer' on it was time for a break and a brew, it was freezing. When it was time to go again, Jack seemed well rested and not long after setting off up went the wind hoover and he was off. With me stumbling along behind it was not long before I heard a distant bark and a short time later I was looking at some dirty, tired but happy to see us faces. Thanks D-fa, you rock! Jack and Mal. 

Well, isn't that grand. Everyone loves a happy ending. 

Thanks to all the SAR peeps and their dogs. They do an amazing job here in the rather difficult terrain of NZ. Rocking back at you.