I love Wind in the Willows, and darn that Red Fern book. The creatures that comfort us succumb too easily to our fall, but there are so many great moments in my literary imagination that are made tangible by an animal (I can still feel the scratch of Lion in The Horse and His Boy).
I have an essay coming out soon at Cultivating that mirrors your thoughts here. Animals and loss and hope and literature. I'll shamelessly tag you when it comes out.
And I'm so sorry about Merrylegs. Our adult son is getting a new puppy tomorrow, 7 years after brutally losing his first dog. It's a painful practice of hope and resurrection.
I love Wind in the Willows, and darn that Red Fern book. The creatures that comfort us succumb too easily to our fall, but there are so many great moments in my literary imagination that are made tangible by an animal (I can still feel the scratch of Lion in The Horse and His Boy).
I have an essay coming out soon at Cultivating that mirrors your thoughts here. Animals and loss and hope and literature. I'll shamelessly tag you when it comes out.
And I'm so sorry about Merrylegs. Our adult son is getting a new puppy tomorrow, 7 years after brutally losing his first dog. It's a painful practice of hope and resurrection.