Have been growing all types of plants and flowers since I was a young boy. It has been my lifetime passion and profession. Flowers do not threaten my masculinity! Here is a picture of me at 9 yrs old. This picture was taken 51 years ago! I would ride my bicycle to an orchid range that wasn't too far from my home and buy plants with money saved from birthdays and Christmas. Found some old papers in my desk and in the folder were my report cards saved by my parents from elementary school - one teacher wrote in the comment section that I was extremely good at talking about plants while giving a book report, but I really needed to expand my horizons! So I did - horticulturally!!

I've loved reading this thread! Thanks so much, everyone who contributed. I grew up on a farm in NE Ohio where we had all manner of farm cats and our dogs were usually some sort of herding mix. Our first dog after we were married was an Australian Shepherd. We got her from a sheep rancher in Utah where we lived at the time. Ever since, we've had Aussie/Aussies of one sort or another. They are wonderful dogs but do need a job of some kind. My daughter brought home a Sheltie when she was 10 and started another tradition. She showed in junior showmanship and agility, taking her old dog with her when she left after college. Our house seemed a little too quiet (those who have Shelties will understand). I began fostering for Sheltie Rescue of East Tennessee and eventually got a Sheltie for myself, too. My current head count is one Aussie- Shine, and two Shelties- Yatta, (rhymes with hurrah) my girl, and Katie, my foster. Jeri is right on the money about pet ownership. If I could add one thing: just as there's a "right rose, right place" there's also the right dog or pet for the right place. It helps to do a little research on the individual pet you may be considering and be realistic about what you can offer. It makes a big difference in how successful you'll be.

Sorry for my earlier rant...spent the night in the ER with a very sick five year old. For what it is worth the care she received was quick and efficent and much better than when she almost died in an understaffed Canadian hospital outside of montreal last year. SG and most others have politly expressed their view but it is still a thread of us trying to show that what we want should be believed by all and that never works. Greywings i did say if I had tea party friends, which I am glad I do not, my stats would be different but my radical liberal friends,which are abuntant in my area, are also spreading lots of lies and hate they think it is fine because it is directed against the rich mostly but it is still prejudice. The radicals in each party are equally dangerous, hurtful and annoying

MYSTERIES Conviction BY JULIA DAHL Brooklyn reporter Rebekah Roberts, desperate to escape the sketchy world of tabloid journalism, gets a letter from a man convicted of murdering a family in Crown Heights proclaiming his innocence. His story hooks her and sets her off on an investigation that tests her loyalty to people closest to her. — Hallie Ephron Cast the First Stone BY JAMES W. ZISKIN In 1962 Hollywood, journalist Ellie Stone is assigned to write a profile on a hometown boy who’s just landed a big role in a film — and then goes missing. Full of humor and intrigue, the book examines Hollywood’s dehumanizing ideals as Ellie goes toe-to-toe with the Don Drapers of the film business. — Hallie Ephron Crime Song BY DAVID SWINSON A former police detective turned PI is the novel’s morally compromised, drug-addicted anti-hero. In an understated, dialogue-driven narrative (think: “The Friends of Eddie Coyle”) set in Washington, D.C., Frank Marr soon regrets agreeing to check up on a cousin who may be dealing drugs. — Hallie Ephron Darktown BY THOMAS MULLEN Set in Atlanta after World War II, this police procedural features the city’s first black cops, who face abuse and disrespect from white cops because they’re black and from black citizens because they’re cops. Complications mount when they’re blocked from questioning a white man suspected of murdering a young black woman. — Hallie Ephron The Girl Before BY J.P. DELANEY This psychological thriller weaves the tales of two traumatized women (“Now-Emma” and “Then-Jane”). Seeking solace and healing in different time frames, each rents the same minimalist, high-tech house after passing muster from the creepy architect-owner. Are they being haunted or is it all an elaborate test? Read it before Ron Howard turns it into a movie. — Hallie Ephron The Lies We Tell BY THERESA SCHWEGEL In Chicago, police detective Gina Simonetti is trying to keep her own debilitating health issues under wraps so she can hang onto her job and keep fostering her delightful toddler niece. We get the human and professional side of a police officer in crisis as she goes after a man who brutalizes women. — Hallie Ephron The Switch BY JOSEPH FINDER Returning from a business trip Michael Tanner inadvertently walks off with the wrong laptop computer after going through airport security. Tanner’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he takes a peek to see what’s on it. Big mistake. Perfect for fans of “The Fugitive.” — Hallie Ephron A Twist of the Knife BY BECKY MASTERMAN In a gripping third entry of this powerhouse series, ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn agrees to help her former partner exonerate a man convicted of killing his wife and three children, even though Brigid thinks he did it. Meanwhile, she discovers some uncomfortable truths about her dying police-officer father. — Hallie Ephron Unsub BY MEG GARDINER An adrenaline-fueled rush, this series first has newly minted narcotics detective Caitlyn Hendrix reassigned to homicide so she can track down a sadistic serial killer, the Prophet. Her father was the lead detective who failed to bring him to justice 20 years ago. Shades of “Silence of the Lambs” and the Zodiac Killer. — Hallie Ephron The Force BY DON WINSLOW Winslow brings incisively-researched details, gut-wrenching plotlines, and infinite heart to his all-too-real, highly compassionate tale of decorated New York City cop Denny Malone, who isn’t as clean as he seems and has drawn the notice of the feds. — Daneet Steffens Since We Fell BY DENNIS LEHANE Lehane’s terrific tour-de-force kicks off with a journalist determinedly searching for her long-lost father, and — after her public, on-the-job breakdown — deftly evolves into a crafty and nuanced page-turner. — Daneet Steffens The Woman From Prague BY ROB HART Accidental spying comes just as naturally as accidental private investigating to Ash McKenna: a mellow three months in Prague comes to a screeching halt when he encounters an evil blackmailer, a Russian assassin, and a femme fatale. — Daneet Steffens Magpie Murders BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ This double-barreled puzzler involving a mystery writer whose work begins to anticipate real events cleverly melds vintage English-village crime fiction with a snarky contemporary murder mystery. A literary sparkler that is effervescent, riveting, and fun. — Daneet Steffens The Child BY FIONA BARTON A gruesome discovery under a London house drives journalist Kate Waters to pursue a missing-baby story, but, this being a Barton thriller, there’s more to pretty much everything than meets the eye. — Daneet Steffens Based on a True Story BY DELPHINE DE VIGAN TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY GEORGE MILLER When a writer befriends a ghostwriter, the scene is set for a tension-filled tale about a tangled, stifling relationship that gleefully channels both Stephen King’s “Misery” and 1992’s “Single White Female.” — Daneet Steffens The Daughter of Time BY JOSEPHINE TEY An injured policeman spends his hospital time ruminating over the mystery of Richard III and whether the king, in fact, had his nephews murdered. An elegant and provocative crime-fiction classic. — Daneet Steffens The Martin Beck police procedurals BY MAJ SJÖWALL AND PER WAHLÖÖ TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH BY VARIOUS TRANSLATORS Start with “Roseanna,” first published in Sweden in 1965, and don’t stop until you’ve read all 10 installments of this original — and still one of the best — Nordic noir series. — Daneet Steffens Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less BY JEFFREY ARCHER In this pitch-perfect caper, when a millionaire tricks four men out of their money, they decide to get their revenge — and their money — by conning him right back. — Daneet Steffens Quiet as a Nun BY ANTONIA FRASER The first of Fraser’s entertaining mysteries featuring television journalist Jemima Shore sees Shore returning to her old convent school when a nun dies in an ancient tower under suspicious circumstances. — Daneet Steffens SPORTS Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship on and off the Court AND Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White BY KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR The prolific Abdul-Jabbar likes to be introduced these days as a writer who used to play some basketball. “Coach Wooden” demonstrates how a progressive black Muslim and a conservative white Christian can create a friendship based on respect, curiosity, and open minds. “Writings on the Wall” explores the nation’s most critical social issue more thoughtfully than any politician has done and actually offers hope. — Bill Littlefield Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son BY PAUL DICKSON The biography by a veteran sportswriter makes a case for the cocky and combative star shortstop and legendary manager as both charming and insufferable, which sounds about right for the guy who both championed Jackie Robinson’s arrival in Brooklyn and insulted him as fat and slow. — Bill Littlefield The Bittersweet Science: Fifteen Writers in the Gym, in the Corner, and at Ringside EDITED BY CARLO ROTELLA AND MICHAEL EZRA Essays by journalists, fiction writers, and people in the game examine the sportboxing as business, cultural curiosity, and craft. The piece titled “Why I Fixed Fights” by Charles Farrell is especially instructive, even for those who don’t aspire to fix fights. — Bill Littlefield Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. The United States of America, 1966-1971 BY LEIGH MONTVILLE Montville, who has written for the Globe and Sports Illustrated, has accomplished the unlikely: He’s written a fresh, ambitious book about one of the most written-about men in the history of sports or anything else. Shouldn’t have been surprised. He’s a writer who never disappoints. — Bill Littlefield Kill The Ámpaya! The Best Latin American Baseball Fiction EDITED AND TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY DICK CLUSTER This collection reminds us through baseball stories that people are just people — a crucial lesson in these times when some of our leaders apparently don’t feel that immigrants qualify for that distinction. — Bill Littlefield You’re Welcome, Cleveland: How I Helped LeBron James Win a Championship and Save a City BY SCOTT RAAB Embittered superfan Raab provides the antidote to his own gonzo excoriation of James for leaving the Cavs as a free agent before bringing home a championship (“The Whore of Akron: One Man’s Search for the Soul of LeBron James”). While the first book was bile-driven and hilarious, the second is a father-and-son-centered celebration of the return of the prodigal star and paradise found. In Cleveland. — Bill Littlefield The Range Bucket List: The Golf Adventure of a Lifetime BY JAMES DODSON Golf writer Dodson has characterized this book as his “love letter to Arnold Palmer.” It’s that and more, and the “more” includes his revealing and entertaining account of a luncheon four years ago with Donald and Eric Trump at one of their clubs. All the signs were there. — Bill Littlefield Long Shot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter BY CRAIG HODGES WITH RORY FANNING Hodges makes his case that he was blackballed by pro basketball for his political activism and inclination to encourage Michael Jordan et al to consider such matters as black history and social responsibility. Hodges sued the NBA in 1996, four years after being waived by the Bulls and drawing scant interest from the other teams. — Bill Littlefield Champion of the World BY CHAD DUNDAS Dundas’s debut novel harkens back to the 1920s, the days before professional wrestling became fake. It follows the unlikely comeback attempt of former-champ-turned-circus-performer Pepper Van Dean in a world of gangsters, bootleggers, and stacked decks. — Bill Littlefield