I can't solve the world's problems, can't even begin to contemplate them all. But on my little corner of Earth, I at least can try to live in a way that treads lightly.
Many of the qualities that come so effortlessly to dogs - loyalty, devotion, selflessness, unflagging optimism, unqualified love - can be elusive to humans.
A dog is the greatest gift a parent can give a child. OK, a good education, then a dog.
Dogs are a really amazing eye opener for us humans because their lives are compressed into such a short period, so we can see them go from puppyhood to adolescence to strong adulthood and then into their sunset years in 10 to 12 years. It really drives home the point of how finite all our lives are.
Cats will outsmart dogs every time.
Before moving to Pennsylvania in 1999, I played bass in a newsroom rock band in South Florida for several years.
Even though I'm totally dependent on modern electronic gizmos, from my laptop to my iPod to my cell phone, I love to embrace old technology or no technology at all.
I take a lot of satisfaction in trying to make my land as self-contained as possible, its own little mini environment. Minimal outputs; minimal inputs.
I confess to being a CNN junkie. And when I'm driving, it's all NPR all the time.
Living organically is my way of feeling connected to the earth and my own humanity. It's how I feel balanced and at peace with the planet.
I collect old rusty hand tools and sharpen and polish them, then use them to build things out of walnut and cherry that I harvest from fallen trees in the woods.
When I wrote 'Marley & Me,' I had a clear audience in mind. And it did not include children. I wrote my book for adults and assumed only adults, and possibly teenagers, would be drawn to it.
'Marley and Me' was a book I was proud of and believed in, but I thought it would just have a modest audience because it is such a personal story about my marriage and my family.
Really, as a writer, I believe that if you're going to write about your own life, you need to do it as honestly and candidly as you are capable.
I was keenly aware that everybody would have loved for me to do a close sequel or a spin-off to 'Marley and Me.'
I'm pathologically incapable of making decisions. Just ask my wife how long it took me to propose - on second thought, best not to bring it up.
Certain people are not going to connect with a book about the effect a dog has on a family. But every one of us has parents and has either said goodbye to those parents or knows that someday they will.
