Dogging update; atheists

Wow! I've been working on a new training game with Petra and it's making a big difference. Here's the idea: you and your dog are walking along and your dog sees something distracting and heads toward it. You stop, call your dog's name, and start to back up. When your dog turns her head, you mark it ("yes!") and give out some treats. (Several treats, handed out one at a time, builds duration of attention.) At level two, you do everything the same but don't call your dog's name. This teaches your dog "when there is a distraction, look at the Human."

I've been doing this with Petra for about a week, and she's making great progress on her dog-feakout problem. We even went to PetSmart yesterday with no major incidents.

There are some ads on the T that brighten my day every time I see them. They say "Good without God? 40 million Americans are." It's uncommon that somebody stands up for people like me in public life. Spreading the idea that atheists aren't bad people may seem like a small step, but it means a lot when politicians and other public figures like to use me as a placeholder for Bad People.

Farm shares are exciting

F. and I get to pick up our farm share today. Last week was our first week ever of farm share vegetables, and it's been awesome. F. has been making and freezing soup -- we would have just eaten it, but his parents visited and brought at least a week's worth of food so we have to store it somehow. This week we get some greens, various root vegetables, apples, and basil (from a local farm that has greenhouses). I might use the basil and carrots to make Thai curry. That would be delicious. So far I love having a farm share because I get a surprise every week. It's like Christmas but with vegetables.