The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: 12/28/06
Sean's last Hanukkah gift was two books by Mo Willems: The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. In the story of the hot dog, the pigeon reluctantly learns to share when a hungry duckling questions him about a hot dog he has found. The pigeon having found a hot dog is about to devour it when a duckling begins to pester him with the sorts of questions that children like to ask: "Does it taste like chicken?"

The duckling is like a younger child, forcing the pigeon to experience first hand what it is like to be on the receiving end of all that pestering. The duckling is either like a younger child at preschool or even a younger sibling. Without intervention from an older authority figure the two young birds are able to work things out. Reluctantly but happily the two do end up sharing the marvelous hot dog.

The artwork and lettering reflects the youth of the two characters. The birds are drawn simply and loosely. They appear to have been drawn with crayon as if drawn by a child.

 

Gratitude #28: Safe Travel
Our trip to San Diego is over and today we returned to South Pasadena for our New Year's celebration. I did the driving and the trip took longer than it should have. I've never seen so many cars on the road on the 28th. Usually the week between Christmas and New Year's is quiet and the freeways relatively free of cars. Not so today! Fortunately the worst of the traffic was heading south but it was still thick enough to make driving rough.

We had to make two stops for Harriet. I wanted to push through to South Pasadena but her crying was getting worse and worse and the traffic slower and slower. We stopped once for Ian to change her diaper. A few minutes later she was wailing and choking on her tears. I stopped again to feed her. After that we limped the rest of the way on side streets.

Although the trip was frustrating we did arrive safe and sound. We didn't lose too much time and it was good to finally arrive.

Steps: 3500