The Glass is Half-Full

Grandma came for the weekend and met Wallace. Wallace is the name that I dubbed Wally the not-so-little black havoc wreaker when he is being a particularly big havoc wreaker. Although my Mom did not know that was his name when I am in the throes of puppy frustration. She also dubbed him Wallace this past weekend after a day spent trying to stay one step ahead and ending three steps behind. I called home on day two of John and my trip to San Diego and this was part of the conversation: "Hi Mom. How's it . . ." "Now I know why, when you say you can't get anything done you really can't! He's into everything . . ." She went on to tell me about a book or two that had been destroyed, a trellis in the backyard that is more like a plant stake now, the battered and bruised bananas that Wally got off the counter and carried around, the newspapers torn to shreds . . . well you get the picture. "He's like a toddler," she exclaimed, "

I've long been a fan of historical fiction and just this past Christmas I received from my son Michael Ken Follett's most recent book, Fall of Giants. It is the first book of a trilogy that covers the 20th century and the first installment covers the early 1900s up to just after World War I. It includes characters based in Russia in the time of their revolution. While I studied the Russian Revolution in college, this book brought much back to me - including the chaos that reigned for years leading up to the revolution and continuing throughout. I write about this today because the Egyptian revolution reminds me of the Russian revolution. The Russian revolution started out quietly and largely as a protest against a harsh and autocratic government - the Tsar. The Russian people didn't have a say in their government and were very poor while the royalty in Russia lived large. The secret police in Russia often killed and imprisoned people for no apparent reason and there were