I’m heading to Bucks County, Pa. Saturday morning to pursue two things of great meaning to me, my book “Saving Simon,” and a good cause, therapy and working dogs. Therapy dogs are perhaps the most powerful argument for keeping working animals in our lives, they work miracles every day. My friend Deborah Glessner has invited me to speak for the benefit of her dog therapy group “Nor-Wester Readers,” a canine-assisted reading program for children.

I’m giving a talk about “What Animals Mean To Us” at 2 p.m. Sunday and then, Sunday night, having dinner (it is sold out) with some people who paid money to eat with me, an interesting concept for me. I am always stunned when people in places like South Dakota tell me how much the blog means to them, and also surprised that people would pay to have dinner with me, although it does benefit the therapy dog program. That makes sense.

There are still a few tickets left for the talk, Deborah tells me, though not many.

I’m also resuming the “Saving Simon: How A Rescue Donkey Taught Me The Meaning Of Compassion,” book tour. Going to Connecticut next weekend, then to Massachusetts. Iowa in May.

I’ve been to three  or four dinners in my writing life where people paid to have supper with me, they were all very different. At the first dinner, held at a gorgeous farm in upstate New York, five or six people paid hundreds of dinners so sit with me at a dinner table. None of them spoke to me, asked me a question or talked to me at all, they seemed to be talking to one another about their dogs, cats and other animals, or their investment portfolios.

The host was embarrassed (the food was great) and I was sorely tempted to ask them why they had come at all, but we never did figure it out. At the second dinner, a huge fight broke out between the dinner guests over how to get a dog and how to train one, and then over politics, a “left-right” thing . The fight had nothing to do with me, I hadn’t said a word, and the host had to separate the warring factions. She did raised $1,000 for her charity, I forget what it was.

The third dinner was sweet, nice and interesting people, we talked for  hours about animals and what they mean to us, I got some wonderful questions. When it works, it’s a wonderful forum for an author, a way to talk about writing, to get close to readers and the people I write about.

Still, I can hardly wait to see what happens Sunday in Bucks County, maybe there will be a food fight.  They might not like my ideas about the carriage horses or the elephants. Disagreement is good, it does not bother me. I have lots to talk about, at the talk and the dinner – my life with animals, the carriages horses, the elephants, animal grieving, the future of animals in our world,  the reasons animals have become such a central part of our emotional lives.

And it will be good to see Deborah, she is a wonderful photographer and passionate animal lover. She is a member of the Creative Group At Bedlam Farm, we are a close-knit group, we always help each other out.

She’s been scheming to get me to Bucks County for some years now, I am happy we are finally doing it. Red is staying home with his pal Deb Foster, I love Red but I never love hauling a dog around strange places, there is no need for it, and he will be in good company. Separation is healthy for dogs and people, I believe, I am not one of those who wants to take the dog on vacation. I love sleeping late, especially when Maria is in bed also. She is coming with me.

I will be back Monday morning. I remember Bucks County from my reporting days as being gorgeous and interesting, filled with artists and artistic history – the Wyeths are based there. If we get there early enough, I imagine we will hit a museum.