A busy book tour day, I went to Albany to be interviewed for one hour by Joe Donahue of WAMC, Northeast Public Radio based in Albany, connected to 21 different stations in the Northeast.

You can hear the interview on wamc.org. Joe and I used to partner to do a regular broadcast called “Dog Talk” and we are both talking about starting the show up again. I liked the questions and the callers, I irked some animal rights people, as usual, by questioning the Stalinist assault on farmers, including the use of secret informers and wanton raids on private property.

I talked about the need for a wiser and more mystical understanding of animals and my own ideas about communicating with them. Joe and I are mulling returning to our “Dog Talk” format, just chatter at this point but I like the idea. And I’m going to Albany regularly anyway to visit with RISSE and the refugees and immigrants in the program.

The day felt good, the book is landing in many of the homes of people who pre-ordered it. Tomorrow, Maria and Red and I head for Mystic, Conn., where I will be speaking at the Connecticut Library Association (CLA) at the Mystic Marriott at 4 p.m. We’ve been invited to have dinner with some librarians, and then Friday we’ll head home.

Saturday, I’m speaking at the Chatham, N.Y.,  Public Library at 3:30 p.m. Maria and Red are coming (the two stars).

On the parallel but no less important front, we’ve raised enough money for two RISSE soccer team birthday parties, and I believe (haven’t counted it yet) that we have also raised enough money to buy Connie a portable air conditioner so that she can have enough energy to return to her knitting work.

Thanks so much. If there is any overage, and with your permission, I’ll use any overage to buy some cooling posts for some of the other residents. The Mansion is not air conditioned, and it can get awfully hot there on warm days. Your generosity is boundless, you are doing staggering amounts of good. Thank you.

Connie’s birthday is Friday, and when we return from Connecticut Friday I can tell her the happy news. She will be able to work again next week. The Mansion maintenance staff will install the portable conditioner. This is the model I’ve chosen to buy for Connie’s room, it will cost about $400 with duct and clamps, both necessary for the conditioner to work in Connie’s room. It’s a Honeywell, and the no.1 portable condition according to Consumer Reports, it is a 10,000 BTU air conditioner, the perfect size and strength for Connie’s room.

For those who didn’t know, Connie has had to stop knitting because of the warmer temperatures. She struggles to breathe in the heat, and cannot expend the energy necessary for knitting when the temperatures climb, she is breathing oxygen through special tubes.