Aside from the drifts and power issues, we had some sweet moments, sitting by the fire, watching the snow fall off the roof, seeing the trees bend under the heavy wet snow, and waiting for National Grid to tell us the power was back. Text messages were our only connection to the outside world.

I was startled, I’ve never seen a storm quite that intense, or maybe I’m just getting older. Maria loves a storm and thrives in it. Maria was out in the pasture singing songs to the donkeys and sheep this morning in the wind, snow, and ice. Storms empower her, give her a chance to feel strong, and show her strength, something she couldn’t always find or trust.

I couldn’t believe how quickly she put the generator cords and levers in the right place.

In the afternoon, I craved a light mystery and needed one. The bookstore called almost immediately and said the new Donna Leon mystery, Now You See Us, had come in. I pre-ordered it months ago. Donna Leon’s books are like baskets of flowers; Venice is a beautiful backdrop, and her detective, Commissario Guido Brunetti, is a pleasure.

Next to Adam Diegliesh (P.D. James), Brunettis is my favorite detective.

He shares his favorite coffee shops, cooks elaborate pasta dishes, and does his best with the bureaucratic and disoriented police bureaucracy. He is an honest commissario, a loving father, and a doting husband to his sometimes quarrelsome children and his professor’s wife. He is a genius at defying and outmaneuvering the clods he works for.

I just wanted to read it by the fire and have it in the house, so I ran out with Zinnia, braved the storm, and got my book. I’ll read Leon’s as soon as I finish Walter Mosely’s new book. I just needed to have it.

My two favorite things to read are new novels, lately all by women, and good mysteries that are engaging and smart and not too brutal. The gest mysteries are stories of the mind and intuition, not the ones about blood and savagery.

Zinnia is a great pet, therapy dog, and car dog. She is always a pleasure to have around. She loves to stick her head out the window and smell the world. She grows at other dogs but never barks. It is easy to forget she is in the car. She is a wonderful companion dog.