Love bugs, Pets hairs, and Benjamin Franklin

After a few years of apparent dormancy the "Love Bugs" are back in full force.

See  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

See also

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110503/COLUMNIST/110509864/2416/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall

They are not "dangerous", but they have a huge nuisance value.  



Penne, my dog, loved to snap at them and eat them as we walk.  Not much I can do about that!



Speaking of Penne:- although she is a short haired mutt, this is her hair shedding season.  I brush her (outside the house) at least twice a day.  Despite this, the floors in my house get "covered"  with dog hairs, and I have to vacuum clean or dry mop at least twice a day.


When I am not worrying about Love Bugs or pet hairs, I continue to read. Here is my report about one of my latest reads

Benjamin Franklin - An American Life,  by Walter Isaacson (Simon and Schuster 2003).

This is the most recent and (probably) definitive biography of one of America's "Founding Fathers".  

It takes us beyond the limited and popular understanding of Franklin as merely an author of bon mots and a source of witty aphorisms, and then reveals his idiosyncratic personal life, and his crucial role in the journey t'wards American independence.

Franklin is the only founding father who signed all four crucial documents: (a) the Declaration of Independence, (b) the alliance with France, (c) the Treaty with Great Britain, (d)  the report of the Constitutional Convention.

If you have an ounce of interest in British and American history this is a must read.



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