Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska

The Alaskan landscapeso vast, dramatic, and unbelievablemay be the reason the people in Haines, Alaska (population 2,400), so often discuss the meaning of life. Heather Lende thinks it helps make life mean more. Since her bestselling first book, If You Lived Here, Id Know Your Name, a near-fatal bicycle accident has given Lende a few more reasons to consider matters both spiritual and temporal. Her idea of spirituality is rooted in community, and here she explores faith and forgiveness, loss and devotionas well as raising totem poles, canning salmon, and other distinctly Alaskan adventures. Lendes irrepressible spirit, her wry humor, and her commitment to living a life on the edge of the world resonate on every page. Like her own mothers last wishtake good care of the garden and dogsLendes writing, so honest and unadorned, deepens our understanding of what links all humanity.