Drinking from the Trough

Mary Carlson didn't start out to become a veterinarian, let alone the owner and caretaker of cats (many), dogs (two, both huskies), and horses (some with manners, some without) in Colorado. She was a suburban Chicago girl; all she knew of the American West came from the stories her uncle, who had settled in northern Colorado, told her during his annual visits. But thanks to him, she ended up moving to Fort Collins, Colorado for college—and after falling in love with a man she'd become friends with in her final year of college, when he was a student at the CSU School of Veterinary Medicine, she remained there.

Watching the work Earl did as a veterinarian inspired Mary to eventually leave her tenured teaching position and enter vet school, after which she opened her own, feline-exclusive clinic. Along the way, there were numerous pets, grueling years of vet school, a shattered hip, an enduring love, illness, and death—and the rediscovery that life, especially a life full of delightful animals, is worth living.  


My Review

I appreciated Mary sharing her life with readers. In regards to a memoir about a person's life; this is a good read. However, if you are looking for more of an animal focused book, than, this book is fine. I myself was hoping for a little of both. Yes, Mary shares and introduces me to some of the animals that came into her life but when some of them died, I did not shed a tear or two. Not, that I wanted to cry but to get to that point just means that I was really invested in the animals. For me, the animals were more like casual friends.

Yet, it was nice to read how a city girl found her way to the West. I live in Colorado as well and have visited many other states but I have to say that Colorado is a glorious state to live in. We have some of the greatest mountain views around.

Back to the book. I do agree with some of the other readers that the book could have been a bit more streamlined. The transitions from Mary's life bouncing from one moment to the next was not always the smoothest. Although, I do hope that Mary does write more books.

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