Our library bird, Spike, got sick last Thursday night and died on Friday. We all prayed for him (as did our mothers) but I guess his time had come. Barb and April and I were with him at the end, so he didn’t die alone. He was a good bird and liked to tell anybody who would listen what a "pretty bird" he was. Meg, a friend of Barb’s, donated Spike to us in 1992 when we opened the new library. We adopted him when he was just two years old. Pet cockatiels normally live between 10 and 14 years. Spike was almost 15. He lived a good life and he loved his library patrons, especially children and teenagers. His primary activity each day was luring people over to pet him. When a "worthy" library patron came up to his cage, Spike would bow his head down trying to get a head rub. Some people were not deemed worthy. Those poor unfortunate souls were lured in and Spike would try to bite them, a very smart bird. The loving husband and I buried Spike in our backyard. We put him in a nice box and included his favorite toy. I’ve been a bird owner for most of my life, so I’ve always had a bird cemetery. I’ve buried 11 birds in the past 40 years; some were at-home birds and some were library birds. There were Dipper, Perky, Happy, Nemo, Woodstock, Studs, Victer Newman, Beatrice Finger, Vladamir, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and now Spike. Each one was just as painful as the next. We will not be accepting any library pets until further notice. We need a time to recover from our loss. Parents: If you have a child who was particularly fond of Spike and looked forward to visiting him at the library, perhaps you could explain what happened. I can’t talk about it without a box of tissues at hand. On a brighter note, we retrieved the Christmas books from storage and put them on the shelf next to the new fiction and nonfiction. I know it’s early, but Christmas takes preparation. You can find decorating tips, recipes, Christmas crafts and songs, party ideas, etc. The new Christmas books are also starting to roll in. On the fiction shelf this week, we have "Northern Lights," by Nora Roberts. As a Baltimore cop, Nate Burke watched his partner die on the street — and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as Chief of Police in the tiny, remote Alaskan village of Lunacy. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first weeks on the job are relatively quiet. Just as he wonders whether this has been a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year's Eve lifts his spirit and convinces him to stay just a little longer. Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the Chief of Police, there’s something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart. Now things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day — and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface. And his discovery will threaten the new life — and the new love — that he has finally found for himself.