Wednesday Reading

Jodie Tillman: PORT RICHEY — Not quite 8 years old, Alex Gualemi has saddled up a horse, ridden a motorcycle and flown in a single-engine plane. But he yearned, too, for a more simple experience: He wanted to see snow.

In real life.

He had seen it on television, heard about it from his dad, who went up north one time. But his boots had never crunched through it; his hands had never molded it into the perfect wintry weapon.

Geography represented more than a temporary inconvenience.

Lane DeGregory: GULFPORT — She wrapped the World's Ugliest Dog in a blue baby blanket and carried him outside. But even in the sun, Gus couldn't stop shivering.

"Hey, little guy," she said softly. "You want to go for a ride?"

Gus looked up at her and blinked his one bulbous eye. His three paws were curled, claw-like, into his bony body.

In June, when he was crowned in California, he became an instant celebrity. He growled at Howard Stern, appeared on the Today show and Fox & Friends. Everyone agreed he couldn't look worse.