Nothing is more attentive than a dog waiting for breakfast.

A friend told me the other the day that she was surprised to talk to me about animals, as she had always assume I was a “maniacal” animal lover. A strange notion. I do love animals, but I work hard to see them in reality and with perspective. That doesn’t mean I don’t love them. My dogs are all repositories of love, vessels of connection. They allow me to open up, share my emotions, learn and grow. They are my smile machines. I smile at them all day, at their enthusiasm, their simplicity, their acceptance. Dogs are mirrors of our own humanity, I think, I hope so. They are a reflection of the love and creativity that reside in the farm, especially with Maria here. They are a celebration of life, not a human version of it.

They are their own reality, a magical world I am sometimes permitted to witness and enter.