Maria was away this morning, I was sitting down to write and tend to my blog, and I decided it would be good to let Minnie out of her crate and move around the house. I decided it was time to let the dogs in with her, to trust them and give them the opportunity to work out the new arrangement under supervision. I opened the crate door and Minnie walked right around the corner and into my study and right onto Frieda’s bed, just as one letter writer suggested yesterday. Then I let the dogs in.

Frieda came in, looked at Minnie, appeared thoroughly disgusted and then went off into the living room. Lenore jumped up onto her sofa and went to sleep, Red took up his usual position right behind my chair (I step on him a dozen times a day, it is his spot) and he looked at Minnie once or twice, then went to sleep. So the three of us, I guess, just settled in, I blogged, wrote, made some preparations for my trip to Tulsa this afternoon and forgot Minnie was there.

Then I thought to get a photo of this warm and surprising scene – unimaginable to me just a few days ago. Animals adapt, they learn from one another, they sense what we want, given the opportunity. They can be brutal, but not pointlessly as humans are. They become what we need them to be, if we are open to it.

I have never had a cat sit with me while I wrote, a completely new experience. Like the dogs, Minnie seemed to intuit the meaning of my work, my need for peace and quiet, my own sense of focus when I write. I am eager for Maria to walk in the door and be surprised, she did not think Frieda could ever be near Minnie. Meanwhile, I am surrounded in a warm cocoon of wonderful animals.