Zinnia has already done a lot for me and other people, and she is just a little more than three months old. She is a curious and active dog; she loves to eat brush and plants, chase Fate and Bud around and two or three times a day she leaps up into my lap, showers me with kisses and then dashes off to play.

When I am working, she is either standing at the dog gate to my office or already inside. She doesn’t seem to want to miss a minute of my work, so there is the sense that we are working together.

I guess we are.

I stop paying any attention to the news soon after lunch, and I am satisfied. I can learn what I need to know by looking around for five minutes in the morning. On our news, we may see something 100 times a day, but that doesn’t mean it’s new.

Zinnia has renewed my love of walking; she is a joy to walk with. She has enriched my work at the Mansion and Bishop Maginn; she is already lightening up both of those places.

I smile at Zinnia at least a score of times each day. She is calming for me to look at, I love her sighing and snoring in my sleep. I find it opens up my writing and enriches my creativity.

I love writing with her next to me, just as I enjoyed writing with Red, next to me. They both love the same place to sleep.

If you like looking at her, and it makes you smile, I’d consider going right to sleep, maybe with a good book or some music. Or sitting in a comfortable chair, talking, or reading. There are always good things and bad things to deal with in our world. Zinnia is one of the good things.

It’s an excellent way to prepare for the night. I have learned not to be a prisoner of their news.