Zip tells one kind of animal story, Fate the other. Both are beautiful to watch. Animals enrich my life, teach me about living, make me smile, and lift my soul.

Zip is always on time for our morning meeting, always sitting on the back porch staring at the glass window, looking for him. We meet at 9 a.m., then break to do our work, and then again at 4 p.m., towards the end of the day.

Fate had a limp; she came inside to spend some time with me, and she was happy to sleep for a while. When she awoke, the limp was gone. Border collies are like that.