It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny Spring day. I was exhausted; it had been a challenging week for me. I went out to sit in the warm sun. Maria was away, hiking in the woods with a friend. Zip hopped onto my lab and climbed up on my chest. I started scratching his ears and fell asleep. So did he.

We sat like that for a long time – maybe a half hour – and then I woke up. Zip had jumped off and gone over to talk with Fanny, and they communicated through the pasture fence.

I pulled out my Iphone and got a picture; it was pretty touching.

One by one, Zip is charming every animal on the farm except Bud, who does not care for cats. Zip will get to him yet. When I woke up, Zip jumped back up onto my shoulder.