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“Intense meditation” is an oxymoron, but I can’t think of a better way to describe what I did. The Trust Technique uses a process of being in the present moment plus having mindful regard for the animal to teach it […]

I take my lessons where they come and lately, they have been coming from Roxie. Roxie’s write-up on the DuPage County Animal Services website said she wasn’t good with other dogs. She had to be the only dog in the

According to the owner who surrendered her (supposedly because of their daughter developing an allergy), Roxie is a pug/chow mix, eight years old. Chows are substantial, adult females are 45-60 pounds (males are 50-70). Pugs are smallish, adults are 18-20

As an adult, I’ve been single more than I’ve been partnered. Here’s one thing I’ve learned: it’s difficult to make new friends with a married couple. I can be friends with a couple if I already know one of them

Leda was a greyhound, white with black spots. They call them cow dogs. I thought she would be my last dog. I had done the math before she died, several years before she died. If Leda lived a normal greyhound

This concludes the story that began two weeks ago and continued last week…   Roy was bent over the generator, fiddling. He heard me and looked up. “It won’t start. Sorry. I can go to town and take care of

This continues the story from last week… The cabin I booked on airbnb was on a Christmas tree farm. The asphalt drive was freshly sealed, and I took it down to a neat gray house with a fieldstone base. Next

It was the last leg of the long drive from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Whitewater, Michigan. On the interstates, I amused myself by calculating the car-to-truck ratio. Google maps became unhappy with me on US-12/WI-67. It feared I would turn off

My parent’s marriage was troubled from the start, which can happen when each person thinks the other is going to save them. My mother wanted my father to save her from a future as a farm wife. My father wanted

My brother Eric met his birth mother. He drove from Maryland to Pennsylvania, then stayed in a hotel the night before they were to meet. The next morning, he met his birth mother and his half-brother. They shared photographs and