By Linda Wilken, Oregon
I’d been a cat person from the get-go. I just came into this life totally relating to and loving cats. It wasn’t that I didn’t like dogs; it was just that I felt deeply and totally comfortable in the world of cats. By contrast, dogs—while likable—just seemed to have come from a completely different planet.
By Bree Renz, California
I was taking a photo workshop at a nature center that rescues injured wild animals. If the animal can be treated and completely healed, it is released back into the wilds. If it won’t be able to survive, it can live out the rest of its life at the center.
By Bob Switzer, British Columbia, Canada
I live with my wife and Oakley, our Shar-Pei, on the edge of the wilderness in western Canada. Sightings of wild animals are quite common. For five years, I’ve hiked with Oakley every morning. We are used to seeing deer, marmots, eagles, and more. Bears are quite prevalent as well.
By Carol Sims, California
Recently I was in my front yard discussing bush removal with Tom, my landscaper. I happened to glance between our house and the one next door and saw a beautiful white hen.
By Karen Nevis, Ecuador
I never imagined how my life in Ecuador would be when I left the United States five years ago with only four suitcases. Now I live in a remote, small pueblo in the Andes Mountains at five thousand feet altitude.
By Dana Lovell, Minnesota
One morning, my friend Karina and I did a spiritual exercise that contains the question, What do you know as truth? (See the Contemplation Seed at the end of this story.)