By Deborah Paris, Western Australia
When Jason and I got married I had five cats, all from rescue homes, all pure white. Unfortunately my husband had allergies which meant that certain rooms were out of bounds for my furry friends.
By Patrick Dongvillo, Oregon
I was driving home on a stormy night, when my headlights suddenly outlined a solitary goose standing in the farm’s driveway. This goose shouldn’t be here. It’s supposed to be in the barn, I thought. With the safety of the farm, domestic geese never really learn to fly; they just become fat and happy. So this lone goose would likely be a sitting duck for some hungry coyote.
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 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.)