The perfect set of circumstances got us into the trial, and just as many things fell into place for us to end up at the top. It has only happened twice before for Team Winnie, so it is a very special feeling.

A delightful blend of past and present. My late mother’s homemade Christmas placemat and table centerpiece, and the wooden bowl that used to be my tree. Symbols of how even after death, life goes on.

white stallion running through the breakwaters on a beach

If the universe had a kitchen, in it there would be a book of recipes. The list of ingredients would be endless. Dark matter, cosmic rays, and celestial dust. There’d be a recipe for everything. Big recipes for the planets and small ones to make hurricanes and rainbows. The stars that twinkle in the sky are the sprinkles atop a vast chocolate cupcake. Swirling like cinnamon rolled into pastry dough are the galaxies. At the beginning of the book, you can find the universe’s recipe for generating gravity. At the center of the recipe, the universe adds my dog. Winnie is my gravity.

Front view from the ranch looking at the side of a mountain that shoots up from the valley floor like a sky scraper.

“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” —Vicki Baum