I am still a child of moments, and there are many in each day.  I still have three of the Mexico pack left.  They bridge the worlds for me, and their eccentricities remind me of my neighbors, and my village, my land, and my Sonoran life.  The new dogs, the Shibas bring foolishness back to my days, and that is a great and marvelous thing.  All my old cowboy friends are now dead.  That world that I was gifted to know is fading.  The Don Panchos of the world, the mancedor of the llegua bronca, has gone.  But memory remains and the land remains - still.  We have not yet killed all the magic places in the world.  They still sing their songs to me.  And I can still follow their trails home.

So now I work bridging the abyss between people and animals.  Some days, my heart is too full, and words fail me.  Some days my frustration clambers out like an old feral mule, kicking and striking in all directions.  Some days I find just the right words to paint a picture of reality from the other side, from dog culture to human, from horse to human.  Some days my language is good enough to send the dialogue the other way.  My movements are precise enough, clear  enough to take the language of space and movement and human words back to the world of dog and watch the light of understanding spark in their faces.  It is a work in progress.  After so many years, so many clumsy steps, I sometimes despair of ever being able to “speak”, really speak, in either direction, human or animal with any degree of the elegance I desire.  I think unkind thoughts of Dr. Doolittle and grumble that Nature could have chosen a better minion than I for her handmaiden.  But still I persist.  My contract with Nature does not yet seem to have expired.

And always I write.  Words give life meaning.  Words paint the moments, and etch them for others to see.  The stories on this site are borne of a life lived close to the earth, clumsily, at times lacking skills, but always and forever stopping for the moments.  No matter where you are: city or country, east, west, north, or south, good health or bad, wealthy or poor, there are always moments.  Moments of sublime beauty and joy.  It is my hope that you and your children will enjoy these stories.  From the inspiration of Don Pancho and I, to you, and yours, we send you our love.

Stay tuned for more books to come....

Maryna is the owner and director of training for Arizona Doggy Dude Ranch, http://www.azdoggyduderanch.com/, and  the founder of the Kinaesthetics™ system of  bodycare for humans, horses and dogs, http://www.dogbodycare.com/.  Maryna is a long time journalist and photographer with credits ranging from Womens Sports, to Arabian, Equus Magazine, and Safehands, the Journal of the International Association of Canine Professionals, http://iacpdogs.org/.  Maryna holds an A.B. in Russian and Biology from Vassar College, and a JD. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law.