I live with two Great Pyrenees, two Dachshunds, a Haflinger horse and three cats on 90 acres northwest of Laurel, Montana, in a secluded box canyon lined with Ponderosa Pine trees.

Laurel is a long way from the towns in Oklahoma where I grew up as the youngest of three children. And a very long way from my 23 years as a corporate executive in the food, housing, and technology industries.