After making a modest nest egg in the software industry in California, Del Meier follows his boyhood dream and successfully transplants himself from Silicon Valley into rural ranch life in Montana. He stakes a ranch and builds a home for himself and his beloved border collie, Cooper. Together, they manage more than one hundred Red Angus cows in the beauty and tranquility of the southwest mountains. Life is good for Del, but one crucial thing is missing: a partner.
The Camel's Nose is a heartfelt and often-humorous memoir of an MIT-trained software engineer who achieves a life of deep meaning and satisfaction through ranching but also experiences a shattering breach of trust by someone he loves. When Del loses his loyal companion Cooper, his loneliness motivates him to seek connection through a dating site. Brynn, a beautiful, charismatic woman and camel owner in western Oregon, contacts him, and their relationship quickly blossoms. Plans for a future life together are made. But after Del sells the ranch, buys a shared home, and puts Brynn's name on the deed, he discovers that the future they planned together was built on deception-that she intended to retire with his money but also without him.
While Del is initially devastated by this betrayal of a woman he had trusted, his ranching resolve and the memory of his steadfast Cooper reminds him of the need to fight for what is right and fair. With it, he finds the strength to not back down during the exhausting and demoralizing years-long legal process that follows -- as he enters a grueling legal battle that will test his resolve, his faith in lasting love, and the true value of the life he has worked so hard to build.
