Ma Healing

Sheep people and large animal vets have all heard the saying, "Sick Sheep Suddenly Die." When sheep get sick, they often, not always, die and usually it's suddenly. I hope we have avoided that outcome this time. We called the vet in time, before her infections from Red's bites spread. This morning, we pulled the gauze fillings out of her three wounds, gave her one pain-killer shot and one penicillin – big needles, deep injections to the muscle. She was good and stood still. She is eating well, moving around, and the wounds seem to have drained. We're putting spray on to keep flies off. She already looks better, and I think we are at the healing time, when her body is strong enough to heal. She's out with the other sheep and moving well.

Farm people are always ambivalent about calling large animal vets, they are expensive and one is never sure if you need to call or not. With wounds like bites, I think it is always good to call, because if something is wrong, it is very difficult to make it right. I think we got this in time, and I hope that is true. Red was only doing his job, but I do not like the idea of a sheep dying because of one of my dogs, it happens, and it's life, but I don't like the idea. Sick Sheep Sometimes Live.

Gallery Opening

An innovative and exciting new art gallery is opening this Saturday in Pawlet, Vt. I had decided to forego selling or showing my photographs but Gregory Deluca persuaded me to print up a half-dozen and sell them inexpensively. He is a huge fan of Maria's work is showing and selling some potholders and some pillows. We are going there Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. for the gallery opening, it's in a beautiful spot outside of Pawlet near Manchester and Dorset, Vt., a great day for taking a Spring ride in the country. Red has also been invited.

Photography has changed with the advent of digital imaging, there are millions of good photographers now but some images are special, wherever they come from. Greg, a former gallery director at the Southern Vermont Arts Center,  has chosen photos of Lenore, Ma, some windowsill art, the chickens on the rocking chair and a barn shot or two. Good choices. He agrees with my notion of my photography as being about emotional realism. There is a lot of emotion in the images, but they come from real life, sometimes gritty real life. He is selling six of my photos for $65, a good price I think. You can also order photos on the phone or soon, online. So stop by if you are around and help us celebrate the opening of this gallery. Greg has gathered more than 30 of the best artists in the region and the gallery is different and exciting. You can check out Maria's stuff on her website.

Ma Under The Knife

Wow, this evening was one of the most intense Maria and I have had together. Dr. Jen Marsh of the Granville Large Animal Service came and we worked on Ma for several hours. It was bloody, exhausting and difficult work. Red's bites pulled some of Ma's skin away from the body and all three wounds – they were not deep, fortunately – had developed pus-filled pockets, not unlike human blood blisters. Jen said she got there just in time, and it was fortunate that Ma was shorn yesterday so that we could find the wounds shave them, open them and scrap the pus and infected tissue out bit by bit.  These wounds can get uglyu in a hurry. She said it was good we called her when we did.

We sedated Ma, but she is strong and big and she fought us every step of the way. She bucked and banged into us, and I had to hold her head straight up in the air to keep her still.  Maria held her head some of the time, and then I took it over. It was like wrestling a bear and I will not be walking upright for a few days. I wanted to get more photos, but couldn't let go.

It was painful for Ma, difficult for Jen. She had to open each wound, get inside the sacs, clean them out with scrapers, stuff each wound with anti-biotic soaked gauze. Ma got four kinds of shots and we will be giving her pain-killers and penicillin twice a day for at least a week. We also have to pull the gauze out of her wounds tomorrow. Red pulled the outer skin out, and the wounds began to heal before they have drained, were starting to get infected, so we also have to squirt saline solution into the wounds to keep them open and draining.  The good news was that Ma did not have a fever, so the infection probably had not gone deep. The bite wounds were not deep either, another break.

I went back over my video and I saw what happened clearly – Red was close to the sheep, he had been working a lot that day and was excited. I should have slowed him back, he is very strong around the sheep. Ma charged at him, then veered suddenly off and he ran after her and tried to grab her wool but couldn't get a purchase as she had just been shorn, so he grabbed at her side and stomach.

Jen did a great job and Maria and I were both just dazed and sore and covered in feces and dirt. Jen said she wasn't sure if Ma would survive-she said it will take a long time to heal. I thought she looked much better tonight, she was moving around and eating. We have some  hard work with her, but I feel optimistic about it. Ma was living in a tiny space and hadn't been shorn in years, she has had a rough time, she is happy here and we are fond of her. I brought Red out to the barn and he sat next to the sheep while Jen worked on Ma and she said he was extraordinarily calm and businesslike.I do not fault him a bit for what happened, but I have to say it upset me, perhaps more than I might have expected. I'm not sure why. As I wrote this morning, life happens, every single day. It's how we deal with it that matters. And I have learned some things from this. I am wrecked, going to sleep. Yet one more chapter in the real world of real animals. Sounds like a book to me.

Florence's Iris

Florence's Irises came up this week, I thought they looked old and worn out, but Maria insisted on keeping them, and I'm glad she did. Our flowers and Florence's are beginning to ring the farmhouse with some color. It is my job as an artist to remind people of the light and color in the world, they are so often told the world is a dangerous and dark place.

Tai Chi

I had my first Tai Chi lesson with my instructor, Scott Carrino. I enjoyed it. I learned two beginning movements and we are taking it one step at a time – Scott has figured out already how I absorb information. I really liked the lesson, I've done Tai Chi lessons once or twice before, but I don't think I was ready. I am now. Scott showed me how to move comfortably, we talked about connecting the body, the heart and the ground, to be aware of the constant movement around me. I'm going to start this afternoon or tomorrow, I have a spot I love out in the pasture, I imagine I will be doing Tai Chi with donkeys, they are curious and meditative and spiritual. I was almost instantly at ease with Scott, he is a gentleman and a passionate believer in Tai Chi. I think it will be good for me, perhaps the next chapter in my work to get easy with life, my mind and body and the world around me. It was interesting to go to my lesson fresh from a full-blooded Internet brawl about one of my photographs. Good training I suspect.