Day: September 1, 2011

Meg wants to jump on my shoulders and peck at my head. Failing that, she wants to peck at my Canon camera. I have advised her that neither of these things would be wise or desirable.

Meg is a fearless chicken. She walked right past Frieda and tried to hop up on my shoulder. That didn’t work out for her. She loves my camera and tried to peck at the lens. This is a lot of personality for a chicken. I warned to chill, fearless chickens get into real trouble.

Maria and Mother: A tough barn needs some attention.

 

A dog story.

A woman in my town saw her life come apart after an ugly domestic quarrel. Her husband fled, and she took her two kids and left the area to start a new life. She met another man, and is happy with him. She had a four-year-old Chocolate Lab named Wyman and she couldn’t bring him to her new home, so she left him behind in the small double-wide she used to call home.

She left some kibble on the floor and a bowl of water and left the back door open so Wyman, who had spent most of his life tethered to a tree in the back yard barking at cars and people walking by. She came by when she could to leave food and water, but that became harder as time went on.  She came by the farm to talk to me, and I knew from the first she was going to leave the dog behind, I just felt it. She came to say goodbye, said she had moved, asked me if I would take the dog and care for him, and she said her brother-in-law was supposed to come by and take care of the dog, but he hadn’t been coming.

Wyman was a good dog, she said, a hunting dog.

I suggested she get on Petfinder or call animal rescue. I said I couldn’t take on another animal now. She told me she was happy, for the first time in years, with a good man who loved her and talked to her. And I saw the pain and guilt in her eyes.

She smiled and said goodbye, and I think I  knew she was not coming back, and I drove to her house with some kibble and rawhide and I saw the back door was open and I heard Wyman barking and I went into the basement and he came charging down the stairs at me, growling and barking, and he was – is – a beautiful Chocolate Lab and so I threw a piece of rawhide at him, and he screeched to a halt, picked it up and ran into his crate to eat it, forgetting about me. A sweet dog. And a beautiful dog.

It was hard to leave him there. He could have run out into the road, and the house was a shambles, he had been chewing on anything he could get his teeth on, almost surely anxious at being along, and I called Animal Control and they got permission to take the dog and they went and got him and took him out and he is up for adoption. I suspect he will be gone in a flash.

You don’t see a lot of well-bred Chocolate Labs in shelters for too long. It was wrenching to see him alone in that house, a bewildered and helpless creature, his world having just moved away. I am glad for this woman, and she deserves her new life, she had a hard time in the old one. And when people tell me they hate people for the way they treat animals, I always take care to remember that most people treat animals very well in this country, and if mistreatment of animals is a reason to dislike people, then good and loving treatment is a reason to love people. And that, I think, is where I want the story to end for me.

Wyman is gone, but I might dream about him for awhile.

Simon says: Bray for Vermont. He will be the official spokesperson for my “Going Home” In Support Of Vermont Book Tour, getting underway shortly after September 27, when the book comes out and the book tour begins in the Midwest. I’m thinking of re-casting the New England part of the tour as “Going Home: In Support Of Vermont.” Maybe Simon can come along, if I can find a trailer. Waiting to talk to Random House about this, but I think they will like it. Vermont needs it, and the people and bookstores there could use some help.

I would love to make helping Vermont part of this book tour. It fits.

Come and listen to Simon, who knows something about suffering,  Bray For Vermont: With assists from the chickens and Mother the Barn Cat.

Our friend Ben Osterhaudt digs out the foundation for a new ramp so that people with walking or mobility issues can access the Pig Barn Art Gallery Show, Columbus Day Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, 11 to 4 p.m. I will be signing copies of “Going Home,” which ca be purchased at nearby Gardenworks, and Maria is curating her great new functional art show – nine artists offering excellent and affordable art, from quilts to pottery to pin-cushions. Simon and Lulu and Fanny will be available to meet people, and if there are sheep around, Rose will do her stuff.  The dogs will be hanging around. Lenore is official greeter.

Bedlam Farm is open for the art show, at least the Pig Barn. No dogs, please. Bathroom facilities available at Gardenworks as is great food and  farm produce and crafts. Should also be the best foliage weekend. Maria has restored the Pig Barn gallery and this is her second show. The first, held two months ago, drew nearly 1,000 people over the two days. We can’t offer  refreshments but Gardenworks, just down the hill, can (518 854-3250). Details on Maria’s website.