Day: May 12, 2012

In my work, I am drawn, both in words and images, to the point of connection between people and animals. What you see with Maria and Rocky, Maria and the donkeys. It is something you can see, a grounding, a point of connection. It happens with dogs, with cats, horses. It is a mission to try and understand it, a gift to sometimes be able to capture it. It is the lost language, the way in which we can truly communicate with these amazing creatures, and not just see them as piteous, dependent and abused beings. They are magnificent in their strength and wisdom, powerful in their healing. At times, Simon, who knows pain and deprivation, simply closes his eyes, and seems to say, in his own way and language, “yes, yes, this is why I am here, this what I am looking for.”

A chicken begins her day in the same way, also, very elementally. I put corn and grain feed down on the ground and they are waiting for me every morning, to begin their day. This is also reassuring, grounding, timeless.

Some years ago, my day began with a cup of coffee, a newspaper, and some scrambling to get my daughter off to school or to carpool her and her friends. I did not imagine that someday my day would faithfully begin by going out to a barn with my wife – I could not have imagined Maria – and giving a carrot to donkeys. I can’t now imagine my day beginning any other way. And so this is a beautiful world.