20 October

The Women Of Bedlam Farm Return To Work (Thank God)

by Jon Katz
Strong Women Need To Work
Strong Women Need To Work

I love my wife very much and I love Fate very much, but I will be candid with you. It is not peaceful to be living with two strong women who need to work and haven’t worked in awhile, and are making me crazy. Maria’s work has been interrupted for two weeks by our Open House, she has just finished returning her studio back to normal and adding up all the receipts for the artists.

Fate has been sidelined for a week after she was spayed last Tuesday. Let me put it this way, Maria not working on her art is like living with a grizzly bear whose cubs are missing.  Lots of growling, mumbling, muttering. There is no peace in Bedlam when Maria has not worked for a couple of weeks. It is a very curious household when I am the easygoing one, me and Red.

Don’t get in the way of Maria when she isn’t working. Fate is a bit more genial when she isn’t working, but was also going a bit mad,  hopping up and down like a jackrabbit and gnawing on table legs. She was about to explode, this morning, she jumped straight up in the air and tried to climb over my head.

This morning, the two of them went back to work and life is good again. Someone gave Maria this neat old quilt, and she is making it her own. Fate is offering inspiration. I am very relieved.

20 October

The Day The Flowers Died

by Jon Katz
The Day The Flowers Died
The Day The Flowers Died

Yesterday, a Monday morning,

the day the flowers died.

Maria cried,

I felt a shiver down my spine,

and a melancholy wind,

color is the blood of the angels,

they sang their mournful songs.

The flowers withered, turned black,

soon a blanket of white,

the winter pasture,

stirring and proud in it’s own way,

stirring beneath the gray clouds.

Life is filled with crisis and mystery,

every minute,

every day,

every season.

20 October

Fate, Back At Work

by Jon Katz
Back At Work
Back At Work

Fate returned to work with authority and energy, she even took a nip at Liam, who charged at her. I think the rest and time off has given her new focus and drive, God help me and the sheep. Still, for all her concentration, Fate is the Joy Dog, she brings her enthusiasm for life to everything she does. She makes herding sheep a lot of fun, for me, for her, for Red, too. Maybe not so much for the sheep, although they are getting used to her. Fate is a remarkable dog, her surgery was one week ago, you would never know it had happened at all.

20 October

Video: Fate Returns To Work

by Jon Katz
Fate Returns To Work
Fate Returns To Work

 

One week after she was spayed successfully, Fate returned to work, a gloomy, chilly, rainy, November kind of day, but she brought her own sense of joy and purpose to it. Fate’s stitches were removed yesterday, her infection cleared up instantly, our vet gave approval for work today. Fate nearly exploded out of the gate and tore around like a friend, she badly needed to get back to work, and I concede that I missed it as well.

She was a blur for the first few minutes – I took a video of her return. She was patient and good-natured about her confinement, but she was also going a bit mad. Life returned to normal this morning, I’d like to think she will be resting a lot today, but she wasn’t even panting at the end of the workout.

Every day begins now with my work with Red and the Joy Dog, her enthusiasm is infectious and grounding. Glad to have her back, my heart lifts when I see a dog fulfilling their destiny.

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