21 July

Gus’s Book Tour Debut, at Northshire Books

by Jon Katz
Gus At The Bookstore

Sooner or later, my dogs get to go to reading on my book tours. For Gus, it is sooner. We brought him and Red to Northshire Books Friday night for a reading of my newest book “Talking To Animals.” He climbed a third of the way up the great staircase in the bookstore and got stuck there for a bit.

He came down under his own steam. Gus was great, he was hugged by about 100 people and when I started talking, he curled up at Maria’s feet and went to sleep. He didn’t wake up until I was done, then he came downstairs to be with me as I signed books.

Gus will be a great book four dog, he loves everyone and knows when to be still.

21 July

Sweet ending to the “Talking To Animals Book Tour” In Vermont.

by Jon Katz
Book Tour Closes

“The Talking To Animals” book tour ended on a lovely and gracious note Friday evening at the Northshire Bookstore, we had a full and engaged house, and a 90-minute conversation about animals and their future in our world. My book tour was short and sweet, five readings, great crowds in all but one, my hometown.

Life is curious that way, you just never know. I had a great evening, and it was the perfect way to close off the book tours, such as they are any longer. Publishers have pretty much opted out of promoting all but a few of their books, and I’m afraid I was no exception.

I am especially fond of this book, I think it is timely and important.

We are losing all of the domesticated and wild animals of the world to climate change,  development, poaching  and the animal rights movement. And we are emotionalizing our pets beyond reason. We had a great talk about it.

I’m grateful to have written the book and also grateful that there are still bookstores in the world that can fill seats like this with book lovers.

I thank those of you who bought the book or followed my writings. If you wish you can order it through my local bookstore, Battenkill Books and I will be happy to sign and personalize it. They take Paypal and major credit cards.

I am now working on my next book, “Gus And The Big And Small Lessons Of Bedlam Farm.” I’m getting up early and loving it. I’m also tired, and heading to bed. Thanks for supporting my work.

21 July

The Round House Cafe Gets Ready To Open

by Jon Katz
Round House Getting Close.

The Round House Cafe’s move next door has been bumpy and exciting and sometimes traumatic. Scott and Lisa Carrino are tired and shell-shocked and excited. It looks like the final health and building inspections are going through and they hope to open the new cafe next week, perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday.

They began he move a month ago into the wonderful old Hubbard Hall building, the cafe will be in the old general store. Along the way, Scott ran into a host of problems from wiring to an incompetent contractor to unexpected septic issues. He has battled  his way through each one of them, and is almost ready to open.

It has been a lot rougher than anyone imagined, but it looks like the cafe will make it, a big score for our community and for the idea of community everywhere. Scott told me he needed to see Gus today, so we brought him down to the cafe as the last inspections wound down.

21 July

Shedding Coats

by Jon Katz
Shedding Coats

The donkeys are late shedders, they will have their summer coats by mid-August, and start growing their fur back for the winter in late October. Maria brushes them every morning, they love to be groomed and wait for her to come out The flies have started to hatch, and it is nasty out in the pasture on warm days like today.

We love caring for the donkeys, these two sisters are gentle and patient, and they need human attention, at their own time, on their own terms.

21 July

The Morning Kiss: Gus Wins Over Fanny

by Jon Katz
Morning Kiss For Lulu

So Gus has charmed Fanny, every morning, he leans forward and gives her a big kiss on the nose. She loves it, comes looking for it first thing when she sees Gus. Donkeys are notoriously wary around dogs, but Gus has worked hard to become friends, and Fanny now loves him back. She comes over and lowers her nose for him every morning.

There was a risk to doing this, I admit it freely, and many people warned me about it and cautioned me against it – all of them were people online who do not know me or Gus or Fanny, I should say. Donkeys can stomp or kill a dog they don’t like. But I can see they have accepted Gus, especially Fanny.

My farmer friends all supported my idea: let them be dogs and they will be dogs, turn them into anxious children and that is what they will be. If he doesn’t get used to them now, chances are he never will, and we bring him out into the pasture every day. Our pasture and animals are a part of our farm and our lives, if Gus can’t participate in that, he is cut off from one of the central parts of our lives.

Maria is supportive, but she doesn’t have the stomach to watch when I let Gus off the leash in the pasture. Do it, she says, but I can’t look.

My camera and I love to look. This is the wonder of animals, I think, and especially dogs, who adapt and react to the life around them, if they are given a chance. This would never have happened if we did not give Gus, an ll-week-old puppy, the chance to figure it out for himself.

And it is a pretty neat thing to see.

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