Day: June 24, 2012

As the sun rises, Red and I are in the meadow. Before my eyes, he becomes something other than a pet, a wolfdog, really, something out of Jack London, something ancient and powerful. He goes into the herding crouch, and the sheep, who fought him just two days ago, gather behind the corner pole and wait for instructions. They come soon enough. It stirs something old and ancient in me, a city kid, a stranger most of my life to the natural. Red reminds me of why we need the natural world, why we need animals in our lives.

And he reminds me to respect the true nature of this creatures, who are nothing like us.

The second and final day of the farewell-to-Bedlam-Farm Pig Barn Art Gallery show is just a few minutes a day. A perfect beautiful clear and sunny day. The art show begins at 11 a.m., the herding demo with Red at 2 p.m. in the big meadow. Red put on quite a show yesterday and many people are coming back to see it again. I took him out this morning and we had a ballet together, completely in sync. I was giving my commands in a whisper, which I will try to do this afternoon.

Lenore will be the official greeter, with Red and Simon covering the flanks. Hundreds of people came into the barn to see Red yesterday and I’ll try and do that again today. It’s a beautiful homage to Bedlam Farm and a celebration of this home and the next, of this life and the next. The feeling could not be happier.  I’m putting a lot of faces to a lot of e-mails, some going back years.

So many of you have been along for much of this ride, and in many ways, the ride is just beginning. Red’s arrival has added a rich and loving dimension to this final art show here on the farm. More later. Got to put the donkeys in the barn.