Day: April 10, 2014

Jennifer and Red have an understanding, they communicate with one another.

I realized this morning – this will sound very foolish to you, but it is how men think, I’m afraid – that Red is my therapy dog. For me as well as for others. This was probably obvious to many of you, but not to me. I had some very rough experiences with dentistry when I was a child, some of them very painful and difficult. I have always been afraid of dentists, but I am not afraid of dentists any long. I credit the people at Cambridge Dental Care with much of that, their warmth and humor and perspective are infectious, but I also credit Red.

I love living in my town. I walk into the dentist’s office and I asked Shelley the receptionists if its okay to bring Red in, and she asks the patients – no question about how the staff feels about Red – and since he is a certified therapy dog, she invites him in. Now, if I don’t bring him, I get into trouble.

He is my therapy dog as well, he comes in with me and I find myself smiling, it lifts me up, comforts me, brings me a sense of safety and warmth. That, of course, is what animals do. I see it wherever Red and other dogs go, I see it in the faces of the tourists and harried New Yorkers moving on the streets of New York when they see the carriage horses. They stop, they smile, they feel better.

Red is a wonderful herding dog, but I think one of the reasons Dr. Karen Thompson wanted me to have Red was that she saw his potential to be a therapy dog, he opens people up and brings light and smiles wherever he goes. This is the new work of the dog, especially the therapy dog. Some people believe it is wrong for animals to work but I believe it is their sacred mission.

The therapy dogs of the world are heroic, they bring light and sunshine and laughter wherever they go. I see it with Lenore and especially with Red. I see it in the faces of the veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and our many other wars. I saw it this morning when I went to the dentist, where Red is always welcome unless it makes anyone uncomfortable – that hasn’t happened yet.

Red starts in the dental waiting room, where people are nervous and he moves from seat to seat, I listen for the laughter and the exclamations of surprise and joy and then he moves from cublcle to cublice, here he greats the dental technicians and staff – Rosemary and Jennifer – there are smiles everywhere, even in a dental office.

One man lying in a dental chair with his mouth open reached his arm out and Red put his head in his hand. I saw the man smile, and he thanked for bringing Red into see him.

Cambridge Dental Care is a very special place for me, and for my town. My dentist, Dr. Harvey Coco, has become a friend, as have Shelley and Jennifer and Rosemary and Betty. They know Maria and joke with me that they will tell her if I misbehave and she will come in and throttle me.

They are also special friends of Red, they are upset if I don’t bring him, it is a pleasure to go there, it is bright and cheerful and Dr. Coco and I have so much fun laughing with one another that they sometimes have to tell us to keep it down. He loves football, which I don’t, but we share a similar warped sense of humor. They take wonderful care of my teeth, many of which were nearly ruined by my grandmother’s penny candy store.

They are part of the fabric of my very special small town, they help deepen the sense of safety and community I feel here so strongly.

The work of the therapy dog is profound. The therapy dog brings light to the world, sunshine into darkness, he helps people shed anxiety and worry, connects them to the world in which they intuitively feel safe and connected – the world of nature and animals. Therapy dogs ease pain, and help people connect to the safe and beautiful parts of there lives.  Horses do this work as well, I am learning.  There are therapy animals who are trained, but more and more, I believe all animals are therapeutic, they ar healers, they  remind us of the love and comfort that exists in the world.

We need to keep these animals in our world, people need them so badly.

Zelda is keeping her own counsel, waiting in her own way for her own time. She is a bit mellower, a bit calmer, it will be so interesting to see what kind of mother she will be with her lambs. Any day now.

There was a monumental mix-up Tuesday about my trip to Cincinnati, I nearly didn’t make it, we dashed out of the farmhouse and just made it to the Albany airport after lunch, I didn’t have time to blog or take my camera. I did make it to the Animals For Life Foundation annual gathering as the keynote speaker, and this is a group that is made for me in and for animal lovers and farmers in so many ways, the foundation devotes itself to helping the agricultural world communicate, and focuses on finding ways for animals to live in the world and be present among us.

This is the right group at the right time, the foundation gives grants for farms that help autistic children, among other things and helps farmers start blogs and learn to talk about their lives, values and needs. The group is especially devoted to finding ways for animals to work meaningfully with people, I devoted a lot of time to the New York carriage horses. I hope I can stay connected to them, they are important and doing wonderful work.

I’m not sure I have ever felt more comfortable with a non-profit group than I did with this foundation, I would encourage anyone who loves animals to take a look at the work they do, it is powerful work and desperately needed, especially as animals are being driven farther and farther from human beings all of the time, and in many ways. I talked about the carriage horse controversy and I could see people in the audience – their eyes were nearly popping out of the heads when I said people in New York think it is abuse for horses to pull carriages.

I’ll write about this more later on, it is midnight and I am wiped out, glad to be  home, anxious to see what George is doing in his darkroom, I missed my camera a lot, I feel quite naked without it. I think I have an abscessed tooth which needs some treatment in the morning, and then Maria and I are going to Glens Falls to get the new sewing machine funded by her Kickstarter project “Reclaiming Vintage Hankies.”

Red came to the airport with Maria to pick me up, we were happy to be reunited. Zelda hasn’t given birth yet, nor have the other pregnant ewes, the donkeys are great, I got some great brays when I got home. Air travel is a grind in many ways, I am very happy to be home.