Day: May 6, 2014

I believe the  New York Carriage Horses – animals at the crossroads of survival with human beings – are calling us to a wiser and more mystical understanding of animals. It’s time, it is way past time.  I am no longer shy about saying the horses are speaking to me, they are calling to me to write about them. And the people who claim to speak for their rights do not. Nor do they understand them or the many people who love them, a great army awakening.

The horses have called up the wind and rain and thunder – they have created a firestorm –  to reveal their plight, to awaken us to the theft of notions of cruelty and what it means to be humane by people who cannot see either and cannot understand or practice love and compassion. They do not speak for animals, they are betraying the worth and honor of the horses and of the idea of rights for animals. They do not come from the place of the horses, a place of acceptance and connection and purpose.

They carry the darkness and the rage with them, everywhere they go. This is what the horses smell, sense and see, even when we cannot.  The carriage drivers have done no wrong. They have broken no laws, committed no crimes. Anyone who loves just or who loves animals ought to consider helping to defend them. Injustice is a virus, it does nothing but spread.

And this is what is being seen in New York, what is being revealed, this is what the horses are calling us to see. And this is what we are all seeing, in greater numbers every day. Some see it as an awful and disturbing thing, and it is that. But I see it as a great window of truth, opening up in right in front of us, in the great city, our biggest stage.

I believe the messages of the horses to me is to call upon me to put words to this impending tragedy, their banishment from the lives of human beings. We are being called upon to honor the sacred connection between the horses and all animals who live and work with people and to protect it, now and for future generations. This connection is in great danger.

If the horses are sent from New York, their timeless and ancient connection to people and to our lives will be shattered, it will never return, they will never be seen again. A shadow will be cast on every animal in the world, and the human beings will be further broken, disconnected from their pasture and condemned to a disconnected future.

The very idea of love and empathy and compassion will have suffered yet another great defeat at the hands of angry and shallow people and their weak and confused leaders. The animals of the world know this story all too well.

If animals like the gentle and spiritual big horses cannot be in New York City, then the animal nation will ultimately be driven from the world. That is what is at stake, no more and no less. It is what I have felt from the beginning, when the horses first spoke to me in the middle of the night and called me to write about them.

This is the wiser and more mystical understanding of animals that Henry Beston wrote about nearly a century ago, I am coming to see it more clearly, the horses have risen up to call attention to it, and to offer us one of the last chances for human beings to see it and change the awful history we have created with animals, our partners in the joy and travail of the world.

There are not many opportunities, this is one of the last, it is right there for all of us to see.

This is why I am coming to New York on Sunday, hopefully to open myself to doing something I have never done before, to meet with a Native-American Chief, Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Calf Buffalo Pipe Of Peace. He is in the city to speak at the United Nations on behalf of Peace Day and to honor the carriage horses and pray for them to say in New York City and in Central Park. He has asked me to come and meet him.

The horses are speaking to us, they are asking us to pray for them and to protect them. They do not wish to be exiled as piteous creatures to a life without meaning or service so that people can feel better about themselves. They wish to be seen and known in the world,  to have their contributions to Mother Earth honored, as they have been for many thousands of years. All over the country, all over New York City, people are beginning to hear this message and cry out in support of it, they feel for the horses, they hear the message. They know this thing is unjust, they can feel it and see it, as I can.

They are sending donations, signing petitions, writing letters, sending prayers, creating blogs and websites.

I believe the horses are also revealing how broken we people are as a species, how angry and fragmented and hurtful. We are disconnected from the natural world and thus, we are broken. The horses can  help us heal, they do every day just be existing with us. The campaign against them has been shamefully cruel and dishonest, it dishonors the human animal bond.

The meaning of the horses for me is to put words to the idea of seeing the truth about cruelty, where it is and what it really means. And of the real meaning of being humane. We cannot live in partnership with animals if we are cruel to people and inhumane to them. We cannot speak for animals if we cannot speak to people, respect their humanity and honor and dignity, and reason with them and care about them as well.

That is why I am going to New York, to understand these messages in a wiser and more mystical way and to learn how to write about them. I am not interested in the eternal arguments that hang over the horses, they have no meaning for them or for me. It is important to understand the real issues for humanity, what is really at stake. We need to protect the sacred connection between people and the animals who have worked with them to build our world, for ourselves, for our children.

We know now that the horses are not being mistreated, we know now that they are loved and healthy and have a purpose – life and death for animals in our world. We know now that the issue is much deeper: will animals remain with us in our world or not? Or will they be sacrificed again for the selfish needs of people, for money, for machines?

This connection – working animals and people –  is sacred, it is the wiser and more mystical understanding of animals. If it is destroyed in New York City, a dark cloud will fall over every animal who works with people. We are called upon to speak for the horses and all of the animals in the world, and to tell the truth about what cruelty really is, and what it means to be humane and human.

They are one and the same.

That is why I’m going to New York City, to hear  and celebrate and share the message, which Chief Arvol has been hearing for many years. He says I am an answer to the horses prayers. I must be honest, I cannot say this is what I believe.

But if I am an answer to the prayers of the horses, then so are all of you. Every one.

 

Dear Maria, I know there is no good cell service down in Gee’s Bend, and I know you will figure out a way to read my blog first thing – we talk to one another through our blogs often when we need to – so I wanted to write you this note.

I miss you, of course, but I also want to say that our connection to one another, our love and trust and commitment, is not breakable, not subject to geography or cell service or time and space. It is always there, you are always with me, it does not matter where you are.

I want to tell you that Liam is doing much better, I am optimistic today, I was not yesterday. He has a spirit I can see, he wants to live, just like us. I was so happy to talk with you last night, I heard something in your voice I had never heard before – a presence, a sense of fulfillment, a confidence and clarity, a sense you were just where you ought to be. Your art is your heart and soul, our creativity is our connection, and I had the sense you are drinking at the well of your creativity. It will nourish you, I can feel it, you have given yourself a gift beyond imagination, it will reveal itself again and again, for all of your life, through everything you create.

You are with your tribe down there, your sisters, you have, in many ways come home, you are not an outsider in Gee’s Bend.

Yesterday was a good day for me, I am happy to have helped Liam pull through, it was a wild ride there for a bit, I am sorry you missed it, glad you missed it. It is good to know when you have to call for help, and when help comes. And then, I have a new book contract with a publisher I really like and an editor who wants to make a big book with me and clearly does not think my time has passed. It was a scary move, it was a good move, as  you told me from the first.

Thank so much for your encouragement and faith in me. We might even be able to pay the taxes on our several properties.

Thank you for believing in me, what a gift.

I feel there is a power, an energy, a radiant spirit that comes from our love and connection with one another, it radiates beyond us sometimes and out into the world. A lot of people are watching your trip and cheering you on, you should be proud of that.

I am fine, my back is protesting the chores, I have to take my time. I took Frieda for a walk this morning, she looked strong and interested in every smell. The house is a bit chaotic, as you predicted but I asked Alfreda to come by for a couple of hours Wednesday to help clean things up before you get home on Thursday. I would love for you come home to a spit-spot house, insofar as that is possible.

Our friends have enveloped me in a loving cloud.

Scott is coming over today to help me with the lambs, George and Donna came by last night to take pictures with me, that is George’s wonderful way of being with me, Deb came this morning to help me give Liam his shots, Kim and Jack have called to let me know they are ready to come by, Rod and Stephanie have invited me over for dinner tonight. I’m going, I can’t wait to try out a compost toilet. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this before, so many people I can call friends, so much love in my heart. It is aloneness, not loneliness. Like love, friendship is something that comes when you are open to it, I am grateful for it.

Frieda is looking for you and I think the donkeys were disappointed with the amount of carrots I brought them this morning. I asked Simon what kind of a jerk stomps a little lamb, I told him it will not happen again, let’s see how the visualizations work.

So I’m off to write, I want to write about the carriage horses again, the story has reached deep into my heart, I am looking forward to going with you to New York to meet with Chief Arvol Looking Horse on Mother’s Day in Central Park, how interesting this all will be. Life is what we make of it, we are spinning and spinning and sewing and writing away. I love you beyond words,  you are the light, the sun and the moon. This morning, I will be smiling thinking of you and Mary Ann Pettaway singing and sewing together in the Gee’s Bend Collective Building. What a beautiful thing that is, what a beautiful thing you are.

 

Liam must truly be Irish, he seems to relish a good fight, he doesn’t quit, he seems indestructible,  and he has a bit of a mischievous gleam in his eye. I was wise to name him after Liam Neeson, I think, it has perhaps come to define him. I confess that when I saw him lying on his side in the Pole Barn yesterday, I feared the worst.

Sick sheep do not often get well, and the poor creature radiated pain and discomfort, in his breathing, eyes and stance. Dr. Jacob Weinstein did a wonderful job of quickly diagnosing Liam and treating him with pain-killers, antibiotics and a chest wrap. Deb Foster came over this morning to hold Liam gently while I gave him another pain-killer, I was happy to see him up on his feet, nursing and curiously exploring the barn stall – he seemed a bit bored, ready to get out.

I went to the barn a few times last night to make sure he was nursing, he seemed groggier and more tentative.

Not yet, pal, eight more days to go. I felt good about his prospects this morning, I have the feeling we are over the hill, although you never really know.

I am glad I did not have to tell Maria – or any of you, for that matter – that Liam was gone. Keeping my fingers crossed, I think it’s going to work out. Now we have to figure out why the donkeys went after him.