In my life, I have been blessed with some wonderful dogs. I’m not sure why this is so, or how this happened, but as I have written, dogs have marked the passages of my life. I came across this photo this morning and wanted to share it with you, as so many of you have been on this journey with me.
From the left:
Lenore, the Love Dog, she kept love alive for me when I was alone needed it the most.
Rose, an extraordinary dog who saved my life, watched my back, gave me the strength and courage to weather the first hard winters of my new life.
Pearl, now living with my daughter Emma. A champion show dog, a beautiful dog with a simple psyche and great heart, she has had a long and wonderful life in Brooklyn.
Frieda, the Helldog, a man-hater whose job was to keep men away from Maria and protect her. She succeeded in both, and I had a wonderful year training her and earning her trust. It was not easy.
And Izzy, my first hospice dog, he chased sunsets with me when first began taking pictures.
These are spirit dogs. They came when they were needed, they left when they were ready. Each one made me a better human, as good dogs will do. Each are very different from the other, each changed me. It is great to see them together once more and to say hello. Goodspeed to you, great dogs, may your days be full of love and joy and freedom.
Ken Norman needs about $8,000 to buy hay for the winter and fix his farm truck. He has launched a gofundme project to raise the money. Ken is part of our community, our new social awakening. He has rushed to the side of many a farmer and horse lover in trouble, he does it all year, now he could use some help. Ken launched his gofundme yesterday. He raised $3,3330 in 24 hours.
Many people know him, love him, care about him.
We are becoming a community, animal lovers tied to the natural world and animals in many different ways. We seek a better understanding of animals than the one offered by the animal rights movement and politicians and bureaucrats. We help one another, on this blog alone, we have raised more than $130,000 to help farmers and animal lovers in distress. Ken is a warrior in this new movement.
Most people in America have jobs now, but Ken Norman is a farrier, and being a farrier is a calling, not a job. It is rough, unpredictable, physical, sometimes dirty work. The tools of the farrier are expensive – fuel, horseshoes, nails, rasps, picks and files. It costs the farrier about $20 just to shoe one horse or donkey. Farriers make it possible for people like me to have horses and donkeys.
Farriers are not in it for the money, there isn’t much, and the hours are brutal and the winters and days are very long. Watching Ken wrestle with a donkey or horse is an awe-inspiring inspiring, he has many broken limbs and sore legs to show for it. Equines can be difficult, they can bite, kick, and bump, it is easy for a horse to hurt a farrier. People often fail to appreciate how dangerous and expensive the work
Ken Norman has been through it all, he has been a farrier his whole working life. All over America, individuals are struggling to keep their footing in a society that is ever more complex, expensive and regulated. Ken is an individual. He is a good man.
Since the recession, work for individualists like Ken Norman – farriers, shearers, writers, artists – has become more difficult. Their costs have gone up out of proportion to the money they can earn. Most of the time they get by.
Ken Norman wore out his knees taking care of sick horses and had to have both of them replaced. He and his wife Eli are unable to turn a needy horse away. I’ve known Ken for 15 years. He helped save Simon’s life when he was rescued from a farm. We got Chloe, our pony, from him, she was rescued from a hard life.
Ken was out of work for three months after his knee surgery, he is much better, he is still recovering. He does not whine or complain, the work on his farm is grueling and relentless. I’m not sure how he has done it.
Soon after his surgery, Ken’s wife Eli, who trains horses and gives riding and handling lessons, broke her wrist and has had one surgery after another. They lost the income from her work, and are now down to one truck, their farm truck, 22 years old, is shot.
They are getting on top of things, but the past couple of years have been rough. They still need some help to stabilize themselves.
They have a beautiful daughter, some dogs and 33 equines – horses and donkeys – many of them rescues. People all over the Northeast call Ken Norman when there is a horse in trouble. He always comes. Always. Day or night, summer or winter.
So I am happy to come running for him, and I hope you might consider helping. He needs about $5,000 (probably a bit more than he is asking for, I would guess) to get his truck fixed and buy hay for the winter. He and Eli can take it from there.
The wonderful thing about crowdsourcing is that a lot of people can give small amounts of money and do much good. We know just where the money is going. Hope you can help and thanks for considering it. You can donate here.
