I never take photos I like at these events, I’m too busy moving around. Maria came out of the studio twice to talk about the sheep and her wool and answer questions about them. We did a 15-minute herding demo, I showed Red’s directional commands and training language, talked about his upcoming therapy work and told his story. Like most working dogs, Red loves to perform in front of a crowd, it seems to juice him up even more than he already is. Red and Simon are enormously popular animals, they have a lot of followers  and in the past year or so, interest in Maria and her work has grown dramatically.

She too has her own followers on her blog, followers of her life and art. It has been fascinating for me to see her following grow, she radiates creativity and gentleness. I said I thought of this farm as Bedlam Farm 2.0, it was the right place for us at the right time. It was much like the other Bedlam Farm, just on a smaller scale. Our farm is not tiny – it is 17 acres – but it is not a grand place either, and we are not grand people. We are where we belong. We talked about our desire to rediscover community, to turn people towards one another rather than against one another. I felt a strong sense of community today, many people who had been reading my books, following our story and our animals for some years. Old friends, good friends, the strongest possible connections in the new world.

In our disconnected world, people are powerfully drawn to the real world of animals, to their stories, their habits. It was touching to see the donkeys respond to this outpouring of interest and affection, they soaked it up and returned it.