Red went to his second acupuncture visit today at the Cambridge Valley Veterinary Service. He was at ease, he sat with Colleen Flaherty quite calmly as she inserted about 20 thin needles into his head, back and legs. He seemed to know the drill this time, he sat still and lay down for 20 minutes while Dr. Flaherty had to rush out and perform an emergency surgery on a cat.
He lay perfectly still the entire time she was gone, and as was the case last week, he seemed calm and at rest this evening, he is lying besides me as I write this.

He seems a bit more grounded, more at ease than usual, less up-and-down. I have the sense this is good for him, it is helping him settle from all of the intense work he is doing with the sheep, socializing – everyone wants to meet and touch him – and in our increasingly important therapy work with veterans. This week, we are meeting with some veterans from Iraq and Aghanistan, a half dozen meeting in a support group in New York State. I have been warned that this group is intense, angry, mostly unreachable. They do want Red and me to come, so we will. Active listening. Maybe I’ll get some acupuncture next week.