There are lovely things about living in a small town on a warm Spring day, one of the very first after days of cold and rain and, of course, winter itself. All down Main Street, people pull chairs out of their shops and sit and read and wait for customers to wander by. Heather is often outside of Over The Moon, her beat and bracelet and socks shop, she has become a popular stopping point for visitors to our Open Houses or tourists coming to town in the summer.
She yelled down the street to ask how Red was, and gave me a wave as I took her photo. People expect me to take their photos, and no one asks why, another thing I love about a small town. If I lived in New York City, where my daughter lives, shopkeepers don’t sit out in the sun reading, and people get anxious and suspicious when you take out a camera.
Community is not about being loved, it is about being known. I am known here.
I am beginning to ease away from the Red crisis, he is doing well, I am resting him, not taking him places with me, not letting him run. I think he still tires easily, but he has his appetite back and is looking like his old self. I resisted the impulse to go to the Mansion today, he just needs some interrupted rest, and if you accept the Chi idea, which I do, then I see his energy is depleted, and needs to be restored over time.
It’s up to me to be his Protector Of Energy, I’m not taking him out on the rest of the book tour, either. I am not as cute as he is, but I will have to do.
The vet wants me to keep on giving him Chi food, to restore his Chi (his life energy) but I am weaning him off of hamburger and meatloaf and back to his high-priced kibble. I am s till squirting chicken broth onto his food and he is still taking antibiotics and some anti-nausea medication.
Once again, he is hopping up and going to the door whenever I get up, and so is Fate. When you live with border collies, no movement goes unnoticed and every moment is seen as an invitation to get to work.
I am eager to settle back into my book, which I got away from last week. I loved my walk down Main Street with Maria, I signed some copies of Talking to Animals at Battenkill, Books and bought Maria a neat and interesting necklace at the Artisan’s Market on Main Street.
I stopped in to see Scott Carrino at the New Round House Cafe, but he was int the basement working on wires and plumbing. He loves this stuff. I would hate it. But I will love eating there and eating their wonderful soup again.
I went to the bank to make a deposit, the teller at the drive-thru window thanked me for taking photos of her friend Kelly at the Bog. That was nice.
On a Spring Day, a small town comes alive, especially an agricultural community after a long winter. I know everyone I see, and everyone I see knows me. I don’t know if they love me or hate me, but it doesn’t matter. We all belong here. We are known.