Watching Red move the sheep out towards the side pasture this morning, I wanted to jump up and down a bit. What a difference a week makes. Last Tuesday, Red was in the Cambridge Valley Veterinary Clinic. He hadn’t eaten for days and his fever had been at 104 for nearly a week.

He could hardly keep his eyes open, and looked miserable. The staff was worried, so was I. I was preparing a goodbye speech to tell him how much he meant to me and how much I loved him. That afternoon, he had some news for me: he wasn’t dying, he wasn’t ready to leave, his work was done.

So we got down to it, Dr. Suzanne Fariello, me and Maria. We tried different medicines and recipes. We did additional blood work and summoned a specialist with an ultra sound machine. We ruled things out, one by one – liver trouble, organ cancer, bone marrow cancer.

My recipes got more pungent and exotic – chick broth, meat gravy, cooked hamburger, white rice, baby food.

We discovered the four tick-borne diseases showing up in his tests, some of them showing cell counts through the roof. Two different kinds of anti-biotics and the second worked after a day or so.

Last Sunday he began eating normally.  Monday his fever was gone. Yesterday, he went to the Mansion to visit his friends there. This morning, he came with me to the dentist, he was mobbed by his admirers there.

I am settling down, I guess I was on the roof too.

Last Tuesday was one of the hardest days of my life, Maria suddenly was worrying about me as much as Red. I always love Red, but it is sometimes easy to forget how much he means to me, my life, and the lives of so many other people. He is not just my dog, he belongs to many others as well.

It is so grounding for me to be able to write about it., and all of your support and concern gave me strength, the feeling that I was not alone with it. So thanks again., even to the corps of amateur vets bombarding me with information.

I’m going to Rhinebeck, N.Y. today, to do a reading and talk, and I’ve decided to leave Red at home.  People will be disappointed, I am well aware he is more popular than I am.

But he still needs rest, I can see that, but he is very close to himself and the best care I can give him right now is nothing, some peace and quiet.

It was wonderful to see him out with the sheep, poised and strong and steady. Just as he told me last week, he has a lot more to do, and I have a lot more to do with him. Last week, I thought he was gone. This week, new beginnings, for him, perhaps for me.

Life is good.