It is looking more and more likely that Bud will be completing his long and difficult journey and come home to us on September 29th, the day after he gets his microfilaria test for baby heartworms on the 28th.

That’s more than a week before our October Open House.

It is illegal to transport a heartworm dog  who has not completed treatment and has been certified healthy by a vet. And it should be, heartworm is now in every state in the nation, and it is a lot less expensive to prevent heartworm than to treat it.

If all goes well, Bud will be here to meet people at our Open House, held on Saturday and Sunday, Columbus day Weekend, October 6th and 7th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Maria has been preparing art to sell for months.

Red will be strutting his stuff, and Fate will be doing nothing in her spectacular and joyous way. The theme is the Art Of Rural Life.

We will also have sheepherding, sheep shearing, spinning, poetry readings (I’ll be reading from Mary Kellogg’s new book, “This Is My Life,” and there will be readings by Jackie Thorne, Amy Herring) and Maria’s wonderful art show in her studio featuring her work and gifted local artists.

Details on Maria’s site.

I’ll be giving a talk also, focusing on Bud’s story and the animal rescue movement.

I am so grateful to Carol Johnson of Friends Of Homeless Animals for rescuing Bud, and for getting him up here. She is an angel. And we are grateful to Dr. Jonathan Bradshaw of the South Arkansas  Veterinary Clinic, for getting him healthy again. He is a vet with a great big heart.

Gus was purchased by FOHA after he was found suffering from starvation and exposure in Arkansas.  he was in rough shape. He is a Boston Terrier. FOHA is transporting him North on a giant FDA approved truck.

We can meet him in Brattleboro, Vt., where the truck stops, it is 90 miles from us.

We will continue his follow-up treatment up here at the Cambridge Valley Veterinary Service, where Gus was treated for megaesophagus. They are waiting for him.

So are we. This will make the Open House even more special for both of us. I remember how happy Gus was to meet all those people at our Open House year. This seems very healing to me, and just right. The wheel turns and turns.