Turns out Bud is not the sweet and timid little creature Carol Johnson thought he was.
He lifts his leg all over the house.
He digs up all the bones and rawhide Fate hid in the yard and eats them.
He pees on the other dog’s food bowl to claim them.
He picks up the shoes and moves them around and stashes them under the dining room table.
He tries to chase the barn cats (and fails.)
He has definitely gotten over his shyness, he is a pretty great dog.
He is a thug.
“Once you have crossed the threshold, if it really is your adventure – it is a journey that is appropriate to your deep spiritual need or readiness – helpers will come along the way to provide magical aid. this may be some little wood sprite or wise man or fairy godmother or animal that comes to you as a companion or as an adviser, letting you know what the dangers are along the way and how to overcome them…It’s narrow path, the sword bridge, and if you fall off that, you are in a helpless condition because you don’t know what to do and there’s nobody around to help you.
After you have received the magical aid, you will have a series of increasingly threatening tests or trials to pass The deeper you get into this gauntlet, the heavier the resistance. You are coming into areas of the unconscious that have been repressed; the shadow, the rest of the unintegrated self; it is that repression system that you have to pass through. This, of course, is where the magical aid is most required.
These tests, then, symbolize self-realization, a process of initiation into the mysteries of life…”
Joseph Campbell, Pathways To Bliss.
Audio: Me, reading from “Pathways To Bliss”
Ellen is known to make the best faces at the Mansion, and she has a wicked and dry sense of humor. She comes to the Friday night Bingo games to win, and when she doesn’t like the numbers and letters I call, she makes different faces at me.
We call it the Claw Face, when she had not won a game in four or five tries, she turned and showed me her claws.I was waiting with my Iphone.
It was a low-key night. Lots of winners, Maria was home sick. I did sing a few numbers, but didn’t get the usual jeers. I’m thinking of starting a writing class at the Mansion – just three to five people, meeting once a week to do some writing. We’ll see.
Ellen did go on to win a couple of games.
The staff asked me to buy two sets of flannel pajamas for two of the Mansion residents who got cold at night and only had summer PJ’s.
Small Dogs Are Really Big. He looks like Winston Churchill.
I don’t honestly know how much longer Red will be able to work with the sheep. He’s having more and more trouble seeing some things from some angles. He’s anxious now about jumping in and out of the car, and he just is missing things out of his right eye.
He’s fine in the house, and in his therapy work, and one day soon I will have to confine him to that. I have two great dogs who love to run circles around sheep but don’t want to herd them. We’ll see.
Sometimes, I see him hesitating, and I think the sheep are picking up on it, not quite as responsive to him as they have always been.
I can see the cataract filling up Red’s eye, and I have explored the medical options. I am uncomfortable with the very expensive and complex – and painful – surgery that canine ophthalmologists do for dogs with cataracts.
I am just not comfortable with the ethics of doing that to a dog, especially since the dog has no say in it. And I am not comfortable spending many thousands of dollars on animal surgery, even on animals I love as much as Red.
Our vet says Red will almost surely have enough sight to function normally, do therapy work and live comfortably in our home. Dogs do well with familiar smells and shadows. That’s good enough for me.
We won’t be going to the veterinary opthalmologist.
