Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

14 April

My Pinhole Photography: One Step Forward, Many More To Go. Sharing The Experience

by Jon Katz

Believe it or not, I made real progress on my first attempt at Pinhole photography. I learned two significant things: The smaller the pinhole, the more transparent the photograph. My hole, which we drilled, was too big. I’ve got some new pinholes coming by e-mail.

I also needed to adjust the camera to keep the aperture open for a couple of minutes or more to improve the clarity of the picture; that was a lot of progress for the second effort. I also like the way the pinhole captures color.

I was to set up the tripod, pick something familiar to my readers and me, and see what it looked like. In a sense, my feeling was engaging and authentic. But I have to do much better and work on it. I ordered a new pinhole with a tiny hole and am figuring out how to keep the aperture open longer so the lens can absorb more light.

What I am learning is how I can get more clarity.

I’m happy to share this experience. This could add an interesting but occasional new way of getting interesting flower photos, which will help us see flowers in another way. I love learning new things about photography. Thanks for coming along.

Maria’s Studio

The apple tree in the backyard.

Our roost. The light problem is coming together, and I like how it shows color. I’ll take it from there.

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The Cambridge Food Pantry

14 April

BIG BARGAIN PRICES! Juice Is A Huge Hit As The Weather Warms Up: The Cambridge Food Pantry Is Asking For More: Fruit Juice, Apple Juice and (Urgently): Grape Juice

by Jon Katz

Sarah hopes the juice will keep flowing as the warm Spring approaches, and the children are pleading for it at breakfast and after sports. It’s athletic season, and sports and playing outside are beginning. Kids get tired and dehydrate easily. Juice helps.

Many thanks, Sarah, for working so hard to spot the BARGAIN prices Amazon offers, as is clear today. People who wish to help can buy all three requested items for app. $6. It is an affordable way to do a lot of good and help the pantry families face even more challenging times. They need a break.

I see the juices as a stream that wants to flow. Thank you.

(Above, Volunteer Kim is one of the things that holds the pantry together. She is a regular worker and the receptionist who ensures the customers are treated warmly and with dignity and helps with taxes and other needs. She has a heart the size of a football field.)

I hope we can get the juices flowing as we have done with Chef Boyardee Spaghetti and Meatballs in the past few days; the S&M cans have filled the shelf again:

Thanks for filling the shelves with Spaghetti & Meatballs. The families love this dinner, and so do the kids. You made it possible, thanks.

Today, Sarah has found BARGAIN juice prices from the food bank.

BARGAIN Happy Belly 100%Apple Juice, Bottle, 64 fl oz (Pack of 1), $2.09.

BARGAIN V8 Splash Fruit Medley Flavored Juice Beverage, 64 fl oz, $2,28.

BARGAIN: Grape Juice is the urgent item of the day.

Grape Juice, Bottle, 64 f. oz, Pack of 1, $2.09.

Maria is a hard-working unpacker on Tuesdays.

(Above are messages from the Army of Good for the hard-working volunteers at the food pantry. The messages are all hanging from a pantry wall.)

The Amazon Cambridge Pantry Urgent Wish List is accessible anytime, day or night. Click on the links here or use the green button at the bottom of every blog post. Every item on the wish list is urgent and updated several times daily. Some people are adopting favored items and sending them when they can. Thanks for the messages; the pantry volunteers greatly appreciate them.

Thanks for the dental pastes, shampoo, soups, canned fruit, tampons, and pads. You have dramatically improved the lives of people struggling to feed their families and care for their children. Right now, we are helping with juices.

It’s a beautiful thing to help people with nowhere else to go. It has never been more needed; thanks for helping protect love. Helping the pantry gives significant meaning to me and, clearly, to you. Thanks.

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Maria's Monday Morning Video

14 April

Beautiful Start To The Week: The Sun, Spring, Maria’s Monday Good Morning Video

by Jon Katz

This morning had everything – sun, warmth, the White Hen and King Zip, and best of all, Maria’s Good Morning Monday video, which is also available every Monday on her website, fullmoonfiberart. Come along and get a warm start to the week. (She’s still making her growingly popular and beautiful holding pillows; you can ask her about them via e-mail at maria@fullmoonfiberart.com. If you’re interested, get one before she gets bored. Right now, she loves making them.

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Beautiful Morning

14 April

Morning At The Farm. The Sun Returns With Spring! Zip, The White Hen, The Wonderful Sky

by Jon Katz

Spring apologized for a four-day absence with cold, snow, rain, and ice this morning. This morning was glorious, heading for the 60s today. It was a joy to be in my bathrobe, even if Maria put me up on her Monday Morning video. I told her to do what she had to do if I got in the way of taking my picture. I watched in awe as Maria cared for the White Hen, and my man Zip posed for me at the head of his kingdom. The sun cooperated; it came up just as I arrived. No birds have shown up this morning. I’m betting they’ll be back later, but I missed them.

Feeding the White Hen soft food while her beak heals. It’s always beautiful to see.

After Zip eats in the morning, he grooms himself and joins me in my tour around the farm, looking for light. He loves to look out the kingdom, scouring his kingdom. He said hello, but he’s working in the morning. There are many things to hunt in our marsh and the forest behind. In the morning, I get a brief hello. He’ll be there when and if I come out for flower photos. Zip is a working cat, and he never forgets it.

Landscape Apple in the pasture, the sun behind her head.

The Peaceful Kingdom.

I love barn light as the sun rises. It looks like fire.

Fate is an inspiration. She might not like pushing the sheep around, but she has enough enthusiasm for an army. You can see it in her eyes.

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Abstract Flower Art

13 April

Abstract Flower Art. The Sensuality And Grace Of The Callas And Their Dignity. The Dog Who Loved Flowers

by Jon Katz

My assistant (above) and I are taking a break together.

Callas are my favorite flowers to photograph, followed closely by wild Irises and the beautiful wildflowers Maria brings me from the pasture and the woods. They all kiss my imagination and stir something within me.

Today, I focused on sensuality and grace, a beautiful mix between Irisis and Callas. Sigmund Freud sparked a big fuss when he said the Calls were sensual and sexual; Georgia O’Keeffe, who seemed clearly to reflect their apparent sensuality, denied they were sensual to her at all, probably a wise thing to say at the time. She never liked it more than I do when strangers tell me what I’m thinking.

I don’t see the Callas as alluring in a sexual way but seductive in their grace, curves, and dignity. Come and take a look today and see what you think.

____

Flower Poem, Mary Oliver

‘I had a dog who loved flowers. Briskly, she went through the fields, yet paused for the honeysuckle or the rose, her dark head and her wet nose touching the face of everyone with its petals of silk with its fragrance rising into the air where the bees, their bodies heavy with pollen hovered – and easily she adored every blossom not in the serious, careful way that we choose this blossom or that blossom the way we praise or don’t praise – the way we love or don’t love – but the way we long to be – that happy in the heaven of earth – that wild, that loving.’

– Dog, Flower, Dark. — Mary Oliver.